An "emotional" Ross Lyon has issued an apology to St Kilda players after making an inappropriate comment about Indigenous players earlier this month, which led to the coach offering to consider his position.
The incident happened before the club's bye in April, where Lyon said, during a drill: "I love the Brotherboy connection but we all have to remember we are part of a bigger team here."
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Lyon was met with reporters at St Kilda HQ.
"It was an accurate story," Lyon told Channel Seven.
"Culture is really important, and behaviour is really important, and I made an error unintentionally. I resolved it with my players, and I'm thankful for their support.
"As a leader of the club, it's important you get it right every time."
Lyon, in a statement provided to Channel Seven's the Agenda Setters on Monday night, apologised, taking full responsibility.
"I'm not here to justify or try to rationalise what I said. We are all only as good as our next moment and it was a moment I understand I misjudged," Lyon said.
"He (Ross Lyon) doesn't think he's racist and he certainly was horrified at how much he had hurt those players."
🗣️ Caroline Wilson following Ross Lyon's comments to three Indigenous players at St Kilda pic.twitter.com/ZnXSpvnFsh
— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 27, 2026
"Was I being flippant? Could it be described as casual racism? I learned a lot out of what happened.
"It didn't land where it should have landed and I have to wear that, and I take full responsibility for what I said.
"I was very emotional at the meeting, and I offered to consider my position."
It's understood that Brad Hill and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera were less than impressed with Lyon's comment, but have since publicly backed their coach.
The incident was spoken about by the panel on the show, which indicated that Lyon called in the players on their day off to clear the air, and take responsibility for his actions.
St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena spoke on SEN in the wake of the report, saying he learned of the incident slightly before it was revealed on the Agenda Setters.
"I had no line of sight of it before then," Dilena said.
"The good thing, and seeing the way it panned out, it was a pretty innocent oversight by Ross not meaning any harm. It shows he's running a pretty safe environment with our First Nations boys, where they are comfortable to raise it with him, and sort it out harmoniously.
"But it was one of those things in the workplace that got resolved and didn't need to be elevated beyond that."
Dilena insisted that the issue didn't need to be raised with him, the CEO, unless it wasn't resolved between Lyon and the players.
Dilena also didn't comment on the possibility of Lyon moving on from his post, which was offered in his apology.
