Never in Ross Lyon’s “wildest dreams” did he imagine returning to St Kilda, especially so more than a decade after his sudden departure west.

A lot can change in 10 years’ time, however. Moorabbin was a near-condemned and fast decaying relic of a bygone era when Lyon was last in the building, with it now transformed into the multi-million-dollar RSEA Park – or “Disneyland”, he says with a wry grin.

Likewise, Lyon has undergone his own change in that timeframe, albeit far from the complete a rip-down, rebuild sense that the club’s home has gone through in recent times.

The sharp-minded, shrewd and hard-edged components which placed Lyon as the sole frontrunner for the job remain from his stints at St Kilda (2007-2011) and Fremantle (2012-2019), but in his eyes, are now balanced out by bringing his warmer and calmer personality – the behind-closed-doors coach – to the fore.

He’s a bit more “cuddly Ross” than he was a decade ago; better equipped to bring others with him and spend less time “in the weeds” rather than have a staunch two hands on the wheel, but still unafraid to get the whips cracking when needed.

Lyon was officially appointed to the club’s AFL Senior Coach on Monday afternoon, replacing previous coach Brett Ratten following findings from the near-finalised internal review commissioned by President Andrew Bassat.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be back at St Kilda, and it certainly wasn’t something I was trying to engineer or really work towards,” Lyon told saints.com.au on his return.

“The media kept me relevant and in the conversation during my time away. The game has changed a little bit, but on the technical side I’ve got the team – Lenny Hayes, Robert Harvey, Corey Enright, Damian Carroll and David Rath – to bring me up to speed.

“I now sit in that hot seat as coach. It’s not going to be easy, but I know it can be done with hard work and build everyone’s capabilities, including my own.

“I don’t want any regression toward the mean. You can see the pressure what it does to people sitting in the chair, so I need the support, I need the team around me.

“My job is what (Geelong Senior Coach) Chris Scott says: create an environment that can allow players to be the best they can be. That’s the job.”

Lyon’s appointment hasn’t come without its share of conjecture.

His well-documented move to Fremantle at the end of 2011 is one that hasn’t been forgotten, nor has the fact of him coaching St Kilda to successive Grand Finals in 2009 and 2010 and coming up agonisingly short of the ultimate prize.

Both moments have forged lasting impressions on the now-55-year-old, who has channelled both touch-points as fuel to complete the unfinished business of years past.

“I feel for St Kilda and that I dropped an iron curtain (in my departure). When I spoke to the Board about that (the relationships with previous players) and the significance of that moment in my life, I got a bit emotional,” Lyon said.

“There were lots of people who paid a price for that, but in saying that we’re all as good as our next moment. It’s a wonderful opportunity now, it’s a privileged position to be in.

“I don’t take it lightly, it’s a big responsibility. As long as you’re integrated with what’s important, I think that’s what counts.

“It’s all dynamics and mechanics. When we got the dynamic right (in 2009 and 2010) and the mechanic was solid without being perfect, we almost achieved pretty special things.

“The opportunity to work with a group to achieve a common goal and influence people to become greater than they thought they could be, individually and collectively, is what speaks to me.”

While Lyon is more than happy to let the cobblers do the cobbling, his incoming directive to the Saints is crystal clear.

“Every day bring your work boots. When it’s time to work, work,” he said.

“There’s a benchmark out there that we’re all chasing. We’ve got all the resources, and we just need to do a lot of hard work.

“Any way you cut it, since 1966 we haven’t got it done. There’s a big challenge and an opportunity we have to achieve something pretty special.

“There’s no victory lap here, this is only the starting gun. We’re all going to have to put our shoulder to the wheel and pound the rock to get to where we want to.”