St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has leapt to the defence of the club's supporters after it recorded its lowest attendance for a game against the Western Bulldogs in Victoria for 26 years.
The Saints were smashed by a polished Bulldogs outfit under the roof at Marvel Stadium in the Thursday night slot, with a measly 20,502 flocking to the venue to witness the 72-point defeat.
It is the lowest Thursday night showing in 2025, barring the Gold Coast and Hawthorn clash at TIO Stadium, which reached 12,314, hitting full capacity.
It was also drastically less than the Saints and Bulldogs contest in Round 6 (35,511), which was played on Easter Sunday.
But Lyon didn't take kindly to the line of questioning surrounding St Kilda fans' poor attendance on Thursday.
"Because you're going (at me) about the crowds, what do Thursday night crowds look like for most teams?" Lyon said.
The AFL has gone all-in on Thursday night footy, with 2025 being the first year it has ever been scheduled weekly.
Prior to the St Kilda and Western Bulldogs match, Thursday night football was raking in on average 45,905 supporters, spread across the Gabba, Adelaide Oval, MCG, Marvel Stadium and GMHBA Stadium.
When the journalist responded with "fair point", Lyon got more defensive about the number in attendance.
Ross Lyon was FIRED UP during his post-match presser ๐๐ฅ
MORE >> https://t.co/ZW0eObwYTm pic.twitter.com/tphSSW5k99
โ Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) June 12, 2025
"What's the point I made? Do you want to reiterate it to me? Has Thursday night been very tough for other clubs as well? It's a binary; it's a yes or no.
"You're asking a fair bit about crowds. You just said, 'That's a fair point'.
"I walked off the ground and I said to the media manager 'it's early' and she said 'oh yeah, nah Thursday night, right?' Because I don't dive into it.
"My media manager said Thursday nights are really difficult. Most clubs are really struggling because kids have got to get up for school, it's Thursday night.
"I think you picked up on it, but yeah, it's a challenging night (for people to attend). I'd say (we're) two of the lower drawing clubs in the competition.
"20,000 is decent, I reckon, for a Thursday night, I would think. Pretty good? What's acceptable (do) you reckon?"
It comes as Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick took aim at St Kilda's lack of supporters during their Round 11 outing, bringing in 13,486 at the enclosed venue.
"They had 13,000 people here today."
Damien Hardwick claps back ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฟ
After Ross Lyon branded the Suns the AFLโs 'nepo baby', Dimma didnโt hold back - politely telling Ross to focus on his own backyard rather than trying โto bring everyone else down.โ pic.twitter.com/nwOUv3WEGH
โ ABC SPORT (@abcsport) May 25, 2025
The Moorabbin club ranks 14th for average home crowd attendances (30,948), slightly pipping Brisbane (30,551).
St Kilda slump to 14th on the ladder with a 5-8 record, and will face tough tasks in Collingwood and Fremantle (away) in the next fortnight.
