Ross Lyon has addressed his players after St Kilda inadvertently exposed sensitive audio from its coaches box to rival clubs.
In a pre-season act of self-sabotage, the Saints accidentally uploaded audio of Lyon and his coaching staff from Friday’s practice match against Essendon.
That audio was available to download via software hosting service, Dropbox, for several hours.
It is unclear whether any clubs seized the file and the Saints today couldn’t definitively rule it out.
The AFL during the home-and-away season take carriage of posting behind-the-goals vision that can be downloaded by clubs, broadcasters and members of the media.
But it’s understood clubs were required during the practice match period to upload the vision themselves.
And when trying to upload to Dropbox, the Saints may have opened Pandora’s box.
St Kilda chief executive Simon Lethlean on Wednesday afternoon told SEN the club had “dealt with the matter internally”.
“We haven’t had long conversations with clubs about it. We’re not going to conduct a witch hunt,” Lethlean said.
“I don’t think the IT guys knew the audio was on and being attached (to the vision).
“We haven’t heard anything to suggest anyone has downloaded it. But Ross dealt with it with the playing group to let them know.”
The Saints moved to orchestrate a statement after being contacted by SEN.com.au.
"This upload occurred through human error, which was corrected as soon as we were notified," acting general manager of football David Misson said.
“There is no certainty that this file has been accessed and downloaded by anybody, however, regardless of the low risk, we wanted to be on the front foot and proactive in our response.
“Our focus is on creating a program with high integrity, open communication and care for our people.
“As a matter of course, we addressed this issue directly with our playing group.
“As part of our response, we also alerted the AFL and relevant key stakeholders.
“We feel that this matter has now been resolved and our focus remains on our preparations for the season ahead.
“The club has also taken the opportunity to review its broader processes to reduce the likelihood of this error occurring again.”
The data error is an untimely distraction for the Saints on the eve of a new season.
St Kilda faces Fremantle at Marvel Stadium in its season-opener on March 19.