‘Not death valley': AFL coach's rare act goes viral
The coaching mastermind took to X in the hours leading up to his side's Round 23 clash with Essendon, highlighting how the venue failed to close its roof during a Melbourne downpour several hours beforehand.
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'How good Essendon legends game - looking for a Gary Moorcroft goal square (sic) hang. Oh no might be hard Marvel Stadium did not manage to close the roof before the rain came,' Lyon wrote, before adding two laughing emojis.
An Essendon legends game played as the night's curtain-raiser in Docklands, where Lyon observed the wetter-than-usual turf under roof.
Hilariously, Lyon's post was just his seventh in 12 years, and his first on the platform for nearly three seasons.
'There's been four and a half millilitres of rain across the afternoon. It is a very slippery centre corridor, and I've spoken to St Kilda who have elevated this to the AFL,' Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph told the broadcast pre-game.
'They had to call the AFL at 2:20pm and say: 'Why haven't you closed the roof?' At that stage, it took 20 minutes more for the roof to close.
'It's not 'Death Valley' out there, it must be said. But certainly when you play a young, running side with some intercept defenders in there, I can understand why you'd be aggrieved.
Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley added: 'It won't be the last we hear of it. Whatever the spectacle of this game is, if the skills aren't great … it will be a point of conversation post-match.'
Lyon spoke with Fox Footy an hour after his post, and responded to questioning over the tweet with a cheeky grin.
'It's out of my control. I think under protocols it should've been shut, but we'll leave it with Marvel (Stadium),' Lyon said.
'I think the problem here, is … this is like a car park — it's rock-hard. The degree of difficulty is quite difficult, (but) we're both playing under it.'
'It's great to have a platform, right ... Seven times (in 12 years), keep the gun powder dry!'
Essendon made the most of the abnormal conditions early, leading Lyon's Saints by 11 points at quarter time.
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