GEORGIE PARKER: Nathan Lyon’s honesty during second Test interview was a great Ashes moment

Nathan Lyon wasn’t picked for the Gabba Test, and honestly, who wouldn’t be shocked in his position?

He’s one of Australia’s most experienced players and has a brilliant record with the pink ball.

So, when he said in his very raw chat with Mel McLaughlin on Seven’s cricket broadcast saying he was “filthy” about the decision, it caused a bit of a stir.

Some people thought he was being selfish, some said it wasn’t a great look for the team, and a few wondered why he was put up for interviews at all.

My partner and I had vastly different perspectives on this. He didn’t love Lyon’s tone and felt like it wasn’t very “team guy” of him.

I think even the term “selfish” was used. And look, I get why people reacted that way, but as someone who’s been an athlete, let me tell you: I want my teammates to feel exactly how Lyon felt.

If Lyon had just shrugged and said, “Ah well, no worries,” I’d be worried.

Being annoyed about not being picked is normal. It means you care. It means you back yourself. And when you’re a senior player who genuinely expects to be selected, that emotion is completely reasonable and understandable.

You cheer for your team because they’re your mates, but you’re watching with a devil on your shoulder, secretly hoping your absence is noticed just a little bit.

People who haven’t been inside that environment sometimes underestimate how messy and emotional team sport really is.

Individual sport is simple: you win, you go through. You run the fastest, you get selected. Your results belong to you. If you slack off or get injured because you spent more time golfing than training, that’s on you and only you.

Team sport, though? That’s a whole different story. You need this strange mix of selfishness and selflessness. You must be selfish enough to compete, and not just against opponents, but against your own teammates, who are also your mates.

You spend more time with your teammates than your own family — especially in an international sport where you tour for months at a time. That’s tough. You’re not trying to outplay some stranger from across the world; you’re competing with the person you sat next to at breakfast.

But then you also must be selfless enough to accept when the team needs something that doesn’t include you. The game plan changes. Conditions change.

The coach sees something differently. And suddenly your role, the one you’ve worked for, expected, and earned, disappears, and a new one is created on the bench and behind the scenes.

So, when Lyon said he was filthy, I actually found that refreshingly honest. He didn’t chuck anyone under the bus.

He didn’t rant about the selectors. He simply said he was disappointed, and then in the next breath explained that he would support the team in a different role. That’s the balance right there, the emotional seesaw every athlete sits on.

The hardest part for him wouldn’t even have been the interview. It would’ve been watching the game.

Anyone who’s ever been dropped, from representing your country to playing local sport, knows that exact feeling.

You cheer for your team because they’re your mates, but you’re watching with a devil on your shoulder, secretly hoping your absence is noticed just a little bit.

Not because you want them to fail, but because you want to matter and you want to be missed. That’s human and near impossible to ignore.

And this is where team culture comes in. Good teams allow for that emotional swing. Some days you’re the one who’s disappointed. Other days it’s your teammate. Some player’s selfishness makes a team better, while other’s selflessness adds to the team dynamic in spades.

So no, Lyon wasn’t being unprofessional. He was being real. I’d take honest emotion over a polished PR answer any day from both a teammate and a fan’s point of view. It shows he still desperately wants to be out there, still wants to compete and still believes he has more to give.

And, given his success rate at the Adelaide Oval, he will be selected, so there will be another player that will feel angry and hurt for not being selected.

That to me is the sign of a good side with healthy competition within, not one that is just here to muck around, but one to dominate.