PRESS ROOM

Effort Was the Key to Comeback: Lyon

28 Jun 2008

ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon was delighted with the leadership exhibited by his players in Saturday night's gutsy 15-point win over North Melbourne at Gold Coast Stadium.

“Our leaders stood up – Riewoldt, Harvey and Hudghton – and our emerging leaders like Montagna and Dal Santo really lifted,” Lyon said.

“You can call it effort, spirit, resolve, whatever -- but their actions were really positive. They didn’t worry about the result, they just kept giving everything.”

On an evening where his players showed plenty of resolve, the coach too was willing to stand up and be counted.

The almost painful first quarter where the Saints played with less and less confidence and failed to kick a goal stopped with him.

“I take responsibility for the first quarter,” he said. “I think they (the players) misconstrued some instructions and that made it seem hesitant and unaccountable at times.

“There were a few turnover goals in the back 50 and that made us shaky and hesitant, but I took full responsibility and said ‘look, if you fix this, this and this, we’ll get going.

“To their credit they started to win the contested ball and lifted their tackling pressure and I thought we moved the ball forward a lot more quickly which enabled us to score.”

The Saints’ willingness to run at their opponents and take them on proved telling in the finish, pushing them into the top eight going into the split round bye.

“We’re really trying to improve our own football,” Lyon said when asked about a finals push over the second half of the season. “We’re not focused on results. Once you start to do that you can tighten up and lose your way and forget what’s important to get the result.”

One of the more pleasing aspects of the win was the form of Stephen Milne and Nick Dal Santo, who rebounded from their omission to the reserves last week to play starring roles in the last quarter surge.

“The numbers look a bit better. They had some simple focuses,” Lyon said of his charges. “They gave effort in the VFL team last week that allowed us to pick them. They worked on a few things and I thought we saw a benefit for them and the team.”

Despite having won their last two matches, Lyon is happy for his players to be taking a break.

“No doubt,” he said. “I think every club will take the break. We’ve got (Lenny) Hayes [who]will definitely be back now.

“(Adam) Schneider was touch and go, and (Steven) Baker’s a really important one and he’s getting closer. Even Koschitzke coming back off that the knee will get two weeks off.”

Having disposed of one top eight rival in the form of North Melbourne, the Saints come out of the break against another close rival on the ladder, Carlton.

“We run into a red hot Carlton. They’ve won seven of their last 10 and they get Judd back. It’s going to be a really big game but one we’re really excited about,” Lyon said.

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Effort Was the Key to Comeback: Lyon

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