Fremantle AFL coach Ross Lyon has joked he might wear a spray jacket to Etihad Stadium on Friday as St Kilda’s fans vent their anger over his walkout.
Lyon sensationally quit the Saints after the club’s 2011 AFL elimination-final defeat and joined the Dockers, who had sacked coach Mark Harvey only hours earlier.
St Kilda midfielder Lenny Hayes is pleading with fans to show some respect for Lyon who guided the Saints to grand-final appearances in 2009 and 2010.
“It’s going to be about the players on Friday night. I’ll just be the sideshow,” Lyon told SEN radio on Tuesday.
Lyon admitted he had wondered how supporters of the fifth-placed Saints would react.
“They were really nice words from Lenny,” Lyon said.
“I think I’ll wear a spray jacket.
“The mob will get a voice and an energy of its own. It will certainly go in a direction.
“What that is, I can’t control.
“I don’t feel I’ve got anything to prove coming back and my old player group don’t have anything to prove to me.
“It really is about the four points. I understand the interest.”
Lyon isn’t ruling out selecting Nat Fyfe to play in Friday’s round-four clash despite the midfielder re-injuring his reconstructed left shoulder in last week’s win over Brisbane.
“(Ex-Sydney defender) Tadhg Kennelly, he had lots of dislocations in one year,” Lyon said.
“But they just put it back in and you keep going.
“With Nathan, it went back in straight away.
“If there’s no risk going forward, just let him go.
“Maybe one more dislocation, we might tap him out or the surgeon might say ‘we think it’s best to have it (surgery) done’.
“He’s confident he’ll play – we’re confident he’ll play.”
The Saints, under Lyon, earned an eight-match winning streak over Fremantle dating back to 2007.
Criticised at times for turning the Saints into a dour defensive unit, Lyon says he wants ninth-placed Fremantle to play up-tempo football.
“It takes a bit of time. The key to it is you get some results early to fuel belief,” Lyon said.
“Round one was an incredibly important milestone for us to play the reigning premiers (Geelong) and win in the manner we did in a really fierce, up-tempo game.”
Lyon said the media had forced teams to move the ball quickly out of defence.
“Teams are trying to play on and not muck around with it in their defensive half and get it out of there,” he said.
“That’s what has forced the long kicking and the contested marks and the power forwards coming back into the game.”