The Fremantle senior coach was asked during Wednesday’s Carlton Mid Derby media conference how much more defender Michael Johnson could step up and improve.
Borrowing a philosophy from close friend Paul Roos, who Lyon was an assistant coach for in Sydney’s 2005 premiership year, Lyon said the level of a player’s greatness should not be measured by how many 10 out of 10 games they played, but rather their ability to consistently play at a high level.
“You become a great player when you stack sevens and sevens and sixes and eights (out of 10),” Lyon said.
“The great players don’t drop to fours (out of 10).”
Lyon said the biggest change in Johnson’s game was that he no longer drops to a level that is deemed unacceptable.
“That’s why we recognise him as a leader and playing good football.”
