{"id":804993,"date":"2026-07-17T00:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/804993\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T00:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:05:24","slug":"afl-news-2026-ross-lyon-rubbishes-rowan-marshall-rumours-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/804993\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL news 2026: Ross Lyon rubbishes Rowan Marshall rumours; press conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ross Lyon<\/a> rubbished \u201ccreated\u201d reports around Rowan Marshall\u2019s future after the ruckman\u2019s impressive performance in St Kilda<\/a>\u2019s 27-point loss to Geelong<\/a> on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss, Marshall had a career night, scoring two goals, a career-high 33 disposals and a club-record 26 contested possessions.<\/p>\n

\"Ross<\/p>\n

Ross Lyon speaks on Thursday night.\u00a0Fox Footy<\/p>\n

Marshall is contracted to the Saints until the end of 2027, having signed a five-year extension in 2022.<\/p>\n

But after submitting an unsuccessful trade request to Geelong late last year, reports state he could be looking for another move, with the Cats and Western Bulldogs linked to him.<\/p>\n

Lyon spoke glowingly about Marshall\u2019s form post-match and dismissed reports about the player\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably disappointing that he starts playing\u00a0really\u00a0well, and then someone creates a story that they spoke to AFL players, and they think the Bulldogs might come for him. Like, which players? St Kilda players? Bulldogs players? Gold Coast players?\u201d said Lyon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand you\u2019ve got to fill content, but you\u2019re actually creating your own story. Then, I get asked leading into the game about a story that\u2019s been created by a journalist … and I have to say: \u2018Noted\u2019, and that he\u2019s contracted. It\u2019s the current world we live in.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are creating content to fill all the slots. It\u2019s just the way of the world though, isn\u2019t it? Journos are speaking to players that the Western Bulldogs might try and trade for Rowan Marshall, who is contracted, and then that becomes the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fascinating, but if they can reconcile that with writing a story and filling their space, well then that\u2019s the current world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed further about the club\u2019s stance on the final year of Marshall\u2019s deal, Lyon shut it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to talk about an AFL game. I note that there was a report, and I note that he\u2019s contracted \u2014 that\u2019s the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall\u2019s form has been strong in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Marshall has shown great character in 2026.\u00a0AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Last round, he had a goal and 29 disposals against Port Adelaide<\/a>, and the week before, he amassed 20 disposals and another two goals.<\/p>\n

With Tom De Koning out after the round 15 loss to the Bulldogs<\/a>, Lyon said Marshall has been a valuable piece in his absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, when they\u2019re both in we\u2019re a better team. We\u2019re a more threatening team and (with) a more challenging front half,\u201d Lyon told journalists post-match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey kick goals, and our stoppage rate (and) score rate hasn\u2019t been done for 17 years at this club. You can\u2019t discard the facts (of) how powerful it\u2019s been as a combination. He was very good tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

St Kilda plays North Melbourne on Sunday at Marvel Stadium in round 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ross Lyon rubbished \u201ccreated\u201d reports around Rowan Marshall\u2019s future after the ruckman\u2019s impressive performance in St Kilda\u2019s 27-point…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":804994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-804993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804993","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=804993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}