Ball agrees with book
The Age
Saturday February 5, 2011
LUKE Ball says claims he was axed by St Kilda because of a lack of speed was "probably fair enough".Ball's departure from the Saints last summer still rankles some supporters, although the player himself would go on and prosper with Collingwood and play in its breakthrough premiership against his former club.The reasons why Ball left were never clear, but a new book by Saints elite performance manager David Missen claims coach Ross Lyon felt the former skipper was a liability after playing eight straight minutes, because of his lack of speed, a concern highlighted in the Saints' round-15 win against Geelong in 2009. "It was probably fair enough what was written and that's that," Ball said.Missen wrote in The Bubble: "Privately, Ross later pulled up footage which illustrated to Luke both opponents and teammates running past him in pursuit of the contest."Ross admitted he should have played Luke more in the (2009) grand final, particularly in the third quarter, but the coach had a view that every minute after an eighth minute on the ground would leave Luke, and the team, vulnerable to exposure by an opposition player."
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