{"id":700896,"date":"2026-05-28T22:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700896\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:18:11","slug":"afl-2026-ross-lyon-takes-aim-at-marvel-stadium-surface-after-hawthorn-vs-st-kildam-press-conference-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700896\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Ross Lyon takes aim at Marvel Stadium surface after Hawthorn vs St Kildam press conference, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cwetness\u201d of the Marvel Stadium surface has come into question following Thursday night\u2019s clash between St Kilda and Hawthorn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Post-game, Saints coach Ross Lyon said he was at \u201croll-the-eyes stage\u201d, telling reporters to \u201ctake it up with\u201d the venue\u2019s chief executive after players lost their footing on numerous occasions. <\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The dampness of the Docklands grass had no bearing on the result, with the Hawks proving far superior to the Saints, who were kept to a 69-year worst first half in the 52-point loss, but that didn\u2019t stop the questions in the aftermath. <\/p>\n

Asked if he was surprised at how slippery the turf was, given the match was obviously played under a closed roof, Lyon said he was at \u201croll-the-eyes stage\u201d with his frustrations. <\/p>\n

\u201cTake it up with Scott Fitzgerald, the CEO of Marvel Stadium, and the broadcasters – I don\u2019t know what they thought – but both teams had to play on it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t dive into it; I knew it was wet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon was also probed on whether he thought the state of the surface contributed to Sam Flanders\u2019 feared-serious Achilles injury. <\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019ll leave that to the sports scientists and medicos, I couldn\u2019t comment, to be honest. I think it\u2019d be remiss and wrong of me,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really just trying to stay in my lane.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

HELLISH NIGHT: $4.5m man cops long-term injury, 69-year low as Hawks ace fires<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018EXTRAORDINARY\u2019: AFL world \u2018baffled\u2019 by no-goal as Hawks issue please explain<\/a><\/p>\n

Watson: ‘Don’t get me started!’ | 00:59<\/p>\n

Pre-game on Thursday night, vision captured Lyon feeling the surface before appearing to complain to nearby officials about its dampness. <\/p>\n

\u201c(I was touching it) for good luck, it didn\u2019t work,\u201d a grinning Lyon justified in his press conference. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think (complaining about the surface) it\u2019d be detracting from the fact they played really well tonight, they were clean, they were tough \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Following Lyon\u2019s comments, two-time premiership player David King told Fox Footy\u2019s post-match coverage that \u201cthe game can look better\u201d with regards to the surface. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting isn\u2019t it – I do think you expect a pristine surface when you play under the roof,\u201d King said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why it wouldn\u2019t be that way. Why would it not be a dry, hard, fast track? I don\u2019t understand that. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re at the MCG, you\u2019re in the lap of the gods. But we\u2019re under a roof; we\u2019re not in the hands of the weather bureau at that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Lyon addresses the \u201cwetness\u201d of the Marvel Stadium turf on Thursday night.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

AFL legend Jason Dunstall offered a counter-view, saying: \u201cMake it too dry, and then everyone starts complaining about (how) the surface is too hard. It\u2019s hard to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rounding off the discussion, King added: \u201cIt did look like a slippery, wet-weather game early, and I think the game can look better than that, for both teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Marvel Stadium roof is often opened in the lead-up to games, with some attendees on Thursday speculating on social media that it was left open during a light drizzle earlier in the day. <\/p>\n

Former Adelaide and Geelong forward Josh Jenkins, meanwhile, took to X to voice his frustrations, suspecting the turf had been watered. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve watered Marvel again. I remember arriving there as a player and being FILTHY about how wet the grass was. Not on, surely,\u201d he wrote on Thursday night. <\/p>\n

Injury for Saints $4.5 mil man | 00:37<\/p>\n

Separately in his press conference, Lyon jumped to the defence of prized recruit Tom De Koning after he headlined a historically poor first half. <\/p>\n

De Koning had just two disposals in the first half, as Hawthorn held the Saints goalless for the first time in 39 seasons.<\/p>\n

The Saints hit back in the second half and De Koning kicked two goals, but the Hawks had long bolted.<\/p>\n

Lyon believes De Koning is impacting in areas most don\u2019t see.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s had some really good football and as a combination they\u2019ve been really good, they lowered their colours last week,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anyone that sits there as a combination, I think the week before they had six goals between them to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the head start report over the last month, which you mightn\u2019t get, he ranked seventh in the AFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeventh in the whole AFL \u2013 if I get this right \u2013 for score involvements or score assists, the first column, over the last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat can get lost, he\u2019s kicked two tonight. He\u2019ll just continue to grow and grow, it takes a while to embed people into your program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that around at other clubs, we seen that last year, it\u2019s not always an immediate fix but we have absolute confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHim and Row really got to work in the second half, everyone wants to run that narrative and sheet that home to a few individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to be clear, this was a lack of team performance and coaching performance. We\u2019re all in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saints\u2019 disastrous first half was made worse by an Achilles injury to Sam Flanders.<\/p>\n

Flanders innocuously pulled up lame on the wing after receiving a handball and needed to be guided off the ground by club trainers.<\/p>\n

Lyon stopped short of giving a diagnosis but says the injury is of a more serious nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally simply, it\u2019s an Achilles injury (and) it looks serious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t speak for the doctor and the MRI that\u2019s yet to occur. The club will update at the right time when that\u2019s all done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 with NCA NewsWire\u2019s Tyler Lewis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cwetness\u201d of the Marvel Stadium surface has come into question following Thursday night\u2019s clash between St Kilda…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[120046,341248,638,64,63,689,55,639,341249,53273,68850,341012,1818,341008,341252,3231,12149,681,80106,341251,677,24302,668,341247,19093,42843,276315,85,341250,1122,57847,1117,42949,64414,660],"class_list":["post-700896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-absolute-confidence","tag-ace-fires","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-blunt-quip","tag-club-trainers","tag-coaching-performance","tag-contentious-umpire","tag-david-king","tag-game-shed-chat","tag-head-start-report","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-jason-dunstall","tag-jon-ralph","tag-josh-jenkins","tag-man-cops","tag-oceania","tag-post-match-coverage","tag-press-conference","tag-roll-the-eyes-stage","tag-sarah-jones","tag-score-assists","tag-scott-fitzgerald","tag-sports","tag-sports-scientists","tag-st-kilda","tag-team-performance","tag-tom-de-koning","tag-two-time-premiership-player","tag-tyler-lewis","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700896","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=700896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}