Is there any chance we could dial down the Lyon-makes-everyone-a-defender histrionics by a few percent. Sure, he’s giving a guy we got for a fourth round pick a trial down back because it’s not obvious to anyone except Shane that he’s good enough to be a forward in a good team.
Ballantyne has played his entire career as a small forward because at his best he was an elite small forward. Lyon loved him. Walters has played almost all of his career as a small forward because he’s an elite small forward. He’s played a bit in the midfield because he could be elite there as well (though not as damaging in my humble opinion). He never put Pavlich back. He’s never put Tabs back (although they’ve tried to use him as a second ruck). He never put D Pearce back, which I think was a mistake. He’s never put an elite midfielder like Fyfe, Mundy or Neale back. If anything, Lyon’s worst decision was playing Barlow forward.
The only people who go into the backline are people who can’t crack the team in their preferred position, like Sutcliffe or Crozier in years gone by, Mayne when he was horribly out of form, and Kersten now. It’s pretty standard coaching stuff. In fact I'm sure if you look back through Freo history you'll see plenty of times it has been successful. Tarrant and Roger are probably standouts.
There is no way Wiz would be sent to the backline. It’s just such a ridiculous statement. He was a gem, and you'd have to be an idiot not to recognise it. Lyon might lean too heavily on the defensive side of things, but he's not an idiot. There are all manner of reasons to criticise Lyon. I don’t understand the need to invent more.
