Although bolstered by consecutive wins, Ross Lyon has set his sights forward to Friday’s match-up with Brisbane, determined to iron out reoccurring inconsistencies and ultimately “win better” in anticipation for this week’s challenge at the Gabba. 


Here's some of the latest from Lyon's presser ahead of Round 14.

Searching for sizzle

Pleased with St Kilda’s contested ball and its ability to fight down to the final minute last weekend, Lyon acknowledged that his team still has a lot to focus on in maximising its scoring abilities and opportunities.

With a 35-25 clearance count in St Kilda’s favour last week, Lyon pointed to his focus to his team’s lack of scoring from clearances; something he deemed as vital to the side’s improvement.

“We took their game off them, and we got the job done last week … but we need to improve our scoring from clearances,” Lyon said in this morning’s press conference.

In preparation for this week’s meet with Brisbane and beyond, Lyon will strive for less “ugly winning”, despite the rhetoric that a win is a win.

“We want sizzle, we haven’t had a great season, and we want to improve in all phases of our game,” Lyon said.

“We don’t have the luxury of looking back, our biggest issue is scoring from clearances, and we know that … the bottom line is we need to score more, and there’s a lot of work to do.” Lyon said.  

Eyes on the Lion’s “fortress”

Despite the commendable form of Brisbane’s individuals, Lyon has backed in his team for Friday night, confident that his midfield and backline - who have proved to stand up in the last few weeks - will be able to stand up to task.

“Lachie Neale looks in pretty good nick and Eric Hipwood and Oscar McInerney have hit form,” Lyon admitted.

“But Josh Battle and Callum Wilkie are in good form, and our running backs in Riley Bonner and Jack Sinclair too.

With 61 disposals and 20 marks collectively banked between Wilkie, Bonner, Sinclair and Battle last weekend, and stand out performances in the middle from Mason Wood, Paddy Dow and Jack Steele, Lyon remains certain that his troops will rise to the occasion against a fiery Brisbane line-up.

“When our backmen are running it’s really exciting, but it’s at home for them so Brisbane will be looking to make it a fortress again… we know it’ll be a challenge.” 

Everything comes back in style

Just like the mullet, everything eventually comes back in fashion. This time around, it’s the art of the tag.

“We’ll run a tag and figure out who it is, but it could be a real focus for Marcus Windhager. We always ran a tag at Fremantle and Saints. You can definitely play team defence and run a tag,” Lyon said.

Marcus Windhager has helped revive the facet in recent weeks, following roles against Touk Miller and Harley Reid to keep them to 14 disposals and 20 disposals respectively.

“[Marcus] is very disciplined, it’d be a good role for him and a lot of players who tag end up becoming a very good player themselves. It’s a win-win for us, it’s a good way to learn.”