Toast Ross Lyon returns to St.Kilda #UnfinishedBusiness

[Circus]

Thanks Christopher, I imagined him as some battler. Didn't realise he was good enough for state duties. He was obviously a good standard.

Yep, he was also in the centre quite a lot. Not fast (leg speed) but composed under pressure. In those days, on those wet grounds, playing under the rules back then (not a lot of protection for the bloke going for the ball) you had to be tough and learn how to protect yourself. Ross was very good at doing that and played with some great players in that era. He certainly wasn't flashy which meant he was underrated compared to the influence he had on a game, but he was a very valuable player and could kick a goal.

 

[MordySaint]

View attachment 1542279

Look at the smile on the face of Mitchito Owens ... Star struck

 

[Hayes4PM]

 

[FQFjt]

Yeah though they had the pillars in Pavlich + Fyfe + Sandilands who were probably all better than anyone we have at the moment. Pav 6x AA, Fyfe 2x Brownlow + 3x AA, Sandilands 4x AA.

Then they had Neale, who wasn't a Brownlow Medallist/AA yet but obviously grew into that. Also McPharlin, Ballantyne, Mundy, Johnson, Walters all AA at some point in their careers either before or after that Grand Final.

Lots of B grade and even C grade players around them but they had plenty of quality.

Yep, no doubt their top end was better than ours, but it dropped off steeply and remarkably. I think our best team would be quite a lot more evenly spread.

 

[st deewhy]

Call me strange, someone at the club might of suggested the boys turn up in a club polo for the presser…. It’s the little things…


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

Use to love the relentless chasing & tackling that came with Ross's coaching, but not the constant holding up of, the ball. So, yes, as he has apparently stated in the presser. Run, Forest, run or Mars Attacks.

 

[dougiemac]

Opinion / Sport / Crikey

One of Australia’s oldest footy clubs is yet to modernise its governance​

Ross Lyon is set to return to St Kilda as coach, despite sexual harassment allegations in his wake.

ADAM SCHWAB
OCT 24, 2022

While ESG (environmental, social, and governance) has morphed from niche to mainstream in what seems like a hot minute, not all institutions have taken notice. AFL club St Kilda, for example, appears less concerned about the governance part.

When it comes to sporting horror stories, few challenge the sustained mediocrity of the foundation AFL club. While most long-running hoodoos have been broken in the past two decades — Boston’s Curse of the Bambino, Chicago’s Curse of Shoeless Joe, or, more locally, the droughts of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs — St Kilda’s run continues. Its sole premiership, by one point, was in 1966. Since then, the club has remained a never-ending governance and financial nightmare.

Last week, just months after re-signing former coach Brett Ratten, the club announced his termination. While surprising, the move wasn’t especially controversial. Due to the continuing ineptitude of AFL clubs making significant termination payments to sacked coaches, the league recently introduced a maximum six-month payout clause in contracts.

Within days of Ratten’s dismissal, media leaks started appearing suggesting the return of controversial former coach Ross Lyon. On Monday it was confirmed he would be returning to the club. Lyon left the Saints in difficult circumstances in 2011 before an initially successful, but ultimately disastrous, tenure at Fremantle. After four terrible years onfield, Lyon departed Fremantle amid alleged sexual harassment claims.

In 2018, Fox reported that “a hush-money payment of more than $100,000 to a former female staff member, which included a non-disclosure agreement, to settle a sexual harassment complaint”. It has also been reported Lyon told the woman he liked her “budding boobs” during a Fremantle club function. The woman was two months pregnant. She has previously alleged she was sexually harassed by Lyon when the then 51-year-old reportedly followed her throughout the event and made a series of inappropriate and crude remarks. Lyon has also had less relevant but well-publicised marital and financial issues in recent years.

But Lyon’s previous off- and onfield issues were quietly ignored by the male-dominated AFL media. Within hours of Ratten’s firing, former St Kilda great and media personality Brendon Goddard said on SEN that “there was ‘no reason’ why Lyon couldn’t walk back into Moorabbin after his infamous defection to Fremantle back in 2011”. The Herald Sun quickly followed suit, giving more credibility to the rumour. A few days later, the Nine papers reported Lyon’s comments that he was “very close” to signing up after his “heart’s been opened” — whatever that means.

While most AFL clubs take months to appoint a coach — forming subcommittees and appointing expert search firms like Egon Zehnder — Lyon went from disgraced former Fremantle coach to returning hero in the space of… five days.
How did this happen?

Five weeks earlier, former St Kilda president Lindsay Fox held his 85th birthday on a luxury yacht, ferrying the 400-person strong guest list from New York to Montreal. The guest list read as a who’s who of the Melbourne sporting, cultural and business elite. Attendees included property billionaire John Gandel, consultant and Carlton Football Club president Luke Sayers, infrastructure tsar Rod Eddington, Melbourne Mayor Sally Capp, Linfox board members Bill Kelty, Simon Crean and presenter Eddie McGuire. Also on board were current St Kilda president and popular SEEK founder and CEO Andrew Bassat, as well as St Kilda fan and large donor Gerry Ryan (who also shouted guests a private showing of his musical Moulin Rouge).

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Ratten’s tenure came to an end aboard that luxury yacht — with Ryan, Fox, Bassat and McGuire moving towards installing McGuire’s good mate Lyon (who also works for McGuire’s production business on the Footy Classified program). The media around the appointment was masterfully controlled by McGuire. Meanwhile, St Kilda’s newly appointed CEO overseeing the shambolic process is Simon Lethlean, himself no stranger to scandal.

The appointment of Lyon was even more controversial, given he had been overlooked for the coaching role at Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton — all three clubs undertook actual coaching professional independent appointment processes, but these didn’t take place on a six-star cruise charter.
While AFL football clubs are usually small in terms of revenue (most generate less than $100 million annually), their significant public presence has meant most have made strides towards professionalising their administration and governance. It appears that perennially struggling St Kilda remains the exception, where coaches are hired and fired by a cabal of elderly billionaires aboard a superyacht.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR​

Adam Schwab
COLUMNIST @LUX_SCHWAB
Adam Schwab is a former corporate lawyer, angel investor and the co-founder of Luxury Escapes, a Melbourne-based travel company. He has written for Crikey and SmartCompany since 2005, hosts the From Zero podcast, and is the author of Pigs at the Trough: Lessons from Australia’s Decade of Corporate Greed. He is a board member of Private Media, the publisher of Crikey.

"Corporate lawyer". Says it all.

 

[Munga]

So you know how Ross mentioned he got emotional when presenting to the board?

I was told one of our board members apologised to him on behalf of the current board and those that were there before for what happened last time

I might be exaggerating a little, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hint of PTSD after the way it ended last time. As he said, he put up a wall, could only go past Moorabbin once, his heart opening up again, the emotional return after the old hierarchy had left. "Unfinished Business", yes... but also, "Wounds Healed". Recenty, this club has gone a long way, in many areas, to healing past wounds. Ross isn't the only one a little misty-eyed. Get aboard, my fellow Sainters!

 

[George]

A picture paints a thousand words. Compare and contrast Hayes with Hunter.

I'm big on non-verbal cues.

The arms crossed usually shows a sign of strength, resoluteness, determination. Jack Hayes and Mitch Owens have it pictured all over them.

Hands in pockets show nervousness, uncertainty, uncomfortable. Billings.

And any massaging or holding is used to dissipate stress. Self-pacifying gestures. A person who does this is uncomfortable, maybe even nervous or fearful. Clark & Paton.


Looking forward to 2023!

 

[Munga]

I include finals, shouldn’t I? They count towards a coaches total games normally, I would have thought.

Yes my bad, buddy

 

[gringo2011]

Yeah though they had the pillars in Pavlich + Fyfe + Sandilands who were probably all better than anyone we have at the moment. Pav 6x AA, Fyfe 2x Brownlow + 3x AA, Sandilands 4x AA.

Then they had Neale, who wasn't a Brownlow Medallist/AA yet but obviously grew into that. Also McPharlin, Ballantyne, Mundy, Johnson, Walters all AA at some point in their careers either before or after that Grand Final.

Lots of B grade and even C grade players around them but they had plenty of quality.

Very similar to the Saints with a nice top order but dropped away to role players after that. Ross Lyon made a lot of those players who went from good to excellent under him.

 

[Mowman]

Call me strange, someone at the club might of suggested the boys turn up in a club polo for the presser…. It’s the little things…


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

you're strange

 

[PoppedCorn]

Flat out at work and I’m hearing Harvs back too


!!!

 

[Verdun66]

Just watched the Press Conference. Makes me want to run out on to the ground right now and get stuck in. Very inspiring and the sort of thing that we have missed.

Going to be tough but this journey is going to be a real ride.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Look at the smile on the face of Mitchito Owens ... Star struck

That's Allison

 

[Red White Black]

"I know we can run. The running game is here and it's here to stay" - Ross Lyon

Hunter Clarke

 

[pebblesofsand]

I think it's permissible on the double 's'. However, what really gets under my starched collar is the misuse of the possessive apostrophe on the single 's' for a non-plural word. For example, Les' incorrectly used instead of Les's. It's a common sight nowadays and is representative of a wider decline in standards.

I would, of course, give some leeway to Australians on these things, but it's unforgivable from an Englishman and should lead to being blackballed from the golf club.

Anyway, what we were talking about?

According to my English teacher (and I do acknowledge it was a bloody long time ago so I maybe confused) the use or non use of a possessive apostrophe with an additional "s" after a name ending in "s" is determined by whether you would pronounce the last "s" or not.

The example she gave was that Socrates' thoughts was right but Socrates's thoughts was wrong.

And if you do pronounce the additional "s" then you can use either as in Ross' thoughts and Ross's thoughts which is not not what you, our resident English gentleman, is saying.

Help!!!

 

[gringo2011]

Call me strange, someone at the club might of suggested the boys turn up in a club polo for the presser…. It’s the little things…


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

Apparently they struggle to turn up on time. Baby steps.

 

[Sun Ra]

I'm big on non-verbal cues.

The arms crossed usually shows a sign of strength, resoluteness, determination. Jack Hayes and Mitch Owens have it pictured all over them.

Hands in pockets show nervousness, uncertainty, uncomfortable. Billings.

And any massaging or holding is used to dissipate stress. Self-pacifying gestures. A person who does this is uncomfortable, maybe even nervous or fearful. Clark & Paton.


Looking forward to 2023!

WRONG you idiot. Body language experts will tell you listening to something with your arms crossed means you are not into what
you are being sold. It's defensive and closed off. Go back to OH&S training man. The two in the front row with their arms by their
side are "open" to what they're hearing. The guy on the end - far right - maybe Paton, who is scratching his chin, is saying "WTF ?"
The one in the second row with his hand on his junk is super into it.

 

[Captain Paddy]

My mates are giving me shit for being excited.

Laughing that Harvs isn’t a good coach.

We’re going back to the past that didn’t work. Getting back all St.Kilda people who couldn’t win themselves.

They just don’t understand that it’s more about bringing back St.Kilda people to actually give us an identity.

These are people that REALLY know what it means to be St.Kilda. They understand the history and have the passion. That’s something that has been lacking for 10 years.

We’ve been a shell of a club.

Outside of that, Ross is proven to be an elite coach. Since he left we’ve had two “nice guys” and half a season of Watters being an angry Ant and pissing off genuine club legends and ripping the soul out of the club.

I’m so full of hope.

 

[Verdun66]

Windhager the new Coach’s pet. Love it.

 

[George]

WRONG you idiot

Was there any need for that

 

[gringo2011]

My mates are giving me s**t for being excited.

Laughing that Harvs isn’t a good coach.

We’re going back to the past that didn’t work. Getting back all St.Kilda people who couldn’t win themselves.

They just don’t understand that it’s more about bringing back St.Kilda people to actually give us an identity.

These are people that REALLY know what it means to be St.Kilda. They understand the history and have the passion. That’s something that has been lacking for 10 years.

We’ve been a shell of a club.

Outside of that, Ross is proven to be an elite coach. Since he left we’ve had two “nice guys” and half a season of Watters being an angry Ant and pissing off genuine club legends and ripping the soul out of the club.

I’m so full of hope.

People are worried that we've forgotten out place. **** them.

 

[gringo2011]

Was there any need for that

Celebratory breakfast whiskey?

 

[George]

Celebratory breakfast whiskey?

He flip-flops more than Bassat did the past month. Must be a key character flaw of all boomers.