Lyon defends Freo’s culture

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says the club does not have a problem with its culture despite several pre-season off-field incidents.

Star recruit Harley Bennel had his car impounded last week, while both Michael Johnson and Shane Yarran have been charged by Police over the past month.

Johnson charged with assault in November after a drunken night out in Perth.

Meanwhile, forward Shane Yarran has been granted leave from the club, after he was charged with unlawful wounding in relation to an alleged incident in July 2015. He also appeared in court on Tuesday in relation to a charge of aggravated common assault from an incident in November this year.

But Lyon said the the club's culture is strong.

“Everyone’s allowed due process and natural justice, so it would be remiss of me to speculate,” Lyon said after the team’s photo shoot on Tuesday.

“I’ve been here five years now. Clearly I’ve heard the headlines thrown about culturally. But cultures are built over a long period of time.

“For four and a half years basically we were pretty much — for want of a better term — incident free. But certainly in a period in the off-season there’s been a couple of situations that haven’t pleased us.

“Clearly there’s boundaries in society that if you have alleged to have broken, it escalates well beyond us. Our basic premise is you know right from wrong, and civility costs nothing.”

Lyon refused to speculate whether or not the futures of Johnson and Yarran at the club were in jeopardy.