Ross Lyon knows better than anyone how fickle and cruel football can be.

A Matthew Scarlett toe poke robbed Lyon and his Saints of the chance to secure premiership glory against Geelong in 2009.

Then a year later against Collingwood, they suffered another bout of grand final heartbreak courtesy of a crooked bounce of the ball that evaded Stephen Milne.

So far, Lyon’s time at Fremantle hasn’t been nearly as cruel.

But it’s definitely been as fickle.

What started off as a nightmare is now turning into a fairytale of the grandest proportions.

Lyon walked into a firestorm when he first arrived at Fremantle at the end of 2011.

Dockers fans were furious at the ruthless sacking of popular coach Mark Harvey, with many threatening to tear up their memberships in protest.

Lyon faced a huge battle to win over the purple faithful, and it looked to be a losing cause following a shaky start to his tenure.

The discontent reached boiling point following the club’s 48-point loss to West Coast in round nine last year.

Lyon’s defensive tactics came under heavy fire after his team could only manage a paltry 5.6 (36) in perfect conditions.

Richmond’s five-time premiership star Kevin Bartlett labelled Fremantle unwatchable, while former Carlton great Mark Maclure accused Lyon of destroying the game.

“This is a game we love. We’re in the entertainment business. We’re not in the killing of football business,” Maclure said at the time.

The comments were reminiscent of the criticism levelled at Sydney in 2005, when AFL boss Andrew Demetriou called the Swans “ugly ducklings” for their stoppage-heavy tactics.

Sydney went on to win the flag that year, and Fremantle have the chance to achieve the same glory this season.

Lyon may have walked into a storm of purple discontent, but now he’s leading a storm of purple passion onto the biggest stage of all – Saturday’s grand final against Hawthorn at the MCG.

Dockers fans who started out loathing Lyon now think he’s a genius.

The way Fremantle players have bought into Lyon’s philosophies and game plan is incredible.

For rival sides, it’s scary.

Fremantle’s two finals wins this year have shown their method stands up when it matters most.

Geelong players used to feel invincible when they stepped out onto Simonds Stadium, but they were made to feel like mere mortals in their qualifying final loss to the Dockers.

And then with a grand final berth on the line, Fremantle unleashed one of the best halves of pressure football ever seen to destroy Sydney last week.

Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich rates Lyon as the best coach he’s ever played under.

“He clearly has some really strong strategies and he understands the modern game really well,” Pavlich says.

“But he’s also able to motivate and guide us along the way.

“We play as a team and work for each other.”

Fellow veteran Luke McPharlin says he’s never experienced a level of buy-in quite like what Lyon has brought to the club.

“What makes him such a good coach is that he’s able to create this environment that empowers individuals and allows the leaders to really drive the group,” McPharlin says.

“If you’re not buying in, you stand out like a sore thumb because the critical mass of players are all buying in.”

Lyon has a simple mantra – hard work and discipline.

It’s working a treat so far, but he knows the job isn’t done yet.

“There is no satisfaction or joy for me at the moment,” Lyon says.

“A lot of people talk about doing the work, but there’s only a few clubs and teams that consistently do the work.

“We’re not perfect.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, but we’ve been able to learn from that and work hard.

“And the players have taken the emotional risk to give the greatest effort when they need it.

“Plenty of people shy away from pressure. Most people don’t embrace pressure, they withdraw effort.

“But great teams put themselves out there and are prepared to lose.”

Lyon says the support from Fremantle players has been crucial to his success as coach.

“If players don’t buy in, coaches don’t survive. so we are parasites in a sense,” Lyon says.

“There is no magical moment here, there is no epiphany that ‘geez the Dockers have arrived’.

“It is about hard work and effort and review.

“It’s a real grind and you have got to be mentally tough and physically tough to go the distance.

“It is a marathon and we are at the last leg.”

Lyon hopes that last leg won’t involve a cruel twist of fate this time around.