ROSS Lyon doesn't do rebuilds.
He can't even bring himself to use the word.
Three weeks ago when he very cleverly took control of the public narrative on his still-winless Fremantle Dockers and wrote off the 2016 AFL season, there were references to a re-stump, a rewire, a re-plumb. But not a rebuild.
EXCLUSIVE: Giants, Dockers meet about McCarthy
We've all bought his spin, too. While Nathan Buckley and Damien Hardwick have been left to deal with public carnage emanating from their own seasons from hell, Lyon, whose season is worse, is free to use the remaining 15 matches to set up the final four years of his fresh five-year deal to coach the Dockers.
Nat Fyfe is badly injured. Lyon doesn't want to see him until next year. Aaron Sandilands got smashed in round three. Lyon would be happy if he didn't play for a very long time. Michael Johnson has damaged a hamstring again. Lyon is content he won't be seen on an AFL venue for months, and is probably analysing if he can trust Johnson's body to be part of his plans.
Rest assured, Lyon won't be doing a St Kilda or Melbourne-style retreat from top-of-ladder pursuits.
He will be planning throughout the remainder of 2016 to win the 2017 premiership.
Lyon is way too smart to leave himself open to allegations of tanking, yet he is way too smart not to fully use the planets-aligning situation of the Fyfe-Sandilands-Johnson injuries to ensure his team finishes the year among the bottom three teams.
As it stands, the Dockers, the only winless club this year after winning the first nine games of 2015 and 16 of the first 18 before securing the minor premiership, possess the first pick in the national draft.
That pick could have been in the possession of GWS had the Giants opted to trade out the disgruntled Cam McCarthy at the end of last year. The Dockers' first-round draft pick for 2016 was on the table as part of that potential deal.
McCarthy, the ultra-talented yet highly troubled 21-year-old who remains contracted to GWS through to the end of 2017, will probably end up at Fremantle in the next player exchange period.
Just as Lyon has now taken control of the public narrative of his dreadfully performing team, McCarthy's future is in the Dockers coach's hands.
Two first-round draft picks – one from each of 2015 and 2016 – were on offer in October for McCarthy last year.
It would not surprise if the Dockers offered nothing more than a third-round pick in 2016. And there's not much the Giants could do to challenge that. Having refused all overtures last year to trade him, they know they cannot keep him on their list.
McCarthy is desperate to live in Perth. Sitting out of football this year is proof of that, and with West Coast content with Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling holding down key position forward line posts, it's unlikely the Eagles will provide the type of competitive tension required for GWS to get a lucrative return for him.
GWS, having spent some time talking McCarthy down, is now talking him up, aware it needs to do so in order to get something worthwhile for him.
The Dockers would be better with McCarthy, who managed 29 goals from the first 12 matches last year before his form fell away for a variety of reasons.
As well as a decision to make on McCarthy, Fremantle needs to make calls on its own senior players. Chris Mayne, Michael Barlow, Zac Clarke, Nick Suban, Matt de Boer and Garrick Ibbotson and others loom as appealing options for rival clubs in the trade period.
Lyon desperately wants to keep the off-contract Lachie Neale. He has a very soft spot for him. But not at any price. Neale would likely command a top-12 draft pick. Neale staying a Docker would assist Lyon's plans. So too would two picks inside the top 12 in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft.
For Neale's management, there will be a tipping point. And as Luke Ball discovered at the end of 2009, Lyon has ice in his veins.
Lyon exited St Kilda after 2011 when a rebuild looked too daunting and he felt – with good reason – he was not being respected enough by those who ran the club.
There's no comparison with what he's experiencing now. Unlike 2011, when he retrieved a terrible start with the Saints to make the finals before walking out, Lyon is simply not bothering with September pursuits in 2016.
And with four years to run on a contract beyond this year, he's simply using 2016 to make 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 the best they possibly can be.
Twitter: @barrettdamian
