The glass is half full says Lyon
Ross Lyon says the glass is half full despite a 41-point loss to the Cats
They played pretty well. They were really fierce to the contest, they won a lot of ground ball and clearances. I thought to half time we were really positive. Even the start I thought we had equal amount of opportunities. We had some entries where we just blazed away. Second quarter was positive, but after half time they monstered us around the clearances and locked it in their front half. That was the story of the day really.
How much did you miss Mundy and Barlow?
That was self evident, but you have the 22 you play with, that’s been a strength ours this year. Looking forward, because I get asked every week, Sandilands, Pavlich, Mundy, Barlow and Spurr will play.
Why was Spurr out?
He came down overnight with severe sweats, fever and gastro. We tucked him in bed. He’s still back at the hotel.
How is Paul Duffield?
He had a tight calf, but we think we’ll scan it. If he kept going he might have popped it. It’s not ideal but we’ve got no excuses tonight, we played a very good football team on their home turf. The heat was on early and in the end they cracked us wide open. They dominated the clearances in the third. From there, I think the scoreboard flatters us, it felt more like 80points than 40 points. But another debut, Viv Michie found a little bit of ball, found out about the level. Tommy Sheridan did a bit, Matt Taberner worked hard and presented and we think he’s going to be a really good player for us. There’s some positives but overall it’s a disappointment, we haven’t lost for a while. We’ll review and move on. We’ve got the Saints to prepare for.
When will Sandilands and Pavlich return?
They’ll play. They are ready, they’ll play.
What lessons did the group get from this defeat?
If you don’t compete with every ounce of your fibre against great teams, we know we can play better than that, but we didn’t. It’s a sharp reminder how brutal this completion is. We should grow from this.
Message to fans who are discouraged?
I think it’s glass half full. We’ve got five of our best to come back in. We know at our best we can compete with teams like Geelong. We’re in pretty good shape. We need to learn and we need to grow. We acknowledge their performance tonight. We’re disappointed, but we need to set ourselves for the St Kilda football club.
Ryan Crowley on Selwood?
Selwood’s a great player and they are dominating, Ryan’s got a fierce concentration. He was put under a lot of scrutiny and I thought hedisplayed his true character tonight. He was our only four quarter performer on a great player against great adversity. Sometimes you can talk about your character or you can display it, and I though he displayed it.