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a veteran St Kilda mentor Ross Lyon believes that restrictions on AFL runners delivering messages on the field make coaches feel like “neutered dogs.”
The Saints suffered their fourth loss in their last five games against Hawthorn on Saturday in Launceston, going down by five points in a poor contest.
Lyon, who guided St Kilda to sixth place last season after several years away as head coach, admitted the criticism was likely after an “ordinary” performance.
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He also expressed frustration with the restrictions placed on runners texting players on the field.
After consultation with clubs, the league relaxed the rules for runners for 2024, allowing them to send messages four times per quarter plus after each goal.
But Lyon thinks the rules should be relaxed further.
“After we got back into coaching, there’s a lot of pressure on us. There is a lot of pressure on me,” he said.
“I’m happy for the AFL to hear that, it’s not an excuse.
“We had a lot of tight games. We get four messages a quarter and with three minutes to go you can’t send a runner – I get that.
“(But) in my previous iterations (as a head coach) you could almost use a runner at will.”
Lyon were not helped by their side scoring just seven goals and not making the most of their 50 entries.
“People say you score more goals and you get more opportunities, but it’s still limited. For my part, I find that incredibly disappointing,” he said.
“There will be a lot of coaches (who agree). We are like neutered dogs. You sit there and you see things and… you can’t fix them.”
“I don’t know what the (ideal) number is, but I would guess it’s more than four (per quarter).”
The AFL relaxed its rules on runners in 2020 after criticism from Lyon and other coaches including Luke Beveridge, Chris Fagan and John Longmire.
– AAP
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