From BackPageLead.com.au,[span style='font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;]The Sharkwrites on Ross Lyons success last week at Fremantle.




<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Ross Lyon has been copping it lately from the St Kilda faithful for not blooding youngsters and developing talent during his time at the Saints.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]His replacement at Seaford, Scott Watters, announced recently he was not going to be be gifting games to kids: they had to earn the right to a spot in the seniors. And if they aint good enough .... well, too bad.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]But, after Fremantle's win over Collingwood on Saturday night, I think it's time we doffed our hat to Lyon, a coach at the height of his game.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]For mine, the victory has not been given the praise it was due. As someone who studies the in-play odds, and looks for trends and momentum shifts in games, I reckon the Dockers looked gone for all money late in the third term.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]They'd coughed up a huge lead to the Pies, were playing defensively and looked set to mimic their performance against Essendon a couple of weeks ago when they fell away badly in the final term to lose a game they had in their keeping.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]This was Freo's acid test: a Saturday night game against a top-four team who had an excellent record on the road.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Lyon was missing three of his top players: Pavlich, Sandilands and Fyfe, and then another midfield gun, Stephen Hill, pulled out before the game.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]In the first quarter, the replacement for Sandilands, Jon Griffen, does his knee and is subbed out of the game.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Surely Freo's house of cards must fall.....
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Well 'I see it but I don't believe it': the first quarter was the most amazing quarter of football by a no-name team I have ever seen.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]The whole side ran and ran and ran - and when they weren't running, they were tackling - creating options everywhere. The Piess were bamboozled.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]At one stage the score read: 50-8.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]It would be generous to say half a dozen of the Dockers' 22 would make it into the Collingwood 22.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]With all due respect to former coach Mark Harvey, or anyone else for that matter, this was a Ross Lyon masterclass.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]And then, inevitably, when Collingwood finally wore down their brave opponent and hit the front .... Lyon feverishly went to work on his whiteboard and conjured a devastating finish.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]The Pies were $1.70 pre-match but firmed to $1.60 after Hill came out.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Freo 'only' went as short as $1.10 (90%) when they led by 40-odd points but they had already used their sub, plus they had 'form' blowing big leads at home against Richmond (won) and Essendon (lost).
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]When Pies hit the front - Zac Dawson was in the ruck for Freo by this stage - it was simply a matter of how far. Punters were dropping off the Dockers in droves and their price blew out to $3.00, and longer.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Somehow, though, Fremantle's finish defied commonsense and all the betting patterns, and they ran out 27-point winners. Go figure.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]When Nick Riewoldt went down a few years ago, Lyon's Saints went on a 20-0 run without him. The coach gave his players self-belief and the team 'bought into' his gameplan.
<p style='margin-bottom: 1.3em; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 22px;]Oh, how the Dees must wish they had him sitting in their box right now!