Senior coach Ross Lyon is not getting caught up in the up and down coverage of Fremantle’s season to date.
Lyon said that the criticism that followed Fremantle’s loss to West Coast was a part of being an AFL coach, and he was instead focusing on bringing the team together for a tough away trip to Launceston to face Hawthorn on Saturday.
“My job is to lead them and give strong direction. I feel that we came out of the review and the players have a strong platform to bounce off and move forward,” Lyon said.
“The season is alive but we really just have to take care of the process and improve our football.
“We’ve made great inroads and this is the hardest grinding part of the year, but we own it. That’s the most important thing and we take that feedback.
“Somewhere in our prep, we didn’t get it right, particularly in the first quarter, they went out incredibly hard and we just didn’t go with them while we had done that all year. There are some really good lessons for us.”
Lyon said he was looking forward to coaching Freo for at least the remainder of his contract through the 2020 season.
“I can guarantee I’ll be around (in 2020). My performance dictates I’ll be around,” Lyon said.
“We’re a rebuilding team, we’re 7-8, and three weeks ago I was being lauded. I never fell for it then and I’m not falling for it now.
“The wider issue is that we’re a young group that’s emerging. We’re on track and we’re clearly on track and building a great platform.
“We’ll only get better again next year. We have been in every game we’d been in this year and our average losing margin (before the derby) was 11 points.
“If we don’t measure (Fremantle’s season) on the body of work it’s nonsensical and it is hysterical.”
