Lyon Cool On Cup, Hot On Heat Policy

The Age

Monday March 10, 2008

Thomas Arup and Steve Butler

WINNING the NAB Cup grand final has given St Kilda vital momentum for its round-one clash with Sydney at Telstra Dome on Saturday week but coach Ross Lyon has yet to decide if the controversial competition was an ideal lead-in to the premiership season.

Lyon did say that the AFL's extreme heat policy needs further attention and will be raised with the AFL Coaches Association.

The AFL increased the length of the breaks in Saturday's night game, which St Kilda won by five points in temperatures in the mid-30s, but gave no concession on interchange restrictions being tested during the pre-season competition.

"As part of the coaches' association, we'll come to a collective view and put something forward to the AFL," Lyon said at yesterday's St Kilda family day at Frankston Oval. "And if you do it in a formal setting, it's a chance to come up with a win-win for the AFL and the clubs.

"I thought there was a degree of flexibility . . . (The AFL) increased the half-time and quarter-time breaks. So there was a degree of thought put into it."

St Kilda, which still had two of its allotted 64 interchange moves left after the game, held its quarter- and three-quarter-time huddles in the changerooms.

Star midfielder Luke Ball said the decision may have helped the players run out the final quarter.

Ball said most of the players had lost about two kilograms during the game as a result of the high temperatures.

Lyon said the pre-season had laid a solid season foundation for his team and welcomed the $385,000 in prizemoney, but he was still unsure of its merit.

"Obviously for the football club, there's some momentum going into the season with four wins, even though it's a pre-season competition," Lyon said.

"I'm a young coach and I'll have to go away and assess (the competition's merit). We've just really had a hard-fought win, it's a NAB Cup grand final, let's just enjoy this minute as it sits.

"To tell you the truth, I've got no real thoughts on it, but I'll probably take some to the coaches' association and put a little bit in there.

"We've respected it all the way through and that's where it sits at the minute. I'll have to go away and assess it and form an opinion."

Ball said Saturday night's victory was a better preparation for the season proper than last year, which began with a first-round NAB Cup exit and only four wins from the opening 11 home-and-away games as the Saints finished a disappointing ninth to miss the finals for the first time in four years.

"Thinking back to last year when we were knocked out in the first round and were then here, there and everywhere with mixed results, it's really good if you can get into winning habits early," Ball said. "People say, 'It's just the NAB Cup and you prefer to win round one'. I think, 'Why not win both?' "

The NAB Cup has come under renewed criticism in the past week, with outspoken Western Bulldog Jason Akermanis calling for it to be scrapped in place of less official trial matches and former Adelaide captain Chris McDermott yesterday claiming it was becoming an embarrassment that needed "major surgery".

But AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said yesterday the league, the National Australia Bank and many of the clubs again had expressed their support for the format of the pre-season competition.

"When we start, we have 16 clubs who all think they've got a chance and when we get to the second round, eight clubs say they've got a chance and eight say they aren't interested," he said.

"Football is alive and well in the pre-season, make no mistake. And last night was a great game and both of those teams were desperate to win."

AFL games-played record holder Michael Tuck, whose name is honoured on the medal for the best player in the NAB Cup grand final, mounted a spirited defence of the competition. ". . . They're playing on good grounds all the time and it gives younger blokes a bit of an opportunity," Tuck said. "People knock it, but I think it gives teams a pretty good platform (for the season)."

The AFL is likely to ask for an explanation from St Kilda after a late return from the rooms at three-quarter-time that brought jeers from the Adelaide crowd.

About 5000 St Kilda fans attended yesterday's family day, at which players presented the cup to the crowd and were presented with their jumpers by young fans.

© 2008 The Age

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