Garry Lyon has develop into a type of individuals.
He by no means thought it could be the case, however there’s no hiding the thrill when the subject turns to his new love.
The Melbourne nice and media star is now a garden man.
Courtesy of social media, there’s a entire world on the market of people who find themselves obsessive about their lawns, importing photographs of their masterpieces and evaluating notes with different like-minded garden artists around the globe.
Lyon isn’t on social media, but when he was he’d little question be a type of individuals.
He says one of the best factor he ever did was purchase himself a farm down on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s his secure place, his haven away from the intense lights of tv and the craziness of breakfast radio.
Final week he left SEN shortly after his breakfast present with Tim Watson and was sitting on his tractor by 11am.
“I don’t know what I’m doing on the tractor, however I get on it and drive round,” Lyon says.
“I slash paddocks and I’ve additionally bought a ride-on mower so I’ll simply placed on the headset and take heed to some podcasts.
“It takes me six hours to mow all the world I’ve bought and I adore it. It’s the smartest thing I do, it’s like remedy. Once I end I get off and really feel so good.
“I simply adore it and significantly I’ll pray {that a} department has fallen down so I can get on the tractor and choose it up.”
Lyon has 50 acres and runs a “very wholesome 300 to 400 head of kangaroo” given how rampant they roam within the space, though he does even have a few of his neighbour’s sheep getting across the place.
A brand new home is the newest “ardour challenge” on the farm, which has seen him relocate to a different property at close by Pink Hill throughout building.
“The most effective factor I ever did with my life was purchase some land,” Lyon says.
“I used to like town, however now I don’t, I like the farm.”
He made the swap to the bush after the hardest interval of his life, when he retreated from the highlight after information broke of his affair with Nicky Brownless, the spouse of his good buddy Billy.
The farm has performed a serious half in his therapeutic, and in his first in depth interview since, Lyon reveals why he nonetheless loves being behind the microphone after virtually three many years.
His media profession began when he was working on the AFL and hosted the youngsters present AFL Squadron within the early Nineties. His first radio gig was at 3AW alongside heavy hitters Steve Value, Rex Hunt and Sam Newman.
“Steve Value was doing a factor with Sam Newman and Rex Hunt at 5.45pm on a Friday, and it was iconic radio,” Lyon explains.
“They then went on vacation so he (Value) requested me to come back again. I used to be going to Inverloch on holidays however I’d drive up on Friday lunchtime within the site visitors and Dear could be all the time operating late, so I’d get about six minutes after which I’d return to Inverloch.”
From that little section massive issues grew.
Lyon has been the primary man within the particular feedback chair at 3AW, Triple M and SEN. His profile exploded on Channel 9 when he progressed from The Footy Present panellist to host. He additionally featured on 9’s Footy Categorized.
Whereas Eddie McGuire had been referred to as Eddie All over the place, he had develop into Gary All over the place earlier than his sabbatical.
In 2017 he returned to SEN to associate Watson on the early morning present, and joined Fox Footy, the place he’s develop into the chief of the ship, internet hosting Friday evening soccer, delivering particular feedback one recreation every weekend and taking on the compere’s chair on the favored On The Sofa program.
Throughout footy season he could have in the future off – often Sunday, though he nonetheless has to control video games at house, with the radio present reducing again to a few days every week (Tuesday to Thursday) this 12 months to attempt to ease the load.
A current weekend away taking part in golf with Newman and others from the previous The Footy Present days gave Lyon some perspective about how a lot the trade has modified.
“We had a lot enjoyable and laughed and I used to be sitting there considering we couldn’t do a hell of a number of stuff we used to do,” Lyon says.
“I don’t have an issue with that, however from that facet it’s not as, I don’t need to say enjoyable, however we have been a bit looser. Everybody was a bit looser and doubtless weren’t as cognisant of every little thing.
“I nonetheless adore it, however you must watch out.”
Doing particular feedback at video games continues to be his favorite a part of the gig.
“I work with some nice individuals however they’re all totally different,” he says. “There are some who for no matter cause don’t need to do an excessive amount of analysis, which is ok, whereas there are others which can be completely throughout each single factor that goes on.
“I personally sit someplace within the center. I believe the craft within the commentary for us is watching a recreation and inside 10 or quarter-hour you’ve got to choose up the thread up, that’s the power and typically you may assist your argument with a number of totally different stuff.
“My sense of getting performed a superb job effectively is strolling away from the sport and saying, ‘Yeah, I’m actually comfortable I picked up that, I anticipated that’.
“The younger blokes coming into (commentary), that’s their problem, to seek out their very own type. You don’t should be like (Jonathan) Browny, you don’t should be like (David) Kingy, you don’t should be like every of them, you simply should be your self.”
He was reminded about his ardour for the commentary final 12 months when he did a recreation with Anthony Hudson and Nick Riewoldt from the Fox Footy bunker.
“It was through the hub and it was when Jordan Dawson kicked a purpose after the siren for Adelaide to defeat Port,” Lyon recollects. “It was so good, we bought so caught up in it that when it occurred we jumped up and hugged one another.
“The three of us hugged one another in a studio in South Melbourne over a recreation none of us have been invested with our groups. I believed that’s fairly cool, you may nonetheless go and see one thing that may transfer you emotionally a lot.”
He might be with out his right-hand man Riewoldt this season after the St Kilda champion made the shock choice to relocate along with his household to america.
“I’m going to overlook Nick, I actually miss him,” Lyon says. “Once more, everyone seems to be a bit totally different, however he was a expertise/producer, that’s the place he was going. There are abilities who do their job and do an amazing job however they want course.
“He was a expertise/producer, he was like, ‘Why aren’t we doing this? May we do that? What about this? Can we do higher?’.
“For me that’s the approach I’m, and since I’ve been doing it for a very long time it was actually nice to have a bloke that sits alongside you want that, so you then don’t really feel that stress.
“He would cease within the advert break and say, ‘Mate, we have now bought to do that or we haven’t performed that’. I’ll miss him, I hope he comes again, he was a extremely proficient operator.”
Riewoldt is being changed by ex-Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley because the third wheel for On The Sofa, with Lyon having fun with going head-to-head with him in regards to the trendy recreation.
“When he got here out (of the sport) final 12 months on radio he introduced his coaches’ focus. I believe nice, I’ll problem that, as a result of coaches by their very character suppose they know every little thing, they should, so I like needling him.
“There may be nothing higher if you and somebody are at it and it’s severe however not for too lengthy. You could loosen up, stuff round and have fun.
“I’m 55, I’ve by no means stopped to consider that, however 55! That’s why hanging out and dealing with these guys is so good, it makes you’re feeling younger.”
Lyon, who performed 226 video games and captained the Demons, was in Perth for Melbourne’s historic premiership win in 2021 and nonetheless can’t imagine how moved he was by the expertise.
“The circumstances conspired in such a approach that I believe made it for me much more emotional since you are over there, primarily alone (due to Covid restrictions), I had none of my mates, none of my previous teammates other than a few Western Australians.
“I used to be stunned how moved I used to be and to see how a lot it meant to my boys, too. I used to be considering I used to be by no means going to see one, they have been considering they have been by no means going to see one, I’m by no means going to share seeing one with them.
“So ultimately it was so cool.”
He has solely watched a replay of the grand closing as soon as, a few months later again at his farm with sons Josh, Ben and Thomas and brother Rick.
“I’m not an enormous wine drinker however over time I’ve accrued some Grange and when the boys have been younger they’d be like, ‘What’s this, Dad?’,” Lyon says.
“I’d say when you ever contact that I’ll rip your ears out. I defined to them what it was and mentioned if we ever win a flag we’ll drink it.
“The minute we received the flag it was like, ‘Get the Grange, get the Grange’. So we had the Grange, we had massive steaks, an enormous display screen out within the shed and it was one of many nice days.”
And Lyon is predicting there could possibly be one other day on the farm later this 12 months: “I believe Melbourne can win it once more, I actually do.”
Initially printed as Garry Lyon opens up on one of the best transfer he’s made and the way footy media has modified
