Enigmatic St Kilda coach Ross Lyon fielded questions about his rumoured dinner with unrestricted free agent, and Lyon's former pupil, Lachie Neale, on Thursday.
With Neale's decision date becoming increasingly imminent as the season rolls on, Lyon insisted that coverage of their potential meeting had been "blown out of proportion", and jovially went into detail regarding their past meetings.
Lyon's comments come in the days after his club was reported to be joining the race for "Choccy" Neale's signature, and, ever the standout media performer, Lyon came ready with typically curly replies to such a line of questioning.
"It's been blown out of proportion. I regularly catch up when 'Lach's in town, with a close friend, who will be there as well," Lyon said.
"It's a friendship dinner that has somehow turned into this circus.
"There's been no preliminary discussions or anything like that, except clearly he's been in the AFL landscape (as a potentially gettable commodity), and I simply describe it as a normal dinner, with both people window-shopping. There's certainly no strong agenda from either side.
"As a club, and on his side of the fence too, our dinners tend to remain confidential. I know Lachie and I didn't talk about it (publicly) so that talks to other people with less integrity (doing so), but that's okay. I'll leave it at that," he continued.
He did not, in fact, leave it at that, with a laundry list of Melbourne dining institutions frequented by the pair coming to light, at Lyon's own discretion.
"He was a special young player in my coaching journey; we're close, and we caught up before the last time we played.
"We went to Scopri, we went to Baby Pizza. It's just a dinner. We went to Cecconi's. They're not bad restaurants.
"That's all we're doing here. There's just a bit of a chat - there's due diligence to try and get better. That's all it is here. We're making a mountain out of a molehill, really."
Lyon was quick to list potential venues for their next friendly catch-up, too.
"I'm not that well planned," he said.
"Maybe Grill Americano tonight. (The bill) could be on the club card if we talk footy, but they run a pretty tight ship here, (so it) could be McDonald's."
Seemingly bothered by the use of the word 'romance' to describe a potential reunion, Lyon admitted his club was late to the party in courting the dual premiership player.
"I haven't said anything about a ‘romance', there's been nothing advanced," he said.
"We're late to even thinking about potentially (acquiring his services). We're just doing due diligence on the situation because I wouldn't have thought he was leaving Brisbane, and I still don't think that's guaranteed. But I think if Collingwood and Essendon and everybody are talking to Lachie, then I can slip in (and ask) between entree and main, “What are you thinking about doing with your life and footy?”
He finished discussions about a potential pursuit of the prolific midfielder by praising his professionalism in spite of his off-field challenges this season.
"Clearly it's been a tumultuous time but it talks to his preparation and his dedication, and I know how he goes about his footy. (Because of that) he's been able to deliver one of his best years for the Brisbane Football Club. I'd like to leave it at that - ‘romance' is your word."
Lyon was pragmatic when discussing a season that hasn't gone to plan after a significant influx of well-paid talent joined or re-committed to the club in the off-season, but urged fans to keep the faith, giving the Wildcard round his tick of conditional approval in the process.
"We're frustrated. 6-9 is not where we want to be, and for our fans, it's not where we want to be. But in saying that, we know, on a deeper dive, if you get outside of the obvious, there has been a lot of competitive footy (played by his side).
"We've got a real opportunity, and it would be remiss of us if we dropped away in any form, from here.
"Our season is still alive. You hear the Wildcard come in, you roll your eyes, but when you could be a beneficiary, if you can win enough games, it keeps that hope and that drive alive."
Lyon knows he boasts the pieces to make his his engine room of the future truly sing, but couldn't resist one final call-back.
"We need it (our on-ball brigade) to be ‘Nas', (Mattaes) Phillipou, (Hugo) Garcia, (Darcy) Wilson, and (Tom) de Koning over the next five or six years - there's no doubt about that.
"(Hugh) Boxshall, (Charlie) Banfield, I don't know - you throw Lachie Neale in there and it looks alright. That'd be icing on the cake."
