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Why Lyon supports King’s swift Demons clean-out
Andrew Slevison • October 7th, 2025 10:09 am
Melbourne great Garry Lyon can understand why new coach Steven King has come in with a mindset to immediately reset by cleaning out.
The Demons appear happy to part with Clayton Oliver and Steven May, and would trade fellow premiership star Christian Petracca if the right deal can be agreed upon with the Gold Coast Suns.
It’s been a swift scything by King who is, according to Lyon, undertaking a similar method to that of Malcolm Blight when he took over at the Adelaide Crows in 1996, cutting key figures such as Chris McDermott, Tony McGuinness and Andrew Jarman among others.
“The way I see it is it’s a massive reset that has been thought about for some time and been instigated by the new coach,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“There’s a bit of Malcolm Blight about this. When Blight took over at the Adelaide Crows with McDermott, McGuinness, Andrew Jarman who had been around for a long time, but ‘move them on because I’m coming in. I’m going to play a different way or I need different characters…’ I don’t know the whole story back then.
“But to me this looks like Steven King saying, ‘Ok, we’re going to play this way and I expect you to behave this way. We’re going to play this way and you need to behave this way if you’re going to be part of this football club’.
“This is the way I’m reading it.”
Aside from the ever-evolving nature of footy which doesn’t value inside stoppage bulls as much - such as Petracca and Oliver - the behaviour side of things has seemingly been prioritised by former Geelong assistant King.
And the length or cost of contracts shouldn’t be on King’s list of problems to worry about, says Lyon.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a behavioural element in all of this as well, coming from the clubs that he’s come from and particularly the one he was at recently,” Lyon added.
“About the way you need to conduct yourselves and what we’re going to have as non-negotiables.
“From a footy point of view, we know Clayton and Christian’s strengths, but the way I want to play and the way I expect the game to be played doesn’t exactly marry up. We can still have those blokes at this footy club but it mightn’t be optimum.
“Then from a behavioural point of view, Steven May, we understand it hasn’t been at the absolute pointy end.
“That’s the way I read it. Now that means you’ve got to pay some money on the way out, I don’t reckon that’s Steven King’s issue. You can talk about the contracts, he’s not worried about that contract, he’s worrying about what happens whenever they get back to training.
“I don’t mind it. In fact, I quite support the ability of a new coach to come in and go bang! Let me put my stamp on this joint straight up.”
Lyon was asked if the same would have happened if Simon Goodwin had have stayed in the job.
“I suspect it was heading that way, yeah, I do.”
Just a few years ago, Lyon suggested four-time best and fairest and three-time All-Australian Oliver was well on his way to becoming Melbourne’s greatest ever player.
But here right now at the end of 2025 his career has fallen away and he has been told by the Dees to look around.
How has he fallen away so drastically?
Lyon replied: “The game. He’s never been a great kick. Has kicking ever been more important?
“When you’ve got your best group of players that are really good inside ball winers but can’t kick very well, then your value to that team deteriorates and diminishes.
“Clayton, Christian and Jack (Viney) are all bangers. In the modern game you can’t have it.
“Combine that with the fact he (Oliver) has had the (off-field) issues then all off that adds to a diminishing value.
“This time last year I was very bullish about, ‘Oh no, let’s get them back, get them on track, get them in the camp’, and I still thought they had great footy. Now 12 months down the track the game continues to evolve and it evolves away particularly from Clayton’s skillset.
“I think there’s a role for him to play at an AFL club, 100 per cent, but maybe not at the pointy end that he has been.”
It is understood that Collingwood is showing some interest in Oliver who is contracted with Melbourne until 2030.
Listen to Lyon’s full assessment of the situation below:
