Ross Lyon’s age-old argument

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

ROSS Lyon has the most successful home-and-away record ahead of any of the game's great coaches.

He has a 67 per cent winning ratio in the qualifying rounds, ahead of the great Jock McHale at Collingwood with 65 per cent and Hawthorn and St Kilda legend Allan Jeans at 63 per cent.

But so far premierships have eluded him.

Lyon has taken the Dockers into three consecutive finals series including an historic first grand final and he also steered the Saints into three title play-offs, with a traumatic tie with Collingwood and replay in 2010.

Will this be his year?

He speaks with PerthNow's chief AFL writer KIM HAGDORN.

KH: How close do you think you will be to a preferred best 22 against Port Adelaide in Round 1?

RL: That's the aim. We're still figuring out what our best 22 is. I don't know what our best 22 is and there's been some really good summers by a lot of people and if they can take their opportunities over the next three to four weeks I always say players pick the team, we don't. It's going to be whether (Matt) Taberner and (Michael) Apeness and (Jonathon) Griffin and (Zac) Clarke and (Tommy) Sherridan and (Hayden) Crozier are in, who all had great summers. The only one we've got a little bit of doubt with is (Zac) Dawson, but other than that we're pretty fit and healthy. He's just got some groins that overheated that we're trying to get back on top of and he's started to go quite well also.

KH: How do you propose to improve your scoring this season?

RL: It's an intention for everyone. Scoring has become a lot more difficult. I think at the back of the (last) year we improved some stuff anyway. So we just continue on in the same vein. We've certainly structured up our goalkicking program. We're more accountable with the bio mechanist involved. We're not going to re-invent the wheel, but with our system and development coaches we've wobbled around a little bit so we've got dedicated resources and the assistant coaches aren't the primary source of that any more. It's a natural progression of winning more contested ball, winning more clearances, having more entries and so hopefully that will take care of it.

Ross Lyon after his side's finals exit in 2014. Picture: Simon Cross Source: News Corp Australia

KH: Is it about improved scoring or better accuracy in your goalkicking?

RL: It's all aspects of the game. You can't ignore the contest and you can't ignore defence. But you got to try to strike a balance. Last year we were two (defence) and seven (scoring) and in goals scored we were number five, which means there was 13 behind us. But clearly Hawthorn put a defensive gap to every team. Hawthorn put three goals (difference) on everyone and we're all trying to catch them.

KH: How much will you change your style of play to stay in touch with some of the influential trends in the game, set by premiers Hawthorn?

RL: Yeah, you'd be crazy not to look at them and see if you can learn some things off what they do. But it's pretty difficult just to mimic people. We're trying to build to our strengths. We saw Aaron (Sandilands) forward a little bit more, (Nat) Fyfe played forward a little bit more. Sometimes it's just taking opportunities.

KH: Ball movement in games appears to be getting faster, what have you done over summer to stay in touch with that trend?

RL: I dispute that a little bit. I'm not sure if that's actual fact. D-50 rebound is not an indicator of success. It's about getting the ball in midfield and scoring off the midfield possessions. But certainly D-50 rebound is only 10 per cent of scoring. It's retention. I think Hawthorn are very good at going slow. There's time to go slow and there's times to go quick. It's harder than you think for teams to go quickly all the time. I think what's been promoted from some analysts, is that its run-and-gun. But the reality is you need to go fast at certain times and you go slow, depending on what the opposition is doing. I certainly think it's about decision making and that's where experience comes in. Players understand where we go quick and where we go slow. We've got to get better at decisions.

KH: How do you replicate goalkicking in finals pressure to improve efficiency in scoring on the biggest stages?

RL: Well you just try to practise under match conditions as much as you can.

KH: What is the likelihood for quick movers such as Stephen Hill and Danyle Pearce playing bigger roles as you break away from congestion or plus-one players to move the ball quicker into scoring range?

RL: What do you mean plus-one?

KH: Just that extra player behind the ball and around defence.

RL: We don't tend to play seven-man defences.

KH: Aren't they the roles that Garrick Ibbotson or Michael Johnson play behind the ball?

RL: They're not seven-man defences. They're half-backs and teams try and open you and at times they've let their man go. So I haven't really thought about Pearce and Hill playing to be truthful. But it's something to think about.

KH: Marking and playing on last season you ranked 12th. Could we see some change there and that Fremantle could mark and play on quicker to get the ball moving into your forward zone quickly?

RL: We don't really understand sometimes what that stat is at times. Look, it's something we will look at. I think we improved our (forward) entries a bit last year didn't we. We had (average) 50 entries and some games we were quite dominant. It all depends on how well you play … and the opposition.

Ross Lyon doesn't see his team sliding down the AFL table. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

KH: You've declared a review in recruiting and talent scouting. What effect has that had so far?

RL: Well (chief executive) Steve Rosich actually clarified those comments. We continuously review, it's nothing new. I think it's quite simple, we can dance around the edges but at the minute Col Sylvia is not working out. So we're not going to shy away from that and clearly we would like that to be working out better. Why isn't it? Why hasn't the fit worked? So I just said we'll go back and have a good look at it to try and prevent that happening in future. That's self evident. All clubs do that. It's not a new review, it's letting our members and fans know that we do review and we will try and avoid situations that don't work out for us. It worked out with Danyle Pearce who's been super and we had expectations for Col the same and it hasn't worked out that way.

KH: Why didn't Colin Sylvia play in your intra-club practice match last Saturday?

RL: For the same reason that he's at Peel.

KH: Who is responsible for recruiting Colin Sylvia?

RL: We don't work in individual decision-making. We've got a list management committee, so at the end of the day everyone that sits within that made a collective decision. Based on all of our due diligent information, we thought we were making the right decision. Hopefully it turns out. So there's no witch hunt there. To say that, does anyone take individual accountability for Danyle Pearce? No. Does anyone take individual responsibility for Lachie Neale? Cam Sutcliffe? It doesn't work like that. We don't go on witch hunts for individuals.

KH: What do you expect from Anthony Morabito this year?

RL: Just what I expect from every player. To give effort and train. Clearly he's had some unique challenges. It's not a good story is it? But what is a good story, is the quality of a person he is with his resilience. He's had a cartilage repair at the end of the year to look after his long term health, because cartilage are really important as you get on in life to cushion you and protect your joints. We went the conservative approach and it didn't quite work out. It's manageable, he's a bit behind but I love seeing him at the club and we get along really well and he's training really well. But it's not about setting expectations. I just want to see him really healthy and happy. He's going to be behind in the first half of the year, but for our fans and members hopefully he can get going in the second half. I certainly don't want to place any burden on him.

KH: Is Aaron Sandilands your most important player with such a high priority on winning the ball from stoppages and congestion?

RL: I don't get into that. I heard that in 2013. No Sandilands, no Pavlich, no Dockers. This is what I have learnt. Everyone wants to write your story in the AFL. Set expectations and who's going to win it. I see teams written off all the time and teams pumped up. All I know is write your own story through working hard and then it tends to take care of everything else. There's people been trying to write the story for the Dockers for years and they can be positive and negative. But you shouldn't take any of the external opinions. I think it's an important part of the game, but at the end of the day all you can be is crystal balling based on past performance. I live in a world of working hard every day and trying to improve. If that's not good enough, we all get judged. That's the way it works.

Zac Clarke is another ruck option for the Dockers. Source: News Corp Australia

KH: How do you handle and manage the oldest list in the competition?

RL: Look, I think Nathan Fyfe has won our last two Doig medals and Stephen Hill came third this year, so we think our 25 and unders sit in the top four (ranking) in the competition for games played and the amount of quality. If anything it's exciting. So the question of how do we handle 29-year-olds, I think people are writing the story that at 29 you're decrepit and old and I find that you're actually in the peak of your powers at 29. And the oldest list in the competition is by degrees. I went on the AFL website and Sydney the last two years has been the oldest or second oldest and I think they've lost three players and they're now the fifth eldest. So it changes pretty quick. I don't get caught up with age and people writing stories about how old we are. The reality is there's been a strategic move. In 2008 we were the oldest list, paid maximum salary cap and we finished on the (14th) bottom. So there was a strategic move to keep our quality and go to the draft table and stay within the confinements of Gold Coast in (competition) and GWS, so it was a really difficult time to rebuild a list. A lot of people probably thought it couldn't be done as effectively as it has. The reality is that you need to get 80 to 100 games into about 14-plus players to be really competitive at the really pointy end of the year. We're not uncomfortable. I think a lot of clubs want to be in this position.

KH: Will this be a season where there is a lot of development for the apparent replacements for Pavlich, McPharlin and Sandilands?

RL: Well I think you've seen that in the last couple of years. At the end of the day Taberner played two finals last year. He's 196cm off the rookie list. Lee Spurr came off the rookie list and our fourth-year players all played in my first year as their first year. They've all played finals, Sheridan, Crozier, Sutcliffe and Lachie Neale and they're very talented young players. Our 23 or 24-year-olds are Zac Clarke, Clancee Pearce, Nat Fyfe, Stephen Hill and the list goes on. Are we the perfect list, I don't know. But it changes very quickly. I remember three years ago when I first got here, West Coast were premiership favourites and that's the story everyone was writing for them.

KH: How long can Sandilands, Pavlich and McPharlin keep playing?

RL: That's something I haven't given any thought to. That will take care of itself at the right time.

Luke McPharlin is playing on again in 2015. Source: News Corp Australia

KH: Will they all have managed and reduced playing schedules this season?

RL: It's been flagged from a lot of people. Aaron is good when he works and plays and Matthew is good when he works and plays. I'm on public record that Luke will be assessed at the halfway mark, because he's obviously the one that has struggled at the (seasons) back end. But it depends on circumstances. If it's medium, decondition for four weeks and then it puts him under pressure. So, Luke's the obvious one at the halfway mark if we're going really well, we will try and identify some opportunities and if we're not going really well, maybe Alex Pearce plays.

KH: Do you expect any bolters from outside last year's final top eight to contend for this year's top four?

RL: I think anything is possible, anyone could. Other clubs don't interest me that much.

KH: Who do you model your coaching on? You played under David Parkin and coached with him and you coached alongside Paul Roos.

RL: Just myself. Be yourself. That's the best advice I could give to anyone. But you learn everywhere you go. You learn what to do and what not to do in your eyes doesn't mean you're right or wrong. Anyone can coach AFL football. It's how well you do it.

KH: You appear a career coach. What sort of incentive is there for you to still be coaching Fremantle on the opening occasions of Perth's new Stadium in 2018?

RL: As boring as I am, it's not something I think about. I stay in the moment. I practise what we preach. Did I ever think I'd coach St Kilda? No. Did I ever think I'd be coaching Fremantle? No. I never feel comfortable, I always feel under pressure to perform and I think it keeps me hungry. I don't day dream too much. Everyone has got their own model, some people do, some people don't and is it a strength or a weakness, I don't know. I just think of what I've got to do next. My planning is about how do we improve, how do our young players improve. My focus is on becoming a better manager. I've delegated a lot better over the summer to all of the assistants (coaches) but that comes with trust and competencies and character. We don't have a senior assistant (coach). That doesn't exist at our footy club. I think that's really important that everyone understands that and my coaches are equal and then there's the development coaches. We're a pretty flat structure, there's me and a flat structure of eight that have great equality. I think it's about becoming a better coach and I think I'm a better coach and manager than I've ever been and if I do that 2018 will take care of itself.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Ross Lyon’s age-old argument

Dengan url

http://beritaolahragakuat.blogspot.com/2015/02/ross-lyonas-age-old-argument.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Ross Lyon’s age-old argument

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Ross Lyon’s age-old argument

sebagai sumbernya