St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has given his verdict on the AFL’s “deliberate” fixturing clash with the World Cup that saw Saints-Giants draw just 17,748 people.

Plus, the Giants’ boss conceded he got a key selection call “wrong” after admitting he didn’t “impact” the game. Read on in AFL Daily.

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ROSS’ VERDICT ON ‘DELIBERATE’ WORLD CUP CLASH

Saints coach Ross Lyon said the AFL’s decision to schedule the Saints versus Giants clash while the Socceroos were playing in the World Cup was a “deliberate” one.

On Sunday afternoon, Australia kicked off against Turkey in Vancouver at 2pm AEST, with St Kilda and GWS scheduled to clash from 3:15pm local time.

Lyon was asked post-game if he would have liked to see the game scheduled so there wasn’t a clash, but Lyon was happy for it to be on at the same time.

“If someone knew it was on and you’re a full-time fixturer, I think it was a deliberate decision, wasn’t it?” Lyon said.

“Was it logical? That was debatable but it was a deliberate decision. But I like the attitude, ‘we’re the AFL, we’re a Saints home game, our people will come’.

“Last time we played GWS up there there was probably 3000 people there with no Socceroos playing, so I’ll take the 17 (thousand-odd fans who showed up).

“It’s on us to win more often and get more people here. Is it about the Socceroos? I don’t know. That’s a cross tape that I can’t validate for you.”

Kinglsey brutally honest on Jesse Hogan | 06:21

KINGSLEY CONCEDES ‘WRONG’ SELECTION CALL

GWS coach Adam Kingsley concedes he made a mistake picking Jesse Hogan on Sunday

as the Giants went down by eight-points in a thriller to the Saints.

Hogan returned this week from a hip adductor injury and on Sunday finished with one goal and 10 touches in 86 per cent game time.

Kingsley was strong in saying he didn’t think Hogan impacted the game.

“I don’t think he had an impact on the game, which was kind of expected and understandable, he’s missed a bit of footy,” Kingsley said.

“It’s hard to then slot straight back in and have an impact, particularly at that size you’re going to be defended pretty much all the time.

“It was a discussion (playing him in the VFL) but we felt like with his quality, he’s one of these guys that’s capable of turning it on.

“He didn’t tonight, so, I got that wrong.”

The Saints took their chances inside 50 going at 55 per cent while the Giants went at just 42 per cent and Kingsley said that was the main difference between the two sides.

“We didn’t defend their entries well enough,” he said.

“We restricted their entries to a really good level … but we didn’t defend them well enough. They kicked 10 goals between two guys, Ryan and Sharman I thought were brilliant for them.

“I thought they beat us in contest behind the ball, inside D50. Ultimately, I think that was the difference, they defended our entries pretty well, even though I think we had opportunities we didn’t take. But the efficiency at either end was probably the difference in the game.”

Kingsley added his team’s 6-7 record “paints an accurate picture of our season”, but said they are a better team when at their best.

“Talk’s cheap, isn’t it?” he said.

“We’ve got to go and show that, we’ve got to put it into action and I think the group that we have is capable of being better.”