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Proud Lyon Rues Blown Chances

26 September 2009

ST KILDA'S dominant 20-win season won the club many accolades throughout the year, but it counted for nothing at the end of an epic grand final that left coach Ross Lyon pondering what might have been.

The Saints looked to have one hand on the premiership cup on several occasions during the hotly-contested grand final only to have some key missed opportunities come back to haunt them as Geelong rallied to a stunning 12-point victory.

An emotional Lyon – close to tears at the start of his post-match press conference – proudly stood behind his players after the heart-breaking finale to their season.

"Obviously it's an emotional day and I see my boys hurting," Lyon said.

"I can't question their effort and their commitment. They gave themselves an opportunity so obviously I'm upset for them and I'm upset for the club."

Lyon was guarded on the specifics of his post-match address to his players, but admitted he felt their pain in the aftermath of the gut-wrenching defeat.

"I think we all saw their effort. We did a lot right, [but] I thought we had opportunities we didn’t take," Lyon said.

"A lot of people put in a lot of work and it's a lot of work to get back here so it is a little bit overwhelming. In saying that I don't think we crumbled under the grand final heat.

"All credit to Geelong – we left the door ajar and they took their opportunity. It's pretty simple really.

"If you want to be the best you've got to execute…it's pretty simple."

Lyon wouldn't be drawn on specific moments that he felt were particularly costly, but there were several instances in the first half where his forward line failed to finish the good work of their midfield teammates.

"I thought we had periods where we controlled the game, no doubt," Lyon said.

"When the [forward 50] entries are 37-15 at half-time you've had a reasonable go at it, haven't you?

"The second quarter was the dominant quarter and we would have liked a little bit more reward, but to Geelong's credit they fought on like caged lions and never gave up the ghost.

"They persisted and persisted until it turned their way and that's what great sides do."

Lyon expressed the hope that his players would use the pain of the grand final defeat to motivate them for a 2010 season in which they would have to dig deep to take their game to yet another level.

"In simple terms we're a better team and we're a better club than where we were at the end of '08 and that's the aim again next year," he said.

"There's a role model in front of us about the work that needs to be done and the improvement that we need to do to try and get hold of what we want.

"We challenge them pre-season to grow and improve and in simple terms there have been a number of individuals that have gone to that next level in their football and we'll need a lot of players to improve again. The only constant in AFL football is change.

"We'll leave no stone unturned to get better. I can't give you a figure of how much we've improved but clearly we've improved."

Source: www.saints.com.au

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon addresses his players during Saturday's grand final

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