Essendon coach Mark Thompson also backed the opinion of the four-time premiership coach, saying: “I’ve never placed a great emphasis on ruckmen either."

Matthews created a stir last week when he said the hit-out statistic was "useless" and that Aaron Sandilands could be classified as the most overrated player in the AFL "because hit-outs is all he does".

 

Speaking after Fremantle's 53-point win over Essendon, where Sandilands had 45 hit-outs, Lyon did not believe Matthews specifically called Sandilands overrated, instead agreeing that hit-outs were overrated.

 

"Leigh said hit-outs are overrated. He is right because Aaron hit them to the same spots he hit them last week [and] we had people there. Therefore [whether or not the hit-out is successful] becomes an issue at ground level,” Lyon said. 

 

"Everyone wants to make kingmakers out of players. Aaron has got a role to play and he does it pretty well. When it is disconnecting we always make him accountable but he is an important part of our cog.

 

"Leigh is pragmatic. To think ruckmen can just put it down people’s throat without people hitting in and working for each other, he is right. It is a collective effort. I thought it was absolutely accurate."

 

Thompson also weighed in on the debate saying ruckmen can be overrated unless there is a distinct advantage, like Sandilands had over his young ruckmen Jake Carlisle and Joe Daniher on Sunday.

 

"I've never placed a great emphasis on ruckmen either," Thompson said.

 

"But when you haven't got one, you're playing two young kids against someone like Sandilands - it does make a difference.

 

"In saying that, normally you'd have a ruckman on your list that's not injured, that can play and compete, and it wouldn't be as big a problem.

 

"I like watching [Sandilands] as a player. He gets a lot of hit-outs to advantage. He helps the Fremantle Football Club, no question.

 

"If I had a choice, if I'd want someone like that, I'd say yes. But if you had to pick someone like Sandilands or Pavlich, I'd pick Pavlich every day of the week."

Lyon also made note of the disparity in the middle between the teams on Sunday. 

"I think the ground level was a lot more committed at the contest, a bit smarter how they went about it and they got the result they deserved," Lyon said.

"But we are certainly not getting carried away with it.

"We are under no illusions that we didn't quite play the Essendon that we expected to be playing."