Former Hawthorn forward Ben Dixon lashed out at St Kilda’s recent behaviour, accusing the club of whining about draft concessions instead of fixing their problems.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, Dixon backed up Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick’s call for Ross Lyon and the Saints to “worry about their own backyard”, after Lyon’s swipe at the Suns’ academy picks ahead of their Round 11 clash.
St Kilda lost the match by 19 points at Marvel Stadium in front of their lowest-ever home crowd at the venue.
Dixon was left unimpressed by Lyon’s pre-game jab, which he saw as an admission of defeat.
‘Just want to get to work and buy my own’
“Throwing a hand grenade over the top before a game... if I was a Saints supporter watching, and I’m not a Saints supporter, and he said ‘oh chock full of talent yada yada’, I’d be thinking he’s put the white flag up and we’re going to get completely rolled today,” Dixon said.
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With the Saints sitting 14th and facing a brutal five-week stretch, Dixon warned they need to stop complaining and start rebuilding.
“If you want to keep throwing hand grenades over at other coaches and clubs about what they’re getting, and you’re not getting, I drive home through Toorak, I don’t b***h and moan about he’s got a bigger mansion than me and he’s inherited that. I just want to get to work and buy my own,” he added.
Dixon also questioned whether such rhetoric was helping the Saints’ recruitment push, pointing to missed targets and doubts surrounding Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s future.
“Your messaging is so important… if you’re selling the dream to him, why hasn’t he signed? What doesn’t he believe at that footy club?”