Ross Lyon

Infobox afl player


firstname = Ross
lastname = Lyon


| birthdate = Birth date and age|1966|11|8|df=y
birthplace =
originalteam = Reservoir
heightweight = 183 cm / 78 kg
dead = alive
deathdate =
deathplace =
debutdate = 1985
debutteam = Fitzroy Lions
debutopponent =
debutstadium =
playingteams = 129 games 112 goals
* Fitzroy Lions (1985-1994) 127 games 112 goals
* Brisbane Bears (1995) 2 games 0 goals
coach = coach
coachingteams = St Kilda (2007- )
* 45 games, 24 wins, 20 losses, 1 draw
statsend = Round 22, 2008
careerhighlights = St. Kilda Pre-season Cup Winning side 2008

Ross Lyon (born 8 November 1966) is a former player of Australian rules football, and is currently coach of the St Kilda Football Club.

Playing career

Lyon was recruited from Reservoir Colts and debuted in the VFL with the Fitzroy Football Club in 1985; he became renowned for his toughness as a forward and midfielder, although restricted by injury setbacks. Lyon went on to play 127 games with the Lions in the No. 29 guernsey before moving to the Brisbane Bears in 1995 but played just two games before injury forced his retirement at the age of 29.

Coaching career

Lyon became an assistant coach at Richmond under Robert Walls in 1996 and was retained in a full-time role when Jeff Geischen coached the club from 1997-99. He moved to Carlton in 2000 as an assistant under David Parkin and later with Denis Pagan. During this period he spent time at the Blues' affiliate in the Victorian Football League, the Northern Bullants. In 2004, Lyon was appointed an assistant coach at the Sydney Swans in charge of the midfield under Paul Roos. He was considered an integral part of developing the discipline and work-ethic that lead to the Sydney Swans premiership in 2005.

In 2006 he was shortlisted as a candidate for the position of coach of the St Kilda Football Club for the 2007 season. Although some considered him a surprise candidate [http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20533407%255E19773,00.html] , Lyon was appointed for three years after a lengthy application process. [http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=feature&spg=display&articleid=302736]

Upon becoming coach of the club, Lyon hired his own assistants, with close friend and AFL Team of the Century fullback Stephen Silvagni, former Kangaroos and Hawthorn player and Melbourne assistant coach Anthony Rock, former Carlton assistant coach Tony Elshaug and former Fitzroy and Hawthorn forward John Barker all being appointed in assistant coaching positions.

Lyon also recruited veteran ruckman Matthew Clarke to the club and oversaw the recruitment of six rookies for the first time in the club's history.

2007 Season

Lyon began his first season as coach with a victory against Melbourne in Round 1 of 2007 and the Saints then won four of their first seven games . Injuries hit the club badly in Round 8, however, with St Kilda having only 24 out of a possible 38 players to choose from against the Hawthorn Football Club. Lyon was criticised for flooding excessively and many became angry with the more defensive style of St Kilda over the subsequent weeks [http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21666463%255E19742,00.html]

After an upset victory in Robert Harvey's 350th match in Round 12 against West Coast, Lyon proceeded to guide his Saints to win three out of the next four matches and draw a game against the Western Bulldogs. This left the Saints in eighth position on the ladder, a spot the side was unable to maintain after narrow losses to reigning grand-finalists Sydney and West Coast in the remaining five rounds [http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/games/2007/SKWC20070824.html] . The club narrowly missed playing finals for the fourth consecutive season, finishing 9th with 11 wins, 1 draw and 10 losses for the year. Despite missing finals action the Saints finished the year strongly, winning 7.5 of the last 11 matches [http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/2007.html] .

Lyon oversaw a team in transition in his first season as coach, with a significant part of the Saints' squad from the 2004 and 2005 seasons having retired or moved on.

During the 2007 trade period, St Kilda were widely considered to have traded very well, picking up Geelong premiership ruckman Steven King, Geelong forward Charlie Gardiner and Swans pair Adam Schneider and Shaun Dempster for draft selections #26 and #90 [http://news.realfooty.com.au/steven-king-heads-to-st-kilda/20073512-1429.html] .

2008 Season

St Kilda started the season strongly by winning the 2008 NAB Cup, defeating the Adelaide Crows by 5 points at AAMI stadium. Despite this strong showing, the Saints went on to have a mixed first half of the season with a five-win, six-loss record. However since then their fortunes have vastly improved, having sealed a spot in the finals series.

This mixed season drew both criticism and praise at differing times towards Lyon, from supporters and the media. His game plan has been described as one championing accountability, similar to the Sydney Swans model by Paul Roos. [ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,23892430-11088,00.html All one way for Saint Nick Dal Santo] ] Lyon's surprise move to drop midfield star Nick dal Santo (as well as Stephen Milne from the side was due to them not meeting these "benchmarks". [ [http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/rise-and-fall-of-saint-nick/2008/06/19/1213770827314.html Rise and Fall of Saint Nick] ] Arguably, it was a turning point in the Saints' season, as they went on to win the next 4 games following this bold move, and was considered a strong message by Lyon.

References