September may just about be out of the equation for St Kilda this season, however Ross Lyon isn’t going to let the rest of the year go to waste, using Sunday’s scintillating win over Sydney and a developing relationship with NRL powerhouse Melbourne Storm as a blueprint for the remaining seven weeks.

St Kilda stunned the top-of-the-table Swans in one of the season’s biggest upsets, coming home with a wet sail in a scorching four-goal final term to emerge victorious by a meagre two points and bank a long-awaited sixth win of 2024.

Lyon credited his side’s “persistence and perseverance” in overcoming their top-flight opponents, revealing how a conversation with the Storm in the lead-up to this week’s match about their own challenging circumstances in 2010 — where they were stripped of two premierships for salary cap breaches and were unable to accrue any premiership points for the remainder of that season — served as inspiration to the side to not let a year go begging.

“To be honest, you can’t get stuck in win-loss. It’s really about training prep, standards and setting a foundation for future success,” Lyon said post-game.

“We’re building a relationship with the (Melbourne) Storm in a sense and we spoke about when they went through the heartbreak… and they had their cups ripped off them. 

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“They played a season without points and basically won that competition and stayed united after the initial shock. They just committed and their leadership was 'no, we want full preparation and full review' because they knew that laid standards for future success.

“We know it’s unlikely and probably impossible to play finals, but how we go about it, train, prepare, compete and review sets standards for future successes. I think (today’s win) sits in that category.”

St Kilda’s defence and offence stood up to task against the visiting Sydney, with all five inclusions for the weekend standing up to task.

In particular, Mattaes Phillipou was a standout with 26 disposals, 10 score involvements and clutch final term major after spending five weeks in the VFL building his midfield craft.

“It was far from perfect (our performance). It was great to see Phillipou who embraced his time in the seconds to build out… his midfield craft with Lenny Hayes,” Lyon said.

“A couple of the lads came back like (Ryan) Byrnes. I really admire his work ethic and persistence... and Tim (Membrey) held himself really well to come back in.”

Lyon also acknowledged the efforts of returning key back Dougal Howard from a hamstring strain, who had several impressive moments in defence, including arguably the turning point of the game in which he prevented a certain goal with a crucial touch on the line before careening into the Swans’ cheer squad behind the fence.

“I thought Dougal Howard really competed strongly. The players pointed out (his moment on the line),” Lyon said.

“It's a game of inches, isn't it? There’s all little moments… everyone played their part. They’re a top-flight team, everyone recognises that. We took a bit of their game off them, we hung in and sometimes you just take your moments. They deserved their reward.

“To compete against Sydney, you need your leaders to stand up. They were pretty impressive the lot of them. Without that, it’s pretty hard to keep your head above water.”