{"id":218287,"date":"2025-10-16T18:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/218287\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T18:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:02:09","slug":"ross-lyon-on-st-kildas-backflip-of-leek-aleer-press-conference-trade-with-gws-giants-details-jack-steele-rowan-marshall-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/218287\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Lyon on St Kilda\u2019s backflip of Leek Aleer, press conference, trade with GWS Giants, details, Jack Steele, Rowan Marshall, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ross Lyon has defended St Kilda\u2019s shock backflip of Leek Aleer<\/a>, rejecting talk the club \u201creneged\u201d on the Giants defender after a busy trade period at Moorabbin. <\/p>\n

The Saints pulled out of their pursuit of Aleer last Thursday, some six days out from the trade deadline, in a stunning turn of events.<\/p>\n

It came after St Kilda had chased Aleer for over a year as the 24-year old ended up re-signing with GWS on a significantly cheaper deal that cost him over $1 million in earnings.<\/p>\n

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The Saints were among the most active clubs in the trade period in a recruiting splurge. They signed free agents Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni and acquiring Sam Flanders and Liam Ryan in \u201cfour bona fides,\u201d according to Lyon.<\/p>\n

Aleer was also set to join until St Kilda unexpectedly withdrew from trade talks with GWS.<\/p>\n

But Lyon suggested a breakdown in negotiations with the Giants led to the move. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Renege\u2019 is a strong term, I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s exactly correct,\u201d the Saints coach said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNothing\u2019s perfect. At the end of the day, he was a GWS player, a deal needed to be done. They certainly weren\u2019t throwing him out the door or pushing him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon was pleased Aleer still found an AFL home for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really thrilled that they saw him as we did \u2014 a high-calibre player, extended him for two years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe human side is always difficult, but it\u2019s worked out really well for him. In simple terms, I\u2019m really pleased for that.<\/p>\n

Ross Lyon has defended St Kilda\u2019s shock backflip of Leek Aleer, rejecting talk the club \u201creneged\u201d on the Giants defender after a busy trade period at Moorabbin.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

\u201cLife\u2019s messy, football\u2019s messy, trade period is messy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he wouldn\u2019t go into specifics as to why the Saints backed out of the trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always the \u2018known knowns\u2019, right? But there\u2019s a lot of information, every trade period you\u2019re trying to figure out stuff,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that goes on within the trades and decisions or non-decisions and non-trades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as simple as what\u2019s on the surface. There\u2019s a lot of threads to get a trade executed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe care factor is strong, the player has a home, we move on. Everyone that went in to have a planed trade executed, didn\u2019t get them all done. What\u2019s what I\u2019d say.\u201d<\/p>\n

St Kilda also farewelled skipper Jack Steele in a trade with St Kilda, but retained Rowan Marshall despite Geelong\u2019s best attempts to lure the ruckman at the deadline. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a significant move, I really want to acknowledge Jack Steele,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a really strong leader. It just shows he\u2019s got the fire in the belly and courage to explore an opportunity where he gets to lead and stand up. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish him all the best. At all times we try to balance the human side and the organisational objective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merrett’s manager FUMING as trade fails | 00:32<\/p>\n

Lyon said the club was keen to retain Marshall as they \u201creally value him\u201d after Geelong\u2019s 11th-hour bid fell short.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a negotiation late, really late. But in saying that, the Cats were professional and go about it the right way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Cats list boss) Andrew Mackie carries himself really well, it\u2019s business, it\u2019s not personal. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all move on and wake up tomorrow and get to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The St Kilda coach, who\u2019s currently also serving as interim football boss after David Misson\u2019s departure, was excited by his new De Koning-Marshall ruck combo and the club\u2019s prospects as large.<\/p>\n

Lyon said going chips in on this trade period was part of a three-year plan, with the club previously trying to lure De Koning.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly we have a strategy. I have some pretty smart coaches around me. Corey Enright is top of the pops with football IQ,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHawthorn won three flags playing two ruckmen. The game lends itself to talls, look at Brisbane \u2014 Darcy Fort and Oscar McInerney. Their ability to compete in the air and in the ruck was pretty pivotal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plan has been thee years in the making. Lot of hard choices, lot of loyal servants. We had to make some decisions to bring youth in.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk is cheap, we just have to get to work. Without being perfect, and clearly not, we\u2019ve executed to a high level. Now we have to transfer that on field and shift the dial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ross Lyon has defended St Kilda\u2019s shock backflip of Leek Aleer, rejecting talk the club \u201creneged\u201d on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[110607,63,689,684,121840,60060,133295,133293,131853,131939,43,133292,6179,12112,44,677,3233,133294,41429,127782,1122,133296,1117,92572,41,39,42,40,16044,1133,2589,97812,660],"class_list":{"0":"post-218287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-andrew-mackie","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","11":"tag-ben-cotton","12":"tag-busy-trade-period","13":"tag-care-factor","14":"tag-cats-list-boss","15":"tag-de-koning-marshall","16":"tag-fuming","17":"tag-giants-stayafl","18":"tag-headlines","19":"tag-human-side","20":"tag-jack-silvagni","21":"tag-jack-steele","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-oceania","24":"tag-oscar-mcinerney","25":"tag-recruiting-splurge","26":"tag-shock-backflip","27":"tag-shock-trade-backflip","28":"tag-st-kilda","29":"tag-three-year-plan","30":"tag-tom-de-koning","31":"tag-tom-petroro","32":"tag-top-news","33":"tag-top-stories","34":"tag-topnews","35":"tag-topstories","36":"tag-trade-deadline","37":"tag-trade-period","38":"tag-trade-talks","39":"tag-trade-window","40":"tag-victoria"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}