Exclusive excerpt from The Saint Magazine 2011…
As he rallies his troops for another shot at glory in 2011, Senior Coach Ross Lyon expresses his pride in the team who once again made it through to the Toyota AFL Grand Final, despite the eventual disappointment of defeat.
“We faced a number of challenges, on and off the field” Lyon said. “The mental strength of the group to work their way through it and not only win a lot of football, but to enable themselves to still finish top four and win through to the Grand Final again was just outstanding.”
“To experience another Grand Final and draw it, as disappointing as it was, it was still a real achievement. To draw a Grand Final and then be part of history to replay it, obviously there was a sour taste in the way we finished, but we can’t forget the achievements of the group to get there.”
The unusual circumstances that surrounded only the third ever drawn (and replayed) AFL/VFL Grand Final, was just the final obstacle that Lyon and his men had to overcome after an eventful year.
For many Saints fans, there was nothing more horrifying than the image of Captain Nick Riewoldt clutching his hamstring in the second quarter of the Club’s Round 3 match against Collingwood. As supporters had their hearts in their mouths awaiting their Captain’s fate, the coaching department realised they were going to have their work cut out for them.
“Certainly if you think of what you didn’t want to happen, that was one of them” explained Lyon as he looked back to Riewoldt’s injury. “We stopped and started and tested a few things on the run, which ultimately meant we were trialing things but at the same time trying to win games of AFL football.”
“It was quite difficult, but we got going and won seven games in a row and gave ourselves a real opportunity.”
The Saint Magazine will be sent to all 2010 and current 2011 St Kilda members in early January. The 2011 edition includes a Captain’s Interview, Lenny Hayes feature, James Gwilt feature, player profiles, Sandringham VFL season review, a free poster plus much much more.
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