AFL
5 hours ago
What Garry Lyon learnt from his visit to Fremantle training
By Andrew Slevison
SEN’s Garry Lyon spent time in Perth this week and made an appearance at Fremantle training.
The Melbourne great explained how his visit came about and how he ended up on the training track in a Freo kit with coach Justin Longmuir and his players.
“I went for a lunch with the coterie group, the AJ Diamond Club,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“Justin said to come so I sat in on their meetings, had access all areas and I did go out on the track, only because he told me to.”
Treacy emerged during the 2024 season, kicking 45 goals in 20 matches to finish fourth in Freo’s best and fairest.
Lyon, who kicked 426 goals in 226 games in his five-time All-Australian career, did some work with the Dockers’ emerging key forwards during his stay.
He was most impressed by Josh Treacy, so much so that he suggested to Tim Watson and Brian Taylor that the 22-year-old could become the game’s premier forward.
“I think that boy Treacy can be the best forward in the game,” Lyon added.
“By god he’s a mover. He’d nearly be first picked if you could say, ‘Who would you want at your club?’
“He reminds me a little of you (Brian Taylor) in your prime. He’s got a presence, he hits the ball hard, he likes to make physical contact.”
Lyon learnt plenty about the Dockers during his brief stint, highlighting gun midfielder Caleb Serong and captain Alex Pearce as two players who stood out to him.
“Serong is underrated,” he continued.
“When I say, ‘Who are the best midfielders in the competition’, you (Watson) never mention him.
“They’re tinkering with the way they want to play and how aggressive they want to be with it all
“They’re well led by Alex Pearce, a 200cm full-back as their captain.
“It was good fun.”
He also noticed the reaction of the players to prized recruit Shai Bolton.
“The players were doing video stuff and putting up images, they put up an image of him in his Fremantle jumper and it was just spontaneous, the players started going ‘Ohhhh’,” Lyon said of the former Tigers star.
“They’re fans themselves, so that’s how excited they are about him coming.”
Bolton joined Freo from Richmond in the trade period in a deal that saw them give up Picks 10, 11 and 18 while receiving Pick 14, a future third-rounder and the premiership star.
