Ross Lyon has given his strongest indication yet that he is open to a coaching return.
Speaking on Triple M on Sunday, Lyon mentioned a recent conversation with three-time Brisbane premiership coach Leigh Matthews and how it opened his mind to the possibility.
The former St Kilda and Fremantle coach has been strongly linked to coaching Carlton in 2022.
“You always loop back to your reference point and they’re very privileged positions,” Lyon said.
“The Collingwood Football Club, if they reached (out), you would speak to them, but you need to be all-in. It’s an all-in job.
“I ran into Leigh Matthews and it was a really simple conversation at the end of one of our games.
“I’d certainly closed it and I saw Leigh, and Leigh doesn’t talk a lot but he’s very respected, and he said, ‘mate, you going to coach again?’.
“And I said, ‘nah I’m done mate’, and he goes, ‘you’re too young, you miss game-day, you need to coach again’.
“There’s a lot of noise around you and the narrative and I felt there was some respect there from Leigh and it does stimulate your thinking that you’ve got something to offer and maybe if an opportunity presented, maybe you look.”
Lyon added that he does still have a passion for AFL coaching.
“As simple as I could put it, you guys are in this position, you’re doing something you love … say you’re podcasting and you’re in full control, not many people get that opportunity,” he said.
“A lot of people get up out of bed and go and do something that they don’t really want to do but they don’t want and grind through.
“AFL coaching is a passion. I never found it torturous or a job. To put a team around you and to commit to something and try and build something special is a wonderful feeling.
“That’s the best I could answer it.”
Listening to those comments, Tim Watson gets the feeling Lyon is eyeing off a potential return to the caper.
“That’s the most positive I’ve heard him speak. I think he wants to coach again,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“I’ve said this before, I think he should coach again and if he gets either of those jobs, they’ll get themselves a great coach.
“And forget all this crap about ‘he’s this defensive-minded coach’, he’s much, much better than that.”