AFL 2025; Ross Lyon gets tick for player spray from St Kilda CEO
A volatile player spray handed out by St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has been put in the spotlight but the club CEO has no problems with it.
St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena has given coach Ross Lyon's volatile player spray on Saturday the tick of approval declaring you can only 'cuddle' players so much. Lyon gave his players a blast during and after Saturday's loss to the Brisbane Lions.
Video of Lyon berating players on the bench went viral across the weekend and the veteran coach confirmed that he gave players an 'animated' dressing down in the aftermath of the 45-point loss.
Young midfielder Hugo Garcia bore the brunt of a Lyon exchange after he was subbed out early in the second term but Dilena, talking to the media on Monday ahead of the club's annual 'Spud's Game' which advocates for positive mental health, said he had no issue with Lyon.
'I'll just make a personal comment - I love that aspect,' Dilena said. — AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) April 27, 2025
'Anyone who's been a parent and has dealt with kids, you can cuddle them and nurture them as much as you like, but occasionally there might be a couple of stern words that go in there as well.
'Ross is an experienced coach. He's just driven to get the absolute best out of our players and raise the standards of our club. He'd been very tolerant and been very cuddly for a while.
'For him to occasionally come out and just give someone a bake, I think that's good.'
After winning three games in a row, including impressive wins over Geelong and Port Adelaide on the road, the Saints have now lost three in a row, including a 71-point smashing by the Western Bulldogs before losing to the reigning premiers at Marvel Stadium.
Dilena said it's been a 'bumpy road' and expectations had been raised by everyone at the club.
'It's a bit of a bumpy road. We always knew it would be a bit up and down,' Dilena said.
'You don't have that sort of straight-line, linear progression towards improvement.
'And so you do go through moments, like we are at the moment, where it's a bit frustrating and you think we're not performing to what we should be doing.
'Early in the season we had some great wins against Geelong and Port, and that really set the tone, but it also raises the expectations.'
St Kilda will play Fremantle at Marvel Stadium on Friday, before hosting Spud's Game against Carlton at the MCG on Friday, May 9.
Originally published as St Kilda CEO gives Ross Lyon the green light for full-on bench spray delivered to young gun on the bench
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