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2007 Round 15 Post-game Articles - St Kilda versus Adelaide Crows
. . . This was a match played with frenetic finals intensity and bone-jarring physicality. Adelaide did not win but nor were they found wanting. Had any of the final, desperate possessions spilled the other way as the clock ticked down, the result could so easily have reversed. After threatening to turn the match into a rout at quarter-time, the Crows were dragged back into the kind of knock-down stoush these two clubs have regularly produced in recent years. The tackling was fierce and the game played almost entirely one-on-one. What little difference there was came down to the class of the St Kilda forwards, relentless tackling through the midfield, and a match-winning effort from Nick Riewoldt, who finished with a stats-busting 18 marks and two goals. Riewoldt's performance is itself a timely reminder that the season is fast approaching its pointy end. Once the run home has begun, potential gives way to proven performance. Youth, for all its allure, counts less than experience. For evidence, consider Kris Massie's week. What began with a brilliant shut-down performance on Hawthorn's Lance Franklin ended in a hiding from Riewoldt so severe that Massie was relieved of his duties by Scott Stevens just after half-time. Massie's let-off was short-lived however, with Crows coach Neil Craig having no other defensive option for Riewoldt once Stevens was required to man Justin Koschitzke, sent into attack as a third tall forward. The difference for Massie, apart from the dry, windless conditions under the closed roof of the Dome compared to last week's win and rain at AAMI Stadium, is that Franklin is a star on the rise while Riewoldt has been an established star for several years. The Article Chip Le Grand/TheAustralian/15Jul07 Osteitis pubis won't stop Ball this season as Saints talk finals St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball uttered the dreaded "OP" in relation to his continuing groin problem last night, but said he was confident of seeing out the season. "I don't think it can get any worse this year - we'll sit down at the end of the year and see how we go about getting it 100 per cent," he said on Channel Ten's Before The Game. "I think it's all related to that dreaded term OP (osteitis pubis) that we all use . . . " Ball's co-captain Lenny Hayes kept the theme of cautious optimism going yesterday following the team's recent form revival and two-point victory over Adelaide on Friday, warning that much still needed to go right for the team to make the finals. A day after coach Ross Lyon said his team was starting to produce the type of football needed to make the finals, Hayes said the Saints had plenty of improvement left in them and confidence was growing among the players as they chased a finals campaign that had seemed increasingly unlikely. Hayes said he had been "very relieved" after the Saints' two-point win over Adelaide on Friday night and the team now had the scent of September action. "As a team, we've been pretty up and down this year and (there's) no doubt that with Matty Maguire getting a few more games under his belt, and getting almost a full complement out there, we're feeling a lot more confident and we know that we can get better, for sure," he said. The Article Stathi Paxinos/RealFooty/15Jul07 Big burst from Birss Shane Birss is the most unlikely-looking league footballer. He seems like a most unassuming chap, slight of build and possessing a seemingly demure temperament. At times he reminds me of one of those Auskick kiddies you see every half time. There he is, hovering around the fringes of the action, half daring to give it a crack, watching cautiously. It's not as though the kid lacks the courage to dive in head-first, it's just that he's so happy being involved that he dares not make too much of a fuss in case anyone notices he's out there and calls him to the bench where, deep in his heart, he always believed he belonged. The game has a tendency to pass him by. And so it seemed for Shane Birss when his switch to the Saints from the Whitten Oval in the pre-season had produced a paltry five unremarkable senior games this year. Birss seemed destined to join a very long and less-than-illustrious list of footballing tourists who have pulled into Linton Street after a stint elsewhere in the league and contributed about as much to the club as Shannon Noll has done for anyone with ears that work. The Article Francis Leach/saints.com.au/16Jul07 Saints aiming to wrap up Riewoldt with huge deal Assured of retaining Nick Dal Santo and Xavier Clarke, St Kilda today could finalise a massive three-year deal for its brightest star, Nick Riewoldt. Dal Santo and Clarke have all but agreed to terms on new deals - Dal Santo for three years, Clarke for two - and the manager of the trio, Ricky Nixon, will meet the Saints today with the hope of completing the Riewoldt deal. The Saints then can turn their attention to uncontracted key defender Matt Maguire. Key forward Fraser Gehrig is out of contract at season's end, but has yet to confirm whether he intends to play on. Confirming that Dal Santo and Clarke had agreed to remain at St Kilda, Nixon said last night that today's meeting could resolve the Riewoldt negotiations. "The intention would be to try and get it to finalisation tomorrow, but see what happens," Nixon said. St Kilda chief executive Archie Fraser said he was unsure if the Riewoldt negotiations would conclude today, though obviously the club hoped to put the contract of their star player to bed soon. The Article Jake Niall/RealFooty/17Jul07 A game for crystal balls . . . The finals countdown is on. And as the clubs continue to chant "one game at a time", everyone else is dusting off the calculators and scanning the fixtures weeks in advance, trying to sort out the likely invitees to the big September party. It's always a difficult task - one tougher than usual this year given the apparent evenness of the competition, the rampant Geelong aside, and a roll call of up to 12 teams still with realistic finals aspirations. But while much could happen yet in a season full of surprises, it hasn't prevented the finals undertaker already being called to drag away the carcasses. Specifically those of the Brisbane Lions, pronounced dead long ago, Fremantle and St Kilda. The Lions remain twitching, however, as do even the Dockers. And it might prove a very premature call in the Saints' case, considering their steadily improving form and a handy run home. St Kilda plays Carlton, a Western Bulldogs outfit that it has clearly had the wood over in recent times, and in the final three weeks of the season, Fremantle and West Coast, both at Telstra Dome, then Richmond . . . I suspect St Kilda might miss out, but only just, and unluckily, potentially the first team under the final eight system to win 13 games and still not make it, thanks to a poor percentage. The Article Rohan Connolly/RealFooty/17Jul07 Rohan Connolly's speculated ladder after R122 TheAge
. . . The last quarter was manic, for by now, the premium on every slip and hesitation doubled. Luke Ball, more like his old (young) self last night, ghosted past two, but was arrested by Reilly, leading to another goal for Ricciuto. Justin Koschitzke loosened the knots in Saints' stomachs with a heroic mark and goal. But Leigh Fisher spun into trouble in their back line, letting in Brett Burton for an opportunist's goal. Then Harvey might have had a shot at goal. but - too selfless by half - tried a left-foot pass. It missed fractionally, whereupon the Crows whisked the ball to the other end for Scott Welsh to tie up the scores again. But in the frantic, furious final minutes, the Saints neither fumbled nor froze. Riewoldt, now marked again by Massie, was their model. Two more marks made 18 for him for the game. Statisticians will call most uncontested, a misnomer, for each demanded that he beat his opponent for willpower and running. He is blessed, and so are the Saints to have him. Harvey was where he has been more or less for 20 years, where the ball was. The wonder of all,in such a ferocious game, is not that there were some mistakes made, but that there were so few. They are catalogued here as the exceptions, not the rule. In the end, the game was won, not lost. The same might yet be said of the Saints' season. The Article Greg Baum/RealFooty/14Jul07 Saints will keep improving: Hayes . . . "It's mathematically possible but we can't control what other teams do and I think if we are to make it we might need a couple of teams to slip up, but we need to keep continuing to play well as a team and since the break we've really started to play some good, consistent footy," said Hayes. "If we keep doing that, it is the old cliché, but we are just thinking one week at a time. As a team we've been pretty up and down this year and no doubt that with Matty Maguire getting a few more games under his belt and getting almost a full complement out there we're feeling a lot more confident and we know that we can get better, for sure," he said. "Over the last four or five weeks we've had a lot of guys buying into the way we want to play and we've got back to playing some good hard and tough footy. That's been the base for us and then there's a few other things that we've done quite well that have complemented that." The Article Angus Morgan/Sportal/14Jul07 Saints keen for atonement When St Kilda lost to Hawthorn in round eight, Leigh Montagna had his jaw broken. And his team kicked only six goals in what was widely regarded as the worst game of AFL football in history. Life is better now - especially after St Kilda won a heart-stopping clash against Adelaide on Friday night to keep its finals hopes alive. And Montagna has four plates in his jaw and a numb lip, but neither bothers him too much, and he is playing the best football of his life. His team has won three of its past four games to keep in touch with September, and averaged 14 goals in that time, playing what Montagna believes is quicker, higher-scoring football that will mean things are different when the Saints meet the Hawks again next Saturday. "We'll have a look at them this weekend, and hopefully we can do well. They gave us a touch-up last time in a pretty scrappy game but we've improved since then," Montagna said on Friday night, after the Saints' hard-fought win over the Crows. "We've worked on a few things, and the important thing is that we're scoring more goals. They put a lot of numbers behind the footy that night, which made it hard to score, and we didn't handle it as well as I think we would now." The Article Emma Quayle/RealFooty/15Jul07 Taking it one Gram at a time St Kilda's Jason Gram insists that next weekend's clash with Hawthorn will not be a repeat of the infamously dour round eight contest. "It won't happen again, not unless Hawthorn are going to flood," Gram told saints.com.au after Friday night's win over Adelaide. However the 23-year-old defender knows that the game that almost caused a national inquest will almost certainly be dredged up in the media in the lead up to the game this week. "There was such a big deal made out of it because it was the most boring game ever, so I'm sure there'll be a bit of talk about it this week in the papers," Gram conceded. "But we won't take any notice of that. After the break I think we've come up with a new game plan. We weren't kicking many goals earlier in the year and now we are." The Saints' last-gasp victory over Adelaide at Telstra on Friday night puts them within just one game of the top eight. However Gram refuses to label the win as a season-turning result. "We go into every week wanting to win so if this is going to be the game to turn our season that would be great. We've seven games to go and we all still believe that we can make finals." Gram managed to get himself on the scoreboard in the third quarter of what was one of the Saints' sweeter victories. The Article Catherine Murphy/saints.com.au/14Jul07 Lyon not getting carried away with win . . . "It has been a solid month and clearly we needed to improve because we're in the business of trying to play good football and have a product that our supporters are happy to come and watch and see us being competitive," he said. "And in that month clearly we weren't. And we've worked hard on the track and we've really stuck together as a coach and playing group and focused on the basics and it's stood us in really good stead. Obviously it's helped a little bit, (Matt) Maguire's given us a key tall, we've got a couple of runners back. I don't know about momentum but I think we've turned our football around a little bit." If results go the Saints' way, they could find themselves just one game out of the eight with six rounds remaining. However, Lyon said his team did not need reminding its season was on the line in the coming weeks. "That keeps us in the present and that enables us to not tighten up and play some reasonable footy," he said. "That's the real aim. We all know they're important games. If I walk in and say to the group 'our season's on the line', I don't think it achieves anything." The Article Andrew Wu/Sportal/13Jul07 Lyon spoke of 'not' saving the game and being bold . . . "We spoke about not saving the game, but being bold. Trying to score. Maybe it was a result of that," Saints coach Ross Lyon said after the game. "I thought we learned some lessons out of last week in the last quarter. We tackled really well and under pressure we went long through Nick Riewoldt, whereas last week we went short and turned it over. They played for themselves and got over the line." Last night's win came after being dominated by the Crows in the first quarter and trailing by 17 points at the first change. "Adelaide had it all over us in the first quarter. Inside 50s were the same, but they moved the ball pretty slickly. But we really worked our way back into the game against one of the hardest running teams," Lyon said. "For us to improve our running against a quality running team on a fast surface was a positive sign for us." Lyon said there was no point challenging his men with the threat their season was on the line. "I said to the group during the week you can't focus on these season-defining games because you tighten up. We did that against the Kangaroos, so all we are really focusing on is what we need to do to play well as a team," he said . . . "It has been a solid month and clearly we needed to improve because we're in the business of trying to play good football and have a product our supporters are happy to come and watch and see us being competitive," he said. The Article Michael Horan/HeraldSun/14Jul07 Saints' season still alive St Kilda kept alive its flickering finals hopes when it held off a late charge by Adelaide to post a thrilling two-point victory at Telstra Dome on Friday night. The Saints clawed their way back from a 23-point deficit early in the second quarter then held on for dear life in the dying stages of the match to post their best and arguably most important victory of the season, 11.16 (82) to 12.8 (80). The Saints looked home when Fraser Gehrig booted his fourth goal for the night to extend his team's lead to 12 points but the Crows kept whacking away and drew level after goals to Brett Burton and Scott Welsh. A rushed behind with 4:18 remaining gave the Saints the slenderest of leads before they played keepings off with great effect. While the Crows did manage to win the ball back, they refused to switch the play and were forced along the boundary line. However, it still required nerves of steel from Matt Maguire and Sam Fisher to repel the unrelenting Crows. Out of contract at the end of the season, Nick Riewoldt served a timely reminder as to why he is his club's most important player. The Article Andrew Wu/Sportal/13Jul07
. . . In his 57-game career, this was his sixth for the Saints and Birss has probably never played a better one. Maybe he stood out for the mere fact that everyone was expecting him to fumble or turn the ball over whenever he got it in his hands. Instead, he was one of the heroes of a magnificent fightback - the Crows led by 17 points at the first break and looked ready to smash the game open - that kept St Kilda's finals hopes alive and put a dent in the Adelaide bandwagon. Birss announced himself in the contest with an extraordinary goal from the boundary line at the 23-minute mark of the first quarter to break a four-goal run by the Crows. He was in the thick of it in the second quarter as the Saints started to win some contested footy, and they hit the front at halftime thanks to a four goal to one term. But it was the third term where Birss and the rest of St Kilda's midfielders started to expose Adelaide's lack of run, with the unheralded one having nine touches. His most important moment came at the 21-minute mark when he linked up with Jason Gram through the centre and slotted a goal from 45m to give his side a two-goal lead, St Kilda's biggest of the night. Fittingly, he was involved in the crucial final play of the game as the Saints hung on for dear life. Birss was awarded a free kick against Simon Goodwin for hands in the back with just 10 seconds remaining. The Article Scott Gullan/HeraldSun/14Jul07 Saints in a thriller In a defiant showing following their heartbreaking loss to Collingwood last weekend, the Saints clinched the victory with a final quarter performance full of courage and resolve. Fraser Gehrig starred for the Saints, kicking four goals. The victory by the slimmest of margins tasted all the sweeter for Ross Lyon's charges, considering they trailed by 17 points at quarter time. The final quarter, no doubt the highlight of the match, was epic. St Kilda led by five points going in and immediately extended the margin. A Gehrig goal took them to 11 points clear, before Ricciuto goaled to keep the visitors in touch. But, the Crows skipper's work was overshadowed by a spectacular Justin Koschitzke mark at the other end, which he duly converted. The Article Len Johnson/RealFooty/14Jul07 Thrilling win for dogged Saints Catherine Murphy/saints.com.au/13Jul07 Saints win a thriller over Crows AAP/HeraldSun/13Jul07 The Article Damian Barrett/RealFooty/14Jul07 Riewoldt shows his worth Wayne Carey was asked earlier this week what salary he thought St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt deserved. The King said $700,000 a season. Garry Lyon, another key forward and captain, squeezed it out to $750,000. Riewoldt's manager Ricky Nixon is in the middle of securing Riewoldt a contract worth more than $1 million a year. The Saints swatted aside Nixon's first offer in contempt. Nixon went back with a revised bid, still over the million-dollar mark, and the Saints are thinking about it. They'd want to think quick. For Nixon might just have a new, improved, offer on Saints chief executive Archie Fraser's doorstep this morning. Knowing Nixon's enthusiasm for his clients, he probably dropped it off on the way home from Telstra Dome last night. It might hav been accompanied by a DVD of last night's game. And the stats. And a copy of coach Ross Lyon's comments. The Article Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/14Jul07
St Kilda president Rod Butterss says forward Aaron Hamill will not be pressured to retire, despite another setback with his knee. Butterss said rather than write Hamill off, the Saints hoped he would benefit from the club's recent appointment of a stable of sports science experts. Hamill has played just 39 of a possible 87 matches since the start of 2004, when he negotiated a five-year deal. He has not played this year and is contracted for 2008. "No, I couldn't say that (Hamill being forced to retire). Aaron is such a determined fellow and such a professional person in his approach that you would never, ever, underestimate or write him off," Butterss said yesterday. "He is such a pro and I know he will be doing absolutely everything and will go far and wide, and he will likely be talking to the guys who have kindly joined us to ensure he will get back on the park. He is one guy I would never write off." The Article Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/14Jul07 Saints recruit 'world leaders' St Kilda soon would be punching above its weight, club president Rod Butterss proclaimed last night, after appointing a quartet of sports science experts from the Australian Institute of Sport to help fix, among other things, the Saints' glaring soft-tissue injury problem. Dr Dennis Hatcher, head of sports science, medical research and education at the AIS, Dr David Pyne, a sports physiologist there, Dr Peter Stanton, a former physiotherapist with the AIS who spent three years as head physiotherapist at the Brisbane Lions during their three-premiership run, and Craig Purdam, head of physiotherapy at the AIS, would form what Butterss called a new "sports science and innovation group" at St Kilda that is being headed by former club captain Dr Ross Smith. "This club has lost more players through soft-tissue injuries by a factor of about 50 per cent. So when you compare that with other clubs, our limited player availability has really cost us," Butterss told his president's dinner. "The next worse, if you like, is the Melbourne footy club and we all know they're struggling to win a game. "I think it's important to note that these people, and indeed the AIS, are the world leaders in the area of sports science and high performance. We don't need to travel overseas; just consider the results Australian teams have achieved on the global stage. As a nation, we punch above our weight, and now so does the St Kilda Football Club, both in terms of financial performance . . . and now by attracting and collaborating with these world leaders, we punch above our weight. Already the benefits are starting to flow." The Article Samantha Lane/RealFooty/13Jul07 Lyon's Saints 'producing the goods' . . . "It has been a solid month and clearly we needed to improve because we're in the business of trying to play good football and have a product that our supporters are happy to come and watch and see us being competitive," Lyon said. "In that (previous) month, clearly we weren't. We've worked hard on the track and we've really stuck together as a coach and playing group and focused on the basics and that's stood us in really good stead ... I don't know about momentum but I think we've turned our football around a little bit . . . I thought we learnt some lessons out of last week in the last quarter," he said. I thought they tackled really well and under pressure a few times we went longer and to Nick Riewoldt under pressure. Last week we went short and turned it over a bit, so that was nice." The Article AAP/YahooSports/14Jul07 Taking it one Gram at a time St Kilda's Jason Gram insists that next weekend's clash with Hawthorn will not be a repeat of the infamously dour round eight contest. "It won't happen again, not unless Hawthorn are going to flood," Gram told saints.com.au after Friday night's win over Adelaide. However the 23-year-old defender knows that the game that almost caused a national inquest will almost certainly be dredged up in the media in the lead up to the game this week. "There was such a big deal made out of it because it was the most boring game ever, so I'm sure there'll be a bit of talk about it this week in the papers," Gram conceded. "But we won't take any notice of that. After the break I think we've come up with a new game plan. We weren't kicking many goals earlier in the year and now we are." The Saints' last-gasp victory over Adelaide at Telstra on Friday night puts them within just one game of the top eight. However Gram refuses to label the win as a season-turning result. "We go into every week wanting to win so if this is going to be the game to turn our season that would be great. We've seven games to go and we all still believe that we can make finals." Gram managed to get himself on the scoreboard in the third quarter of what was one of the Saints' sweeter victories. The Article Catherine Murphy/saints.com.au/14Jul07 Saints will keep improving: Hayes . . . "It's mathematically possible but we can't control what other teams do and I think if we are to make it we might need a couple of teams to slip up, but we need to keep continuing to play well as a team and since the break we've really started to play some good, consistent footy," said Hayes. "If we keep doing that, it is the old cliché, but we are just thinking one week at a time. As a team we've been pretty up and down this year and no doubt that with Matty Maguire getting a few more games under his belt and getting almost a full complement out there we're feeling a lot more confident and we know that we can get better, for sure," he said. "Over the last four or five weeks we've had a lot of guys buying into the way we want to play and we've got back to playing some good hard and tough footy. That's been the base for us and then there's a few other things that we've done quite well that have complemented that." The Article Angus Morgan/Sportal/14Jul07 Lyon spoke of 'not' saving the game and being bold . . . "We spoke about not saving the game, but being bold. Trying to score. Maybe it was a result of that," Saints coach Ross Lyon said after the game. "I thought we learned some lessons out of last week in the last quarter. We tackled really well and under pressure we went long through Nick Riewoldt, whereas last week we went short and turned it over. They played for themselves and got over the line." Last night's win came after being dominated by the Crows in the first quarter and trailing by 17 points at the first change. "Adelaide had it all over us in the first quarter. Inside 50s were the same, but they moved the ball pretty slickly. But we really worked our way back into the game against one of the hardest running teams," Lyon said. "For us to improve our running against a quality running team on a fast surface was a positive sign for us." Lyon said there was no point challenging his men with the threat their season was on the line. "I said to the group during the week you can't focus on these season-defining games because you tighten up. We did that against the Kangaroos, so all we are really focusing on is what we need to do to play well as a team," he said . . . "It has been a solid month and clearly we needed to improve because we're in the business of trying to play good football and have a product our supporters are happy to come and watch and see us being competitive," he said. The Article Michael Horan/HeraldSun/14Jul07 7-8 with 7 to play Normally 12 games will get you into the finals. BUT - This year there is a bunch of teams level pegging. So it will probably come down to percentage. In which case - count us out. So we need 13 wins. So we need to win 6 of our last 7. R16 H Hawthorn (Dome) - Adel beat them by 71 so we should beat them at our Home R17 A Carl (Dome) - In the bag R18 A Footscray - Western Bulldogs (Dome) - We have the wood on them R19 A Sydney Telstra Stadium - Tough - underdogs R20 H Fremantle (Dome) - Will beat them here - Bye Bye Connelly R21 H WC Eagles (Dome) - Really tough - their guns will all be back - finals beckoning R22 A Richmond MCG - Won't be easy, but if we need to we should win So I'm counting Carl, Foots, Freo and Rich as wins. We need to win one of the Syd/WCE games - both will be tough. • Let's hope Sydney finally get some injuries and fall out of contention. • Otherwise WCE in R21 will be a huge ask. But the real crunch game is next week. We HAVE to beat Hawth to have any real chance The Post 'Enrico_Misso' saintsheaven.net Saints stand up when it counts With their finals prospects on the line, the Saints needed supreme performances from their star players and they, along with a recruit trying to establish himself, delivered as the Saints held off the highly rated Crows in a thriller on Friday night at Telstra Dome. The Saints looked switched on from the start and opened the scoring with a great snap from Stephen Milne. However, the Crows bounced back and despite St Kilda's best endeavours Adelaide kicked the next four goals to open up a 17-point lead. Enter Shane Birss. Playing just his sixth match for the Saints after 51 in five seasons with the Bulldogs, Birss snapped a great goal from the boundary line but he wasn't finished there. His performance was consistent throughout the night. He was often seen on the bottom of the packs and on several occasions he stopped Adelaide mounting an attack with his desperation. The Article Adrian Blades/saints.com.au/15Jul07 Heaven or hell - Saints will not die wondering by Grant Thomas There was a lot to like about the Saints on Friday night. I left Telstra Dome with a lot of confidence as we head into the final seven home-and-away games of the season. There seemed to be leg-irons on the players in the first quarter and when Adelaide struck the first blow in the second quarter, it should have sounded the death knell for the Saints for season 2007. Thankfully, the pride of the players came to the fore. Ross Lyon coached brilliantly. It is not often that coaches have a significant impact on game day, but this was Ross' best day at the office. Conversely, I felt Crows coach Neil Craig showed little imagination and flexibility in his preferred structures and strategies. Putting Steven Baker onto the dangerous and constructive Tyson Edwards had an immediate impact as it reduced the amount of quality ball he distributed to Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin, Scott Thompson and company. Stephen Milne played a selfless role as a stay-at-home forward to ensure Graham Johncock could not dictate terms and generate counterpunch thrusts into the Adelaide forward line. Milne positioned himself in the goal square, which unsettled Johncock, who made a couple of critical and uncharacteristic errors. This allowed Milne to be an even more effective player, which belied his meagre possession count of six. Adelaide loves to take a forward out and have an extra defender, which effectively gives it more space in its forward 50 zone. Lyon did not allow the Crows to dictate this situation and ensured numbers at both ends of the ground were equally distributed. Putting Justin Koschitzke forward on occasions also caused the Crows problems as they needed to play Scott Stevens on him and keep Kris Massie on the rampaging Nick Riewoldt. The Article Grant Thomas RealFooty/15Jul07 Harsh lessons pay off St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says lessons learned from last week's defeat to Collingwood, when his side relinquished the lead to be pipped at the post, helped the Saints to a dramatic two-point victory against Adelaide at Telstra Dome. "I think, under pressure, we went longer," Lyon said. "Last week, we went shorter and turned it over a bit, so that was nice. I thought we tackled really well." The coach refuted the suggestion that he had told his playing group that the clash with the Crows was a do-or-die encounter. "We all know they're important games but if I walk in and say to the group, look our season's on the line, I'm not sure that achieves anything," Lyon said. "Every game's really important when you lose four in a row earlier in the year and you're under pressure. But as a player group you can't focus on season defining games because you tighten up . . . all we're really focusing on - and I know it's a cliché - is what we need to do to play well as a team." Lyon admitted the last five minutes - when the the Saints led by a point - was a tense time in the coach's box. "The cameras were on me and they'll get a couple of things to cut and paste and portray me as a lunatic," he laughed. The Article Catherine Murphy/saints.com.au/15Jul07 GO BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE
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