Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Smith in constant contact with Lyon
Eels fans desperately hoping that Jamie Lyon will continue playing for the mighty Blue and Gold this year will be cheered that coach Brian Smith is still in continual communication with the Eels backline sensation.
Smith told the Herald that: "He's got some concerns and he needs to sort them out. I'll just ring him and he'll ring me, I've spoken to him three times today.
"It's a bit of a surprise to everybody. I'm dealing with young blokes, almost all of whom have problems at some stage. Some of the problems are big, some are not so big. So they all understand when someone else in the club has a problem. Everyone is just hoping he can sort it out."
Lyon's manager said the Parramatta centre was having trouble motivating himself and quoted his star client as saying: "I've got be happy, I want to lead the life I want to lead. I've got a bit of doubt as to what I want to do, whether football's for me."
He said Lyon was ""prone to making rash decisions" and there was a chance he could return.
"It's up to him when he wants to revisit it. We can revisit it tomorrow if he wants. We could revisit it in two weeks or two months. He's such a straightforward bloke that he didn't think it would even rate a mention in the papers. I said: 'This will put Canterbury off the front page.'
"The decision has come so fast that we think there must be some underlying personal issue but we can't find one yet. He's a very simplistic kid. He loves the bush, he loves the simple things in life."
Smith told the Herald that: "He's got some concerns and he needs to sort them out. I'll just ring him and he'll ring me, I've spoken to him three times today.
"It's a bit of a surprise to everybody. I'm dealing with young blokes, almost all of whom have problems at some stage. Some of the problems are big, some are not so big. So they all understand when someone else in the club has a problem. Everyone is just hoping he can sort it out."
Lyon's manager said the Parramatta centre was having trouble motivating himself and quoted his star client as saying: "I've got be happy, I want to lead the life I want to lead. I've got a bit of doubt as to what I want to do, whether football's for me."
He said Lyon was ""prone to making rash decisions" and there was a chance he could return.
"It's up to him when he wants to revisit it. We can revisit it tomorrow if he wants. We could revisit it in two weeks or two months. He's such a straightforward bloke that he didn't think it would even rate a mention in the papers. I said: 'This will put Canterbury off the front page.'
"The decision has come so fast that we think there must be some underlying personal issue but we can't find one yet. He's a very simplistic kid. He loves the bush, he loves the simple things in life."
