Fremantle

Sacking a coach is never easy.  It takes tact, time and diplomacy.  You have to consult with the players, the rest of the coaching staff, the board and also take on board what the members want.  Then there’s the Fremantle way: just hire a new coach while the old one is on holidays.

So it is that Fremantle enter season 2012 without the very likeable Mark Harvey, in favour of the far less likeable Ross Lyon.  What we know of Ross Lyon after his time as coach of St Kilda is the following:

• He likes to be very boring in press conferences;
• He likes his football to be as boring as his press conferences;
• His players like to date school girls;
• His players like to take nude photos of each other;
• His players are happy enough just to turn up to grand finals.

With a record like that it is hard to see why Fremantle didn’t try and poach him sooner.

Since moving to Fremantle, Lyon has surrounded himself with brand-name assistant coaches such as Michael Prior, Simon Lloyd and Mark Stone, who are no doubt ‘kind of a big thing’ around the Fremantle Footy club.  One assistant who stands out is dual premiership forward Peter Sumich who some may remember for gifting Collingwood a grand final in 1990 when he missed a shot at goal from 2 meters out – an act punishable by death in most states but not, apparently, in Western Australia. 

So how are Lyon and his band of assistants travelling?  After 9 rounds last season, under the likeable Mark Harvey, Fremantle had won 5 games, lost 3 and had 1 bye.  Under Ross Lyon Fremantle has managed 5 wins and 4 losses, which is probably not the return the board would be after, having set fire to a whole heap of good will in sacking a really, really likeable guy who still had a year to run on his contract.  But Fremantle and Lyon have a bond that ties them in their love of astute recruiting.  Champion players Andrew McLeod, Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas were all passed over in Fremantle’s infancy, with the club instead trading for the likes of Tony Delaney (28 games for Fremantle), Chris Groom (seven) and Todd Ridley (21).  In 2010 Lyon let Luke Ball go to Collingwood for free and traded the Saints first round pick for Andrew Lovett who played an impressive zero games for the Sainters. 

So time still has to wait to tell the full story of the marriage between Ross Lyon and Freo.  One thing is for sure, the rest of the AFL’s clubs will be looking carefully at Freo’s leftovers during trade week.

Senior Coach:          Ross Lyon

Assistant Coach:      Michael Prior

Assistant Coach:      Peter Sumich

Assistant Coach:      Simon Lloyd

Stoppages Coach:    Mark Stone