Lyon gets St Kilda's pre-season underway

Incoming St Kilda coach Ross Lyon doesn't plan to single out inconsistent key forward Max King for special attention saying everyone at the AFL club needs to improve.

The 22-year-old was at Moorabbin on Monday morning as the first to fourth year players returned to pre-season training.

Veterans Brad Hill and Dan Butler were also out on the track while others filtered through the club with Lyon set to address his troops as a whole for the first time since taking over from axed coach Brett Ratten.

King has proved a match-winner in his three seasons at the Saints but has also struggled to make an impact in some games due to his wayward boot.

But Lyon, who coached at the club from 2007 to 2011, didn't believe it was an issue.

"There's a lot of noise around Max and he's obviously a talented young player ... but all of us need to improve," Lyon told reporters. 

"There's a gap to the rest of the competition, the top four, the top eight, and clearly the premiership team so there's not a person in St Kilda football club that really doesn't need to improve including myself and Max is in that boat as well."

After a bright start to 2022 St Kilda faded to miss the finals, finishing 10th.

King worked last season with assistant coach Jarryd Roughead and Saints head of football David Rath. 

Essendon goalkicking great Matthew Lloyd has previously offered to tutor the young gun.

Lyon said King's kicking "hadn't been a focus" in the off-season.

"I wouldn't have thought it's an issue at all, it certainly hasn't been in front of the mind focus. 

"We've been establishing a global program for the whole group that we think is going to get to the line fit and available and we've put together a coaching group that we feel are real cultural drivers and I think it's as good as anything going around in the AFL.

"We're not drilling into anyone's individual strengths or weaknesses - it's about coming back and rolling the sleeves up and getting to work."

The new coaching group includes retired Geelong star Corey Enright as well as ex Saints stars Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes and Brendon Goddard.

The four made up the numbers at training on Monday while youngster Marcus Windhager won their time trial at a nearby athletics track.

Lyon said he hadn't spoken to Ratten since he was dumped from the club just three months after signing a contract extension.

But he planned to talk it through with the players.

"I will address the players for the first time today, and I think it is important to acknowledge context and not just pretend there has been no tumultuous period here because there has," Lyon, who oversaw Fremantle for eight years before his 2019 departure, said.

"My job is to pick us up and move us forward as a club.

"The human toll, it can be really hard, there is certainly empathy there but we haven't got the luxury of just sitting back and dwelling, we have to get moving and get into action."