St Kilda senior coach Ross Lyon has expressed his discontent with the management of the playing surface at Marvel Stadium in the Saints thrilling two-point win over Essendon on Friday night.
The veteran AFL coach made a rare appearance on social media to share his opinion, posting on the platform X in a light-hearted manner about the venue's decision to not close the roof before rain set in on the Docklands on Friday afternoon.
"How good, Essendon legends game - looking for a Gary Moorcroft goal square hang," Lyon tweeted.
"Oh no, might be hard. Marvel Stadium did not manage to close the roof before the rain came."
Despite the joking nature of the social media post, Channel 7's Xander McGuire reported soon after that both St Kilda and Essendon were "filthy" over the conditions of the ground, frustrated by the fact that "the roof was left open for a period of time as rain swept through".
Ultimately, the matter was referred to the AFL's recently appointed Executive General Manager Football Performance, Greg Swann.
Lyon would double down on his sentiment post-game, highlighting the difficulties with the surface at Marvel Stadium in comparison to other AFL venues.
"I think we all need to acknowledge the difference at Marvel," Lyon said.
"You get the MCG, there's a beautiful, soft give in the ground. It's concrete out there [at Marvel]. It's hard as a rock.
"The grass is like my scalp, really thin. So, it becomes very, very tricky conditions [when wet].
"I don't know what the policies and procedures are though. Do they review themselves like we get reviewed? Probably not."
Lyon went on to share that his tweet was "impulsive" and he initially did not intend to comment on the playing surface via the platform.
"I just saw Gary Moorcroft [in the curtain-raiser] and he's a legend," Lyon said.
"I remember his mark and I thought he might take one, so I took a photo. Then I thought, [the turf] is probably wetter.
"I forgot I had [X]. It was just an impulsive tweet."
St Kilda's will conclude their 2025 campaign against GWS next week, travelling to Engie Stadium to take on the top four hopefuls.
