Fremantle Dockers to draw on St Kilda’s example under Ross Lyon

[Glasgow]

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has turned the clock back a decade in an effort to reprise the success he had at St Kilda, hoping this week’s training camp on the Gold Coast will help the Dockers replicate the tactical assurance his Saints displayed.

Lyon believed the pre-season camps St Kilda ran ahead of the 2009 and 2010 seasons played an important role in two of the most successful campaigns in the club’s history. The Saints started 2009 with 19 consecutive wins before winning the minor premiership with a 20-2 record. The following season they lost the grand final replay after drawing the first decider with Collingwood.

“It’s exciting, I didn’t see 2009 and ’10 coming when we had these camps. So anything is possible and we think it sets an incredible foundation,” Lyon told Fremantle’s Christmas Gala Ball on Friday night.

“In my past at another club, I did it in ’09 and ’10 and we got to the game plan early in those years and got the players thinking about it.

“It could be an exciting year for us in terms of growth and development of the squad and positioning the club for immediate and future success.”

The Dockers will fly to the Gold Coast on Sunday for a week-long camp that will have a heavy tactical focus before the players split for a three-week Christmas break.

“We’ve never done a camp before because to go to another venue, particularly interstate, defies logic a little bit when you are a WA team,” Lyon said.

“But we want to build the dynamic and build those relationships.”

Meanwhile, Nat Fyfe predicted mature-age recruit Brett Bewley, 23, would be ready for a senior debut early next season.

“He looks like he’s a ready-made AFL player and should be in line for selection in the early rounds,” Fyfe said.