ROSS Lyon has revealed deep regret for trading Luke Ball from St Kilda to Collingwood at the end of 2009.
In E2 of The Coach with Damian Barrett, Lyon has again opened up with incredible honesty on the big issues which shaped his time as an AFL player and coach.
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Of Ball's departure, Lyon conceded the Saints failed to properly utilise Ball in the second half of the 2009 Grand Final, lost narrowly to Geelong, but also incredibly suggested the Pies' Grand Final success in 2010, against his team, was partly due to Ball's information sharing.
"He took some IP (intellectual property), with Max Hudghton (as an assistant coach) to help teach the press to Collingwood, and their talent was very strong," Lyon said.
"Clarko (Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson) started that mobile grid and we did a bit of work and turned it into a strong press, and Collingwood hadn't done it very well in 2009, but in 2010, they became good."
Pressed further on what he meant by the transfer of intellectual property, Lyon said: "I could see the St Kilda peoples' works, and Clarko's as well, and they adjusted very quickly and they became a great defensive team as well.
"It was a fine line, wasn't it (the Saints drew with the Pies in the Grand Final of 2010, then got belted in the replay)? They dominated (the replay), they were the best team the whole year."
Lyon also spoke openly of:
- Matt De Boer's sacking from Fremantle … "he could have been captain (of Fremantle) or a great support to (Nathan) Fyfe"
- Andrew Lovett's recruitment by St Kilda … "an unmitigated disaster"
- Jesse Hogan's time at Fremantle
- His second year as a player, in 1986 … "I remember mum was in the driveway. I broke down and cried and I said, 'I'm done, I've had enough'."
And a week after he revealed his family's cat, Ruby, had survived a 90-minute washing machine cycle 10 years ago, Lyon recalled another Ruby story – the day he climbed a ladder in underwear "with my guts hanging out" to rescue her from a tree in Fremantle.
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