Ross Lyon has suggested he is not interested in embarking on a rigourous process to prove his credentials for the Carlton coaching job, declaring “I’ve had 13 years of auditions”.
Lyon is widely considered the favourite to be Carlton’s next senior coach after David Teague was dismissed with a year to run on his deal, but could have a fight on his hands to win the job.
According to The Age’s Caroline Wilson, former North Melbourne coach Brad Scott could also be in the running for the role and has been sounded out by Blues’ Head of Football, Brad Lloyd.
While Lyon admitted that he was “interested” in the process, he revealed he’d reached out to recently-appointed Blues president Luke Sayers for “clarity” on what exactly the process would entail.
On Wednesday, Carlton unveiled a ‘coaching subcommittee’ of six individuals, including three-time premiership-winning coach David Parkin, that will decide on the club’s next senior coach.
When asked by Wilson on Nine’s Footy Classified whether he was prepared to “fight” for the Carlton job, Lyon appeared non-committal.
“I said I’m interested in the process and I’ll listen, I’ll let the river flow and see what pops out, and I’m still waiting to hear what it is,” he said.
“Fight for it? I think at St Kilda I went through a massive process, it was panel interviews, question and answer, a psych [evaluation], executive testing. I was headhunted to Fremantle and I’ve had 13 years of auditions.
“A lot of backgrounding has occurred and the only reason I knew that was because media journalists were coming to me and saying [Carlton] is backgrounding, and I was like, ‘Really? I don’t know why’.”
However, despite his apparent reservations about a lengthy interview process for the role, Lyon re-affirmed that he felt he had a level of “chemistry” with Carlton.
“It’s about chemistry and a connection and I’ve said I felt there’s some connection there,” he said.
“I’m confident in my abilities. I’ve been to two clubs [and brought] cultural change for want of a better term and performance.
“It’s very difficult to get a group to give the efforts St Kilda and Fremantle have done if you can’t create a dynamic and a chemistry, that’s what I would say.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to people to decide, it’s not on me. It’s come through my door, I haven’t been out looking for it.
“I’m really respectful, but we’re all sitting back watching and learning out of this.”