Chris Bond, Fremantle's General Manager of Football Operations, has publicly backed coach Ross Lyon on Perth radio on Tuesday morning.
Bond is adamant Lyon is the right man to lead the Dockers through their four-year rebuilding process following a disastrous start to their 2017 campaign.
"From a footy club point-of-view it's hugely positive to have someone like Ross at our club," he toldย 6PR'sย Sportsday WAย program.
"The strength of Ross is he's the first person to put his hand up and say 'what we're doing at the moment isn't working and we all take responsibility for that'.
"We've got strong stability at the club both through our CEO and the board, Ross and key people at the club as well.
"From our point-of-view, to have him as a long-term coach at our football club is just outstanding for us and the path we're taking.
"No one could be better heading it up than he is."
"He's the first experienced coach we've ever had. He arrived in 2012 and the history (shows) we've gone toย a Grand Final, preliminary finals and finals."
History may show exactly that but if the Dockers continue to produce the effort that was displayed on Sunday afternoon against Port Adelaide, Docker fans will wonder at what point does the blame get put on the coach.
Lyon, who is contracted until 2020, promised to start playing more kids on the back of his team's effort in their 89-point loss to Port Adelaide.
โWeโll have to make some changes on the back of that,โ Lyon said on Sunday.
โWe just canโt keep rolling on with the same personnel.
โIโm really protective of myย playersย because they give so much, but on these results, weโre just going to have to start playing kids.โ
Bond also went on to say re-signing Nat Fyfe remained high priority for the club.
"Our priority is for Nat to be a long-term footy player at this club," Bond said.
"Ultimately that will be Nat's decision, but I think for everyone involved and what we want to do it's really important for Nat to be here and be captain at this club for a long period of time.
"What he's been able to deliver since he's been here is outstanding. He's an incredibly great role model for our group and our club.
"We're confident that he'll make that decision to stay with us for the long-term, but we'll worry about that when the decision is made."
In recent times, receiving the board's support has often meant the kiss of death for the coach's future however with three full seasons still to run on Lyon's contract, it seems unlikely that Fremantle will bite that bullet in the near future.
