Ross Lyon, St Kilda coach (26.02.26)

Breakfast with Gary and Tim. The good oil for Cobbrim and Stake. Australia's most awarded extra virgin olive oil, grown, harvested and first cold pressed in Northern Victoria. Russell, I'm just a second. Carlton fans aren't getting ahead themselves. Whisper's Marty from Hobart says I don't want to overreact to two preseason games that leads firmly on. But who do you think will play in the Greenfinale? That will be a discussion we'll have after we talk to our next guest too. I'm not sure seven o'clock, he's optimum time. We had to lean on him a little bit because we wanted time with him, but he's been good enough to get up and take care called Coach of the St. Cuda Fuddy Club. Ross Lines joins us. Ross, you welcome. Good morning, Gary. Good morning, Tim. That's our time, yes. What time you were at? One of the morning. I'm the time to just jump in. Wow. I've been a big day. I mean, I've been, I'm not a regular time. Sometimes it's 4am. Sometimes it's 8am. Whatever. Whatever. Whatever my buddy, Dick, Coach. Oh, it's 10. What is the Rossi Routine when you roll out of bed in the morning? Hot and colds to your go for a run or. Now, it's a very joint replacement. So, uh, that's probably a bit difficult, Tim. That's really a coffee that the coffee brings. That goes straight into the grinder. I'm on my second one already. And then trying to get the 40 thoughts out of your head. You know, head it. Oh, no, that doesn't leave you. It does not leave you. Tim still feels the bed going. I've still got magnets on the fridge. I've got a little cereal in the ice cream. Now, you were Gary set down, had a little fireside chat a couple of weeks ago. He said, "How did that play out?" Yeah, you had no fire there. In Fox Studios, it's pretty, uh. It's pretty bare and placing there, but Gary lit it up. So, I have the questions. And, uh, yeah, hopefully it was okay. Yeah. No, it was magnificent. It's time to hear when you want to get coaches, because you're nice and relaxed. You've got a massive season ahead of you. But just quickly before we get into the fully in the minutiae of it all, yeah, two hit two, no, two knee replacements or two hip replacements in the knee. No, no knee replacement in non-ean. Yeah, I had a tibial of shot. I mean, the year after we tied with a real on it. It was a tiny free head that known as well. And then, over the last couple of years, the hip two hips that. It's gonna be on a set pretty easy, which we respect. They were like a cookie, completely. And then they made it. But yeah, it's been good. I've been having a good movie. You're coming up along, but the club's gonna dock out. Although, we're not in dock out territory to be fair. I think it's just a fight. They're all looking at our pre-season. I think Brisbane and Collingwood in dock out. If anyone should be doing a dock out, Chris Gertons along. So, you know, you said, "Vee, I'm gonna keep moving. Gonna keep the Fitlo base." So, you know, face feedback as I said. Well, let's move and start talking about the Saints. Because Gary and I had a discussion yesterday. Marshall, TDK, sharing the Ruck Jule for that type of thing. As a pass mark, what would you think those two are capable of kicking going for goals wise this year? Oh, goals haven't thought about it. Rosemary Snaggin' one or two a week. Where the game's gone in the rule with the going up a lot quicker. And you can nominate and get a thrown in quicker. So, depending on where they are on the ground, they'll just take the Ruck. So, in Hawthorne's Street Pete, they used to play two Ruckmen. And they used to just slide around the ground out of Ford and Ruck and make it a little bit difficult for the opposition to stay organized and get to the contest, the Ruckmen. So, that's the sort of way it's working at the minute. Yeah, I haven't put a number on that. What we know is Owens and Sharmin have already looked better with, you know, they feel like they've got a beacon down there that's a confide in the air. And it just has allowed them to maybe not play on as big an opponent and get mobile again. So, I think there is much beneficiaries as the individual kick-guys like Roy War, and I'm Ted Ok. What about Max King? We keep hearing differing reports about his health and fitness and. Me too. That one, I'm very. What's the latest you heard then? Yeah, he was really tracking for Ranziro as being available. There was no doubt about that. He just started full training. You know, and he was set there going, "Oh, then he had a calf, a really minor, legitimately minor calf strain." I was like, "Well, so, it was looking at about around four." And then. Oh, sorry. And then he just tweaked it again to maybe a week or so ago within the rehab program. And it was going really well. And my calves and. He's just been in that deep condition over the last few years, but particularly going to last year, he had a full preseason, then he had that knee complaint. They took a while to figure out. Then there was a torn cartilage that was moving in and out of the joint. So then they chose to repair it, which was conservative. And that was four months of really just not doing anything and walking. So that's a big lapse for an elite athlete. And then he built back slowly but surely got the full training, lides in and then in that. a tall, which was always a high risk. So that's sitting back. So it's been. Very topsy-turvy. It's been mentally tough for him. He's held himself together really well. But from, hey, it's not the knee, it's not the joint. It's just the soft tissue, which is the risk when you're coming off a low base. So, look, we are optimistic, but until it actually occurs, well, you know, it hasn't occurred, hasn't it? Yeah, well, he'll play. And at this point, it's around four. Around four will be available to play. Would you bring him back through the VFL? I know, I was sort of splitting his hypotheticals, but having not played that much, would he? Yeah, no, yeah. That's a good question, goes on. It's one with probably never sort of canvas previously, but I think we are now canishing that. Is it VFL or is it AFL? What's going to set Max up for success without the pressure? And it's probably maximizing, you know, what's the full capability, our list where we actually are with our power forward up and going is, because no, that will be better. He's numbers are really elite when you look at the games he's played and goals he's kicked. When we extended his contract on all the analytics, there'd only been one key thought at the same age that it surpassed him, and that was Buddy Franklin. So he's a high level talent, he's got strong character, good family, and he'll see the other side of this without no doubt. So you can imagine there's we've got some CUDA fans listening in, all over the place, there's sending messages, like you've unapologetically gone. That'd be fruit. No, no, actually this is a good time to get him. That's a good time to get him. You're right. You're right. Don't you, don't you, don't you, and Gary, you're fine. No, you've landed, you've landed the Koenig and Silver, and he flanders and Ryan unapologetically be beaten to table and strong-same. We want to compete, we need to compete. The system doesn't always land itself to being, you know, being able to attract the talent in the manner that you want. What can they expect? That's basically what they're sitting here wanting to hear. What can they expect this year, do you think? Yeah, well, we had a fun period at MCG, during the week with significant club supporters, and a bit of a fun raise, and again, they're really generous. And, but I was in the Bows at MCG, and we're in the race. I thought we'd be 85,000 heaving fans here. In 11 days, and you know, it goes from zero to 1,000 kilometres an hour. I remember like, Tony, you speak of that. Like, the Richmond Faithful, when you're fan, the St. Kille Faithful, when they're singing the stands, and they look down. Like, there is the scoreboard, but there's the scoreboard of effort. And every moment is just sort of screwed, and I was like, and what they want is, you know, effort and never giving up. And have a bit of a DNA and a trademark. So, I feel like over the last few years, like we've finalized in 23 with a young group. They haven't given up. We kept their spirit. So, as coaches, you're going to say, if you focus on wins and losses, I mean, it becomes debilitating. We all know we want to win. But ultimately, you're going to say in process, you've got to earn the right. You're going to earn your wins. And the only way to do those, trying to play like a great team, and that's our, we've got a fully committed group, a young group that's growing, and strong leadership. And certainly, we just want to be seen to be improving, to build habits that success just follows. We really want to create a way of being and doing. That results just take care of themselves, and they just flow. So, in our first game on the Gold Coast, you know, I was like, oh, what are we going to see? But things have been working on our pressure around the ball, you know, you know, you know, getting the ball back off the opposition, our front half defense. That was all stronger, and our ball moment was quicker. So, there are the things we like to bring to the table. But at this point, it's very hard to determine where exactly that's at. Now, here are all the other coaches, so that you just don't know at this point. No, but when do you get a sense, I guess, do you get a sense within the group? Like, sometimes, you know, we've all played, and when it was players, you can, you understand pretty much where you're at, and sometimes, you know, that a final's appearance is going to be absolutely best case scenario. Other years you're going knowing that anything but a grand final will be. Do you get a sense this group? I've got this shoulders back a little bit. When you look through the list, and you've got Windhager and Travaliere, and Owens, and Flanders, and Joins, and you've got Nazoar, and he's best. You've got the flying bike in them back. I mean, do you get a sense that they truly believe now is their time to make a run? Well, they know we've built a foundation over three years, and ultimately that's all it is three years. But we've shifted a hell of a lot of dirt, and I think we're the six younger, see if you go now, but if you go shared experience out of all the young, like, oh, close to young, although still young, but we've got more experience into our, you know, one to three-year players or four-year players. So, that's in good shape, and we're brought in, if we're in the boot, brought in those four, and those four don't play. Like, we're still sitting in the top four, bottom four, four age experience. So, there's no doubt we're going to benefit from the investment in the last three years, and we're going to benefit from experience, performance, and capability being brought in. We know we've improved, but, I mean, you can't say it's still the running Premier Board in two, two free agents are elite, and none more in kid in the country. So, everyone goes, we're all in with four, and a back-to-back Premier is, what are they with three? I'm not too sure. Like, it's a kind of competition, but we expect to improve, we want to improve, and what I can go into to say, this is a fully committed young group led really well by a handful of experienced players that, you know, they're dedicated. You're the dedicated or you're not, and this group, they're dedicated, but they're hungry to improve. So, we're certainly not going to lack for willingness and desire. Talking to Russ Lines and Kierter Coach, one of those recruits is Liam Ryan. Now, we know that he's a prodigious talent. Do you need to sit down before you recruit somebody like Liam Ryan, or anyone for that matter? Do you need to sit down and eyeball them? Do you need to have that face-to-face contact one-on-one before you're satisfied that they're going to be the right type of blight for you? Yeah, 100%. It's longer than an hour. It's very hard for people to hide who they are, when it goes longer than an hour. So, yeah, I did sit down with Liam. He's very bubbly and gai-ging family man. And then it's all the references in the background for people you trust. You know, and over the years, I've learned some harsh lessons. I was so flippant, but sometimes you want to believe what, you know, because the outcome you desire. So, and a few times my radar was not where it should have been. I still went with it. So, to be honest, if I sit there my radar from here is not right. I just pull the boom down to be honest. I go, "No for mine." So, but he was a complete opposite. We've got a really good strong First Nations group, we're Bradley Hill. And he's just come and lit the club up. He's a character. He's bubbly. And he's an incredible son. He's virtually, as he come out of rehab, he hasn't missed. And we've got the clips where he's off-ball work. He's running and seeing out. Actually, I actually said to the, you know, it's taken me by surprise a little bit because I think we all see the flying rye and the marks and the goals and the class. But he's worked without the balls, taking me by surprise and he's of a really high level. Philapu was, he's a big talent. And we loved the way he came in. He was young when he came in. And then he's had injuries which would frustrate the hell out of him. He looked to be running on top of the ground in that first game. And what's your expectations for him this year? Yeah, Gary, I agree. He played really well. No, no, no, no, no, no, but bigger challenges to come. But I was just speaking, he's maturing before our eyes. He's into his fourth year now. And he's a curious kid, you know, he want to go down to rabbit hole. He's got to figure it out himself. So he's wanting to have a lot of rabbit holes because he's just trying to find the needs. And but he's really nailing the basics on his preparation. It took Brendan Goddard's very similar type athlete and Brendan Goddard to get his playing weight and what skinnies, you know, because they can go up and down from 98 to 92 kilos, like really quickly. And it took BJ said it took him like three or four years and Philapu is the same sort of athlete. And he's just figured out like this is my weight. These are my skinnies and this is how I do it. So he's matured before our eyes. He was really exciting. And he's like, what he's just going to continue improving, just going to his fourth year. We know once you get to that 80 hundred game mark, you can really consistently impact and lead your club. So he's well on the way to that. Now, I know you've answered this question before, but that's not going to stop me from asking the question about the comments that Chris Fagan made about paying, you know, a lot of money, a lot of a lot of money for players. Like Alex, there leads 250 grand for 10 years. That was. He'd gone back a long way. How did you break my foot? What's the story coming with the swath? The Northern clubs have got short memories. Have you had a private conversation with Chris Fagan since the back and forth? No, what for? What for? No, and that's the other way to do that. And not at all. Not at all. And look, I see I responded in kind, but to the wider issue, to the wider issue, I took Ambridge. And then I love the flow. I like, I can't weaponize the media themselves. You know, against faceless institutions, not individual players. So, yeah, not really. I didn't enjoy them. I've said my piece. As we all know, you can't talk your way. That situation you've acted your way into. So look, I'll leave it with him. Do you feel like, sorry, just on this point though, do you feel like you're flying the flag for some of the Victorian based teams and fighting off sort of the might and the power and the advantages that perceived or real advantages that the Northern states are getting? No, not really. The data set. If you're, I mean, I know you get in the farm and you're going to bowl the red. Maybe you can get hold of the data set and have a good look and understand it. So, yeah, I'm, I certainly don't fight for any other clubs. But the facts make for themselves. I'm not dirty on anyone. We certainly don't personalize it. What the I fell is where it is because when it was dying, the commission was set up and they introduced a national draft. They introduced a sorry cap and it was adhered to and it wasn't even distribution of talent. It was set up. So talent that was identified to be a leap was distributed to the clubs in the bottom of the ladder so they could rise. And that occurred. And that's why nearly everyone had a run at it. Television rights went for the roof, competitive in this and crowds and but it's compromised now. That he's compromised now. So and we understand why because it's been for the expansion, toates and growth of the game. But at some point, you've got to recalibrate it. And I think it's a nonsense to think that, eston and calm, a lot of Melbourne clubs employ inferior administrator and boards and CEOs and coaches. I think that's a nonsense. I don't think there can be that big a gap in decision making. And we know it's not about insane at the opportunities. You got to know it. You got to know your draft. So and the draft was working and sometimes it takes time but and it takes a long period of time. You'll get richer in what Melbourne did with Petrac and Oliver and Martin and Cochin and they add and then you're going to make your right decisions and get the environment and the coaching and the system right. But there's a lot of variables but that competitive balance, the operating platform, is up for debate and strong debate. Rossi, it is a joy always to chat with you. We did drag you out a bit a little bit earlier. The biggest home in the way. No, no, you got the avot host there ready to go. Understand that 81,386 the biggest home in the way crowd. You're aiming to beat that next week. That's a brilliant time slot. It's a great weekend to sport. Hopefully the St Kilda fans get out there and you get 85,000 plus. It'll be magnificent. Yeah, it's going to be pretty special. The clubs invested heavily in zero ran and the players are coming to the party and you know they're concerned about an ambush but they've been a great team, apprenticeship team, premier. We should be the underdogs. We've got a lot to prove but we're going to be up for the fight. So employ, employ all Saints fans to get behind us. We'll be watching. Thanks for your time this morning. Thanks, guys. Thanks to you. It's Rossi Liner, always fantastic chat. It is a big game. If you're paying to be there, don't leave it like you take us now by take a take before we miss out and that's for Ian Reed, Byron, Winter and advocates. Did he give you a little clip on that? I think I think I was directed at all of us. No, that's a big clip for me. But across the way. I love the parting sentence here about actually just painting themselves as underdogs and the way through as well. Yeah, exactly. I love it. It's going to be a massive Sunday night. We've gone well over time. Let's take a break.