Ross Lyon is considered by some an old-school AFL coach and the St Kilda mentor pulled off a move from years gone by on Saturday night.
Coaches typically have phones at their disposal to relay messages out to their players and the equipment has copped a battering at times over the years.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Ex-Swans and Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is perhaps the best known phone smasher, while the likes of Alastair Clarkson, Nathan Buckley and Brad Scott have also had their moments with equipment.
Lyon, 57, let his emotions get the better of him midway through the second quarter of St Kilda’s dour 10.11 (71) to 5.9 (39) defeat to the Crows in Adelaide.
After a Riley Bonner error lead to a Darcy Fogarty goal and gave the Crows back the lead, Lyon smashed his handset into the desk.
The fact that a number of AFL grounds still have old school telephone handsets in this modern age is probably a talking point for another day, but Lyon’s handset ended up in pieces.
To his credit, the veteran coach could quickly see the funny side as he attempted to put it back together.
“You can see Ross there … and there goes the phone,” commentator Jack Riewoldt said as the moment was replayed on Fox Footy.
“They’ll have to get the Adelaide Oval staff up there to fix that, that blower that Ross Lyon’s just put a hole in.”
Adam Papalia added: “Ross is trying to use some handiwork and can see the funny side of it.”
The Saints had taken an eight-point lead into quarter-time and stayed in front for most of the second term, until Adelaide’s Ben Keays soccered a goal in the shadows of halftime.
Lyon had learned his lesson this time, gently tapping the phone on the desk.
Fox Footy boundary rider Ruby Schleicher cheekily asked Lyon at the main break if he expected to be billed for the broken phone.
“I think it was put together in the 60s,” the coach replied with a grin.
Yet a tense final term eventually got the better of Lyon, with the phone split in two pieces and thrown to the side.
“It was pretty bodgy, I’ve whacked some phones harder than that, it just fell apart,” Lyon quipped after the game.
“How about you invest in some infrastructure in this stadium?
“You’ve got everything but a decent phone system.”
In wet conditions, the Crows battled to a gritty win at Adelaide Oval, with forward Riley Thilthorpe kicking two goals in a positive return from long-term injury.
After a slow start, Matthew Nicks’ men worked into the contest, with Thilthorpe’s two final-term goals after coming on as the sub sealing the victory that improves their record to 6-10-1.
The Saints, coming off a big win over ladder leaders Sydney, started impressively, but managed just one goal in the second half to suffer their eleventh loss of the season.
“There was no venom post-game, but we take the feedback and we need to improve,” he said.
“That’s probably our biggest loss in a while, we’ve been in a lot of close games, so we just want to get up and going again.
“We’ve just got to continue to aim to grow.”
– with Newswire