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Lyon Says Saints’ Tackling Delivered

04 Apr 2009

ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon has praised the effort of his side after its 32-point win over Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

The Saints held off an Adelaide resurgence early in the final term to run out comfortable winners after dominating contested possession throughout the game.

It backed up another hard-fought win against Sydney last week in which the Saints’ man-on-man strategy allowed them to control the midfield.

“Our effort was really good and that allowed our system and structures to stand up and kick in. The focus was on tackling, pressure and contested ball and we delivered on that,” Lyon said after the game.

“We kicked 15 goals and were pretty efficient and defended reasonably [which allowed] the balance of attack and defence to be there.

“We felt we were second to the ball a bit, especially in the third quarter, but sometimes teams that handball a lot invite tackles, but if you don’t tackle you can get hurt pretty quickly.”

However, Lyon refused to get carried away with the team and individual performances just two games into the season.

“We know it’s [the season] a rollercoaster. There are plenty of teams like Sydney and Adelaide last year that won a lot early and then had a bit of a slump. It’s a really long year, it’s a marathon.

“It’s difficult after a game [to analyse individual players] when it’s too chaotic and we’re all wound up. I’m loath to individualise because I thought it was a real weight of numbers performance and an across-the-board contribution.

“If you can’t do that you can’t win games of footy interstate.”

Lyon said the club’s capacity to deliver on competitiveness and work hard to close the gap on the likes of Geelong and Hawthorn is important, but also recognised the importance of getting its own structures right.

“We’re more focused on ourselves and looking to deliver on being competitive and tweaking it to make sure we can bridge the gap to the best.

“It’s been the focus over the summer to work hard and prepare the bodies, but it’s not about size and shape, it’s about attitude and at the moment we’re delivering on attitude.

“We’ll move on, prepare and take the four points. It’s no more, no less and it is pleasing to come interstate and win against what we view as a really strong team.”

Source: www.saints.com.au

St Kilda's Jason Gram tackles Adelaide's Tyson Edwards

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