St Kilda assistant coach Brendon Goddard has witnessed head coach Ross Lyon change over the years.
Goddard played 102 of his 205 games for the Saints under Lyon from 2007 to 2011, a period where the club was a perennial premiership contender.
Lyon was renowned for being a hard taskmaster and building strong relationships with his players in his first stint as a senior coach, but Goddard says he’s changed noticeably since his first coached the Saints.
Goddard joined Lyon’s coaching staff in 2023 in Lyon’s first year back at Moorabbin, originally starting in a development position.
The former star has now taken on an assistant coaching role for 2024 and he says Lyon’s approach is more relaxed than what it once was.
While Lyon still knows when to give his players a stern talking to, Goddard says he’s not as intense as he was a decade ago.
“It’s definitely different,” Goddard told SEN The Captain’s Run.
“Looking at it from a player's perspective now and how he works with the players, he’s definitely a lot less intense.
“He reads the room really well, when the players need a bit of a stern talking to, he’s obviously still got that there.
“But I think it's more a relaxed approach (to how he used to be).”
While Goddard notices a change in Lyon, he does admit it’s also coming from a different perspective himself as he now sits on the coaching side of the fence.
Despite that, he says other assistants like Robert Harvey have noticed changes as Lyon looks to improve both as a coach and a person throughout his career.
“It is different being an assistant coach,” Goddard said.
“As players, you interact with them (coaches), but you don't see them Monday to Friday and the preparation that goes into either training or the week of training and then into a game.
“I've probably leant on ‘Harvs’ (Robert Harvey) in particular because he worked under Ross after he retired.
“He can actually see it from both sides of the fence, and he says it definitely has changed.
“Ross is a smart man, so he understands he needs to change and where to get better as a coach and as a person.”
One strength that Lyon has built over his coaching career is his ability to trust his assistants and delegate tasks, something Goddard and his colleagues are benefitting from.
He couldn’t be happier with how the head coach is running operations at Moorabbin this pre-season.
“The feedback from ‘Harvs’, and I've seen this, is (Lyon’s) ability to delegate now,” Goddard said.
“He allows the assistant coaches to really take control of the program.
“He obviously oversees it, so there's not a thing that he doesn't let through to the keeper, he’s across everything.
“But definitely, his ability to delegate is now becoming one of his great strengths.”
St Kilda will hope to build through their pre-season before their Round 1 clash against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, March 16.