St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says it’s not the club’s job to protect its highly-paid superstars from the external “noise” of the “abnormal” AFL landscape.
The 0-2 Saints have been slow out of the gates in losses to Collingwood and Melbourne — clubs St Kilda is expected to be competing against for a finals spot following a lucrative off-season recruiting drive.
It’s put a greater microscope on the club and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who’s been effectively tagged by opposition after becoming the game’s first $2 million player last year, and $1.6 million recruit Tom De Koning.
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But Lyon said there’s “no more, no less” pressure to turn things around quickly after an aggressive off-season splash ahead of Saturday’s must-win clash with GWS.
“It’s not something I’m focusing on. Always bringing in new pieces, together you’re working,” he said on Thursday.
“To those pieces, there’s been a lot of noise apparently, but it doesn’t come up in my algorithm. I’m not really across everything, except I hear the (Saint) media department tell me there’s been a lot of noise.”
Lyon suggested he was able to block out the scrutiny, but added “I can fine tune my algorithm so it feeds me that stuff.”
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Asked about the likelihood that St Kilda’s big names would be seeing some of the criticism, Lyon joked: “We’re going to tweak their algorithms!”
The Saints boss said Wanganeen-Milera and De Koning knew what they signed up for and “it’s not our job” to prepare them for the added stresses of AFL.
“We just support people. That’s why AFL football is abnormal,” Lyon said.
“It’s not like what (media) do, you’re not under scrutiny. You choose AFL football, you choose stress, you choose anxiety, and you choose being in the arena.
“I’m happy to be in the arena – I know what’s coming – but you’ve got to write your own story.”
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Lyon backed both stars to respond, noting they’d “traditionally written really strong AFL stories”.
“We’re all only as good as our next moment. The moment you don’t handle the stress and anxiety, it’s time to give it away,” he added.
“You’ve got to keep leaning into it. That’s why it’s AFL – it’s high performance and it’s abnormal.
“If you want normal, then you step to the other side of this microphone and the other side of the fence on the ground and you pursue mediocrity in your life.
“These guys are pursuing excellence, and with that comes a lot of critique.”
With Wanganeen-Milera’s disposal count well down from 29.9 last season to 18.5 through two games in 2026, Lyon said there should be a focus to get the ball in the superstar Saint’s hands more.
“I think with any team, get it in (your best player’s) hands. Nick Daicos had 23 handball receives the week before (against St Kilda) and
was lauded. The next closest on the ground was 11,” Lyon said.
“So clearly a good strategy is to get it in the hands of your good users. It’s not always going to look perfect.”
But Lyon hit back at some of the Wanganeen-Milera scrutiny by highlighting the 23-year old still hit the scoreboard with thee goals against against Melbourne.
“He kicked three goals – 66 for the year, where would that rank him among the key forwards? It would rank him no. 1 wouldn’t it?,” Lyon highlighted.
“None of us are perfect. We don’t want to be 0-2 – we are. The only way to get out of 0-2 is to improve your football and win.
“But if you dive in, the football analysis bar diving into the individuals and the win-loss narrative, there’s different analyses.”
On the injury front, the St Kilda coach said Liam Ryan was “a bit sore” but would train on Thursday after hurting his shoulder against the Demons.
Asked if Mattaes Phillipou’s quad setback was just a cork, Lyon responded: “Its that what’s been reported and put on the AFL website?
“Unless you know something different, I don’t.”