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'Filthy' Lyon slams Tribunal comparing Tauru to Balta
SEN • April 30th, 2025 12:56 pm
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has said he is “absolutely filthy” with the “broken system” that is the VFL Tribunal after draftee Alix Tauru was handed a four-week ban for rough conduct.
Despite an appeal from the Saints, Tauru is looking at at least six weeks on the sidelines given the club’s forthcoming bye rounds.
In a fiery press conference, Lyon slammed the decision comparing it to the sanctions handed to Richmond’s Noah Balta for an off-field assault charge and subsequent court case.
“Is it four or is it six weeks? We’re incredibly disappointed, I am really frustrated, it’s a broken system,” Lyon said.
“We’ve already had one bye, we’re having another bye this week, I just don’t understand the human side.
“The blow-up on me making a sub, we’ve got a first-year, top-10 draft pick that if you think the penalty is four weeks, that’s OK, but they know we’ve got a bye and then at the end of that there’s another bye.
“How the Tribunal doesn’t take into consideration that it’s six weeks; Noah Balta got four weeks handed down for an assault off the field, with respect.
“We’ve got a kid that concussed a player, it’s a six-week penalty, there’s no consideration – as Paul Roos would say ‘common sense is commonly uncommon’.”
Lyon called for common sense from the Tribunal before warning how such a decision can impact the mental health of players.
“I am filthy and no wonder AFL clubs talk ‘let’s have a breakaway group from a 22-team competition with four or five clubs and play each other’,” he said.
“It’s not worth the risk and there’s no recompense, consideration or adjustment for the reality of a misaligned fixture of a feeder competition to the AFL – I am absolutely filthy.
“What I would like is for common sense to prevail here for a young player. We talk about mental health, we’re talking about mental health of a kid getting feedback about opponent awareness.”
