Nick Suban’s substitution was as unusual as the explanation from Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was brutally-frank.
Suban had only managed two possessions when he was subbed out before halftime in Saturday’s 42-point AFL loss to Hawthorn at Launceston.
He did not appear to be injured and it was also early in the game for the sub to be activated.
So the matter was put to Lyon in a pre-arranged TV interview at halftime.
“There’s nothing wrong with him – we just thought he hasn’t touched it,” Lyon told Channel Seven.
Lyon added post-match: “clearly, it leaves him under pressure.”
The Dockers coach was similarly blunt about being without key players Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands for the game, calling their absence “irrelevant”.
Pavlich is out for several weeks with an achilles tendon injury and Kepler Bradley played as their main key forward, kicking three goals.
Lyon was asked about Bradley’s importance, given the injury to Pavlich.
“I think you are looking for the great white hope – it doesn’t exist,” Lyon said.
“It’s a team game, it (the ground) is about 165m long, about 140m wide and there are 18 blokes who run around.
“You have to share the load (and) it’s not about one person.
“That’s a real fallacy – I didn’t see Buddy Franklin beat us today, I saw the Hawthorn football team.”