Essendon great Tim Watson is “disappointed” that Ross Lyon has turned down being a part of the Bombers’ search for a new coach.
The former St Kilda and Fremantle coach was approached by Essendon head of football Josh Mahoney to gauge his interest in the club’s vacant head role but declined.
According to AFL Media’s Cal Twomey, Lyon was on a short list of candidates but the 55-year-old has opted to continue working in the media with Triple M and Channel Nine along with the real estate industry.
Watson revealed that he was hoping for Lyon to take the job at Tullamarine before the rejection.
“I’m disappointed,” Watson said on SEN The Run Home.
“I would have liked to have seen him end up the coach of Essendon, so I am disappointed.
“Without sitting down and talking to him about what the vibe might have been … maybe it was just a gut feel about putting himself out there and going through the process.
“Maybe he just doesn’t want to coach again.”
Watson doesn’t think Lyon has pulled out of the race as a result of believing he wouldn’t get the job as there’s no “clear favourite” for the role.
“If he thought that (he wouldn’t land the job), I don’t know where he would get that vibe from,” Watson said.
“I don’t know that there’s any reason to believe that anybody is a clear favourite to get that job right now.”
As a former head coach himself, Watson understands if Lyon has “lost the fire in the belly” and is keen on exploring other employment opportunities.
“Ross may have lost the fire in the belly to do it, he knows that he’d be putting his head back on the block to do (the job), he’s experienced it before,” Watson said.
“If he doesn’t have that real driving desire to want to go through all of that again, then I can completely understand that.”
Mahoney, along with Robert Walls, Simone McKinnis, Andrew Thorburn and Dorothy Hisgrove make up the six-person sub-committee that will select the club’s next coach.