Lyon backs Freo’s Dad’s Army

Defiant Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has backed his ageing team, declaring players were playing longer in the full-time professional era.

Lyon will attempt to keep the Dockers in premiership contention with the oldest list in the competition.

Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands, who are either 33 now or will be by the end of the year, and a further five — Ryan Crowley, Paul Duffield, Michael Johnson, David Mundy and Colin Sylvia — will finish the season aged over 30.

But Lyon said the modern 33-year-old was like a 30-year-old from previous eras because players’ wages gave them the incentive to keep preparing well.

He said Nat Fyfe was now clearly the best player at the club and that Fremantle had full confidence in their 25-and-under age group spearheaded by Fyfe and Stephen Hill.

In a lengthy interview Lyon:

Said Fyfe could still improve significantly.

Warned his older players that they would be replaced if they didn’t perform and the team didn’t continue to win consistently.

Flagged the potential of a more aggressive playing style, assessing the need for a full tag on a game-by-game basis.

Said he still saw “possibility” in the exiled Sylvia, but that the 29-year-old had to string a solid “bloc” of training and playing together.

Lyon said that he and close friend, fellow coach Paul Roos, often joked that critics believed the youngest team won the premiership.

“It is about the quality of the 25 and unders you have got. We know that Fyfe, Hill, Suban, Walters, Neale and Zac Clarke are pretty solid,” Lyon said.

“There has been a strategic shift. People want to be in the top four for age and games experience because it gives you a good opportunity. As long as you have got quality.

“We had clubs offer David Mundy a five-year deal last year when he was 29. Now 33 is the old 30. Older players are playing for longer because they are incentivised to do it and they still have a few years left in them.”

But Lyon flagged a shift in selection policy if wins didn’t come in the first half of the season.

“If we are 3-8 at the halfway mark then we will change who plays,” he said.

“We will probably say to Luke we will wind you up even if he wanted to play on and Alex Pearce would play every game.”

Lyon said Crowley, who faces an anti-doping tribunal hearing, could be replaced if required, but that the Dockers could also free up their midfield more and be more aggressive, confirming he would make some subtle changes in playing style.

“They understand the value of a tagger, but sometimes there is a team approach, or an individual approach or let’s just roll,” he said.

“That’s part of my evolution — not just doing it the same way. We played Hawthorn here last year and Ryan didn’t tag anyone.”