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Suns slam “offensive and out-of-line” Lyon for 'nepo baby' comments
Sam Edmund • May 26th, 2025 8:25 am
Gold Coast chief executive Mark Evans has labelled Ross Lyon's pre-game "nepo baby" barb offensive and unwarranted.
Evans confronted St Kilda counterpart Carl Dilena at Marvel Stadium after the Suns' 19-point win to take issue with the Saints coach.
Contacted by SEN.com.au, Evans took aim St Kilda.
"I thought the comments were offensive and out-of-line," Evans said.
"If there is any club in the world that might have an understanding that progress isn't always linear, that would be St Kilda."
Speaking before the first bounce at Marvel Stadium, Lyon - unprompted - told Fox Footy: "I'm a little bit concerned. They're choc-full of talent, aren't they? The AFL nepo baby."
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick returned serve in his post-match press conference.
"It's a little bit disrespectful, I think.
"It's a little bit disrespectful, I think.
"Trust me, I've been at Richmond and I've come to the Gold Coast, we don't get a lot.
"What St Kilda probably should do is just is focus on their own backyard instead of trying to bring everyone else down.
"They had 13,000 people here today. We'll just focus on Gold Coast. They should just focus on themselves.
"End of the day, first place you need to look is internally."
St Kilda chairman Andrew Bassat has been a vocal critic of the northern academies, previously declaring the Suns had "reaped an unbelievable bounty” at the draft.
