Coast and you are toast!

[bigcarl]

Really good Steven Baker interview in today’s Herald Sun about what it was like to play under Ross Lyon.

He warns of what the current players are in for if they don’t give it 100 per cent … though he says Ross will look after them if they do.

Unfortunately I can’t find the link online.

[Goose is king]

This is why any whinging saints fan complaining about Ross coming back need to piss off. Ross will get the best out of the players and some soft saints players that don’t respond will be shown the door even if it’s 2-6 years too late for some of them. I can’t wait for next season

[Sanctorum]

I really liked Lyon's statement on Monday that if any player lost his trust they would find it very hard to win it back, can't ask for better than that and a clear warning to anyone that does not put in 100% effort on the track and in games.

[Sanctorum]

Enjoyable interview with Steve Baker, c/p from today's Sunday Herald Sun:

"COAST AND YOU ARE TOAST - BAKER WARNS SAINTS PLAYERS ON PERILS OF LYON’S DEN, by Jon Anderson Herald Sun 30 October 2022

STEVIE Baker knows full well what it’s like to be coached by Ross Lyon and warns St Kilda’s 2023 playing group that anything less than full commitment could be career ending.

“He’s all about effort and if you give him 100 per cent then he will give you back loyalty in heaps,” said Baker, 42, who works today in property and lives in Middle Park.

JA: Do you speak with Ross Lyon?

SB: We had a few beers a couple of weeks ago, had a laugh about him giving me the ar-e at the end of 2011 and then him pi---ng off a week later for Freo.

JA: A good coach?

SB: Really good, and I was lucky to have Grant Thomas before him. Under Ross we had some great structures. Very high intensity, very stern. There is only one mission with Ross and we knew our game stood up in finals. He will improve players on that list and there will be a couple of little-known names who will get games ahead of better-known ones.

JA: From the outside he appears as if he could go right off?

SB: He didn’t lose his temper often, but his stare would say a thousand words. He had a way with players and knew how to treat each individual. He recently said he is a bit more of a teddy bear, which surprised me because I didn’t think of him ever as a teddy bear. I am forever in his debt for playing me in the 2010 grand finals when I’d missed 11 games and he still put me straight in.

JA: Slow or fast-tempo football with Ross?

SB: Back then it suited us to slow it down with stoppages or even free kicks so we could get back and set up our zone.

JA: When I think of you I always think of Stevie Johnson and that game in 2010.

SB: I got suspended for 12 weeks with three suspended after I belted the absolute sh.t out of him, punching him, elbowing him. I think he broke his hand on my forehead early in the game. At three-quarter time the doctor told him he would miss three to four weeks, so he said “I’m going to go and get that little Baker sh.t”. He gave me the best elbow ever and cut my eye. Stevie ended up getting three weeks.

JA: How do you handle that when you next see each other?

SB: I caught up with him when he was with GWS. I was with Lenny Hayes in a pub and he hadn’t told me Stevie was coming. He came up behind me and put me in a headlock. It was a good laugh.

JA: Didn’t the AFL change the rules after that game?

SB: Yeah, they changed it in that an injured player couldn’t be whacked so I feel good that I’ve left my mark on the game.

JA: How have the last few months been without your close friend Shane Warne?

SB: A big part of our lives has gone and just the excitement of being around Shane. His family has been through hell. When Shane was in Melbourne we caught up just about every day. We travelled together and were planning to go into business together. I catch up with his son Jackson regularly.

JA: You were also part of his poker ring.

SB: Around a dozen of us would catch up every couple of weeks in his poker den and Shane would be the ringmaster. He was a seriously good player, as is Jackson. Brendan Fevola came a few times but was terrible. We called him ‘ATM’, instant cash.

JA: How do you think you are remembered as a player?

SB: By opposition supporters as a dirty little tagger who tried to take the heads off opposition players. I played on some good ones but Ben Cousins was the hardest because he never stopped running hard. I’m happy I finished as a one-club player. Playing 200 games and winning a B&F wasn’t bad for a bloke who should have been sent back on his first day after I got pi--ed and missed training under Tim Watson.

JA: How is your body?

SB: No good. I had a hip replacement last year and need another op on my knee. Then I had a shoulder op a couple of weeks ago. Think I have had 13 operations in total, all because of footy. But no regrets. I’m on the Saints bandwagon for next year and might get around the club a bit more.

JA: They should employ you as a part-time tackling coach, part-time mentor and humourist.

SB: I think full-time supporter will be enough. But I would help if asked."

[sendmehomehappy]

Good Stuff...classic Stevie.

I'd buy a house off SB....if I could afford Middle Park.

[Vazelos]

Look out players like Jack Billings the No 1 Coaster!!

[SaintPav]

Hip replacement at age 42!

[SaintPav]

Look out players like Jack Billings the No 1 Coaster!!

There are a few others too.

It’s going to be be interesting isn’t it.

It’s a totally different era.

[Teflon]

Probably puts to bed tge Lyon Vs Thomas arguments
If people thought Thomas was a good coach clearly Lyon was next level
All the w@nkers on here saying “ Lyon retired SB so he must hate him”…..more BS

[Scollop]

The disciples (cult followers of Lyon) want to convince us that they hadn't already made their mind up back in 2010...

...they waited until now with this Steve Baker article to put to bed the Lyon vs Thomas arguments

[saynta]

The disciples (cult followers of Lyon) want to convince us that they hadn't already made their mind up back in 2010...

...they waited until now with this Steve Baker article to put to bed the Lyon vs Thomas arguments

Of course Baker would say that no matter how he truly feels.

He's trolling for a role back at the saints.

[B.M]

Baker is about as honest as you’d get

Straight shooter who doesn’t give a fk!!!

[CURLY]

Look out players like Jack Billings the No 1 Coaster!!

Think you'll find he does more kms per game than most.

[St Plugger]

Look out players like Jack Billings the No 1 Coaster!!

Think you'll find he does more kms per game than most.

But so do the boundary umpires, and with about as much influence in a game!