A defiant Ross Lyon has stared down critics of his Fremantle tenure on the eve of the AFL season, declaring he is the man capable of lifting the Dockers back up the AFL ladder.

And an emotional Lyon also detailed why he has put faith in Harley Bennell, revealing he had recently spent extra time addressing the mental wellbeing of his troubled midfielder and other players in his care.

Fremantle have not played finals since claiming the minor premiership in 2015 and have finished a disappointing 14th in the past two seasons.

AFL’s time to light up the night

But Lyon, who has coached teams to grand finals in three of his 12 seasons as coach of St Kilda and the Dockers, was adamant he was a better coach in 2019 and his current team was primed to improve.

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“I was a bit crazy (in his earlier days) and I’ve got back to a bit of craziness in prep,” he said.

“I was the accidental coach and I believe I became the impactful coach and technically, we’ve evolved with how we play. Early days, I delegated but not with a lot of accountability. And now I delegate with really smooth workflows and accountability that makes it easier on everyone.”

Lyon’s winning percentage has dropped from almost 69 per cent in his first nine seasons as a senior coach to just over 30 per cent in the past three seasons.

“I have no doubt I’m coaching and managing better than I ever have and feel as energised and as determined as I have ever been in coaching,” Lyon said. “I’ve never really doubted myself and am very confident in my knowledge and capabilities to be able to bring this group through.

“People ask me if I’m going to get sacked. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about and I don’t believe it’s going to happen.

“I’ve always coached with expectation and those who put the slows on would stop Phar Lap if they could. I put my hand up to get scrutinised and I’m prepared to take the emotional risk to give it everything and fail.

“I’m fully committed and I’m all in. You’ve got to live your doctrine and sometimes you’ve got a simple one like, ‘Don’t be weak’.”

Lyon was almost moved to tears when he spoke of his support for Bennell, who has endured a horror run of injuries and off-field incidents since transferring from the Gold Coast at the end of 2015. “Harley is like me — is the ride worth the fall? Yeah,” Lyon said.

“When you put yourself up, no one is safe from critique, but the misinformation and lack of rigour is a concern.

“Persistence and perseverance knows no failure. Harley is still persisting and we’re hopeful it will turn.

“I’ve seen it in him from day one and even when he’s had his moments, it’s been self-destruction because he couldn’t have worked any harder and it just imploded on him.

“People try to read between the lines and make it up in between, but we’re not lying and Harley is not lying.

“I fully understand it and I’ve told him, ‘I would have crumbled way before you’. I probably would have been more dysfunctional and lashed out a bit more, so I admire him. It’s so sad because he’s such an incredible talent and would bring a new paradigm to our list. We’ll never give up.”

In a wide-ranging interview, the Dockers boss addressed several issues affecting his club and the game.

EXTERNAL PRESSURE

Lyon was concerned about the effects of a now rampant social media element he described as “the thirst to be first”.

He and other key members of the Dockers hierarchy had embraced an AFL Players’ Association mental health pilot program over the past year to deal with what he believed had become an acute issue. “Clearly, social media is impacting mental health,” he said.

“There’s going to be stress. Elite sport is high demand, high reward. It’s an abnormal environment and for people to think young players can be normal teenagers, it’s fanciful.

“But we all have enemies and the best revenge is living your life well. Our program is as efficient and as lean as we can make it and we encourage an integrated life with enormous resources wrapped around it.

“Those that suffer the anxiety and aren’t supported, it can lead to escapism and dysfunctional behaviour.

“Every day they come in it’s a simple question: ‘Are you sliding?’. If it’s, ‘Yes’, you get referred.”

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Lyon believed the leadership of he and Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe had evolved in a positive fashion, both individually and together.

“Leaders aren’t born, they are created and it’s learnt behaviours and certainly, Nathan has evolved in his leadership.

“Nathan is a great preparer and a beast competitor, so if they’re your fundamentals along with game-day performance, he ticks the first few boxes. He’s high profile and there are always people who want to snipe you and bring you down, but the bulk is incredibly positive so it’s about who you want to believe.”

DRUG SCOURGE

Lyon strongly defended the AFL’s contentious “two strikes” drugs policy.

But he thought little of comments made last month by former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas, who he replaced at the Saints in 2006, that his team back then had been rife with players using drugs.

“It wasn’t my experience,” he said. “I treat that comment with the respect it deserves.”

Lyon backed the AFL’s policy but was worried the AFLPA may back away from it if the majority of players doing the right thing were wrongly tarred with the drugs brush.

“I like the AFL policy because it’s about mental health and it’s about rehabilitation,” he said. “That should be the agenda, but while the objective is that, I think there will be some confusion. The players acquiesce to it and can step away and just be held to account by WADA and ASADA, so make your choice because they will step away to a lower level, no doubt.

“Even if it saves one player, it’s worth it and I think we outperform what’s out in the broader community for the male age group. If you’re outperforming your cohort, I think that’s not a bad measure.”

RETAINING VETERANS

Lyon said the re-contracting of veterans Aaron Sandilands and Hayden Ballantyne was a key to helping the club’s young players find their way.

“It was a list management decision, not my decision,” he said. “With Aaron, the call was, ‘We’ll keep him’ and I said, ‘No worries’. Do I love and respect Aaron? Yes. So when it was put on the table, it was easy for me. Was it a hard decision or soft decision? I think you could take it either way.

“With Hayden, he’s 31, kicked four in his last game and is playing really good football. Our ball movement will really help him and I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicks 40 goals.

“It’s really important what (Luke) Hodge is doing at Brisbane.”

RUNNER RULES

Lyon said he did not care about changes to limit the time runners could spend on the ground, despite having former player Tendai Mzungu on the field of play for 17 minutes in one quarter last season. He believed a late push by other coaches to have the changes dropped was always going to be fruitless.

“In a perfect world I’d like them, but I don’t fight what I can’t control,” he said.

“I know there was a late push, but I was giggling at the late push. Steven Hocking (AFL football operations manager) is very strong. He’s not going to buckle to a media campaign.”

LOVE OF THE GAME

“I was talking to someone the other day about the special moments and I’ve been fortunate,” he said.“There are experiences that money can’t buy when you’re talking about the ride and enjoying the game. Robert Walls was a strong influence and a mentor in a sense and used to talk about people being bitter on the game when it had been so great to them. My ride has been unbelievable. I love the game.”