Coaches puzzled by ‘juvenile’ penalty; Lyon’s cheeky $17m admission — Best of AFL 360

Two of the AFL’s most respected current coaches have had their say on Sunday’s mid-game interaction between rival counterparts Adam Kingsley and Craig McRae.

Two-time Geelong premiership coach Chris Scott and modern day coaching great Ross Lyon joined Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon at the desk at the close of Opening Round, and ahead of their club’s first official match of 2025.

Recap the biggest talking points from Monday’s AFL 360 heading into Round 1!

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‘SO JUVENILE’: GREATS WEIGH IN ON COACHING BACK-AND-FORTH

In what has been one of the biggest talking points over the last 24 hours, the AFL has confirmed that no sanctions have been sent the way of either Craig McRae or Adam Kingsley after Sunday’s Opening Round match.

The league’s decision to do no more than hand McRae a warning for his actions directed towards Giants player Toby Bedford has been met with praise by Whateley and Lyon on Monday night, after their controversial decision to fine Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley $20,000 in last year’s semi-final win over Hawthorn.

“(It was) poor practice by a coach to chip an opposition player, we would agree with that,” Whateley told AFL 360.

“Ken Hinkley should get his $20,000 back — they should refund it … the lawyers totally lost their way last year, because of the Alastair Clarkson incident; which did have a serious edge … that was appropriately dealt with.

“It’s really poor practice, other than the serious stuff — which Clarkson was — to be fining the coaches of the league. I think sanctioning them is really poor practice, and if this is the approach for the year, it’s the right approach.

“Get it out of the hands of the lawyers, and put it back in the football construct. I think they’ve done the right thing, and it shows how far they strayed last year.”

The panel than asked coaches Scott and Lyon on their view regarding the verbal altercation, with the Cats coaching great believing its coverage has been “overplayed”.

“This one seems to have been handled much better than previous examples. You’re dealing with two impressive people, if you’re not happy with the behaviour, it’s pretty easy to fix,” Scott told Fox Footy.

“This idea of fining people is just so juvenile, I don’t understand it.”

Lyon added: “I think it’s been handled well by everyone, I suppose it sets a precedent that you just need to be careful, because my overarching view is we are modelling for the competitions below us, so whatever we do tends to get mirrored.”

TO TAG, OR NOT TO TAG?

Opening Round in 2025 proved to be a weekend where young stars such as Will Day and Finn Callaghan showcased a glimpse into the future amid monster individual performances.

On the contrary, superstar Nick Daicos fell victim to newfound tagger Toby Bedford at ENGIE Stadium in his Magpies’ 52-point loss to the Giants, prompting the AFL 360 panel to ask each coach why tags aren’t deployed more often.

“There is a cost to (tagging). Very few teams play absolutely one-on-one these days … if you didn’t it’s much, much easier,” Scott told Fox Footy.

“No teams (though) plays Collingwood and just says: ‘Oh, we just didn’t talk about Nick Daicos … two things need to be true for you to be able to (tag at all costs). One, it needs to trump the rest of your structure. You’ve also got to have a guy that can do it, because plenty of teams try.”

“I think you’d be surprised how often teams often try to chop the out, and it just doesn’t work.”

Lyon agreed with his counterpart, noting that before the 6-6-6 formation rule was introduced, tagging “threw out some challenges” and that “it was very complicated”.

“There’s a cost. It’s your team defence, gaps open up… I do believe you can do it, there will be tomes where they get away from you (though).”

LYON’S HILARIOUS CALLAGHAN GAG

Giant Finn Callaghan was reportedly the recipient of one of the league’s most lucrative contract offers ever, extending across a decade at a worth of more than $17 million. The club that offered him the eye-watering figure? St Kilda!

“Whoever offered him ($17m) didn’t offer him enough, did they?!” Saints head coach Lyon joked.

“I’ve never spoken to him, I can’t really add anything further than that. I didn’t see any analytics done on him, (but) I think anyone on the inside of the competition just knows the level of his capabilities and athleticism.

“I remember watching him as a young fella down at Sandringham Oval … he’s pretty special.”

Callaghan finished this weekend with 33 disposals, 12 score involvements, seven clearances, 730 metres gained and two goals.