In an unprecedented move, Fremantle Football Club have announced that Mark Harvey will not be coaching the club next year, and Ross Lyon will take over the helm.

As I am writing this article, the news is coming to light, and its rapid and unexpected emergence points to only one possible conclusion – Harvey was in the dark, and so too was St Kilda.

Fremantle’s website was quick to confirm the rumors that Harvey will not be kept on next year, despite a relatively impressive record at the club. Were it not for the extremely unlucky run with injuries the Dockers experienced, 2011 could have seen them pushing for a spot deep in the final eight, if not four.

Their placing this year, unlike the other clubs who have parted ways with their coach, cannot be attributed to bad coaching, but certainly bad luck.

Rumors as to Lyon’s future have flown thick and fast, mainly concerning the Melbourne Football club.

The speed with which the Dockers have sacked and signed coaches shows a deal was done days, perhaps weeks, in advance.

Lyon would have had his mind, at least half made up on the job, long before the Saints’ loss to the Swans last week, which calls into question just how committed to the job he was on the night.

As I type this, the story is still very much breaking news, and more details will be needed on the length of contract offered to Lyon and his reasons for taking on the role, but I would be very, very surprised to learn that this deal was done within the week after St Kilda’s exit from the finals.

Backdoor deals have been done, and Fremantle, long considered the joke of the AFL may well have just pulled of coup of the century but left a perfectly good and respected coach in the cold.

Imagine the poor bloke’s mindset right now. He was not only sacked but would have come to know that the deal was done behind his back.

However, in saying that, they have also managed to swipe one of the best coaches in the AFL right out from under his current club’s nose.

With the raft of young talent at the Dockers’ disposal, Lyon’s noted ability to turn rejects and kids into a team of champions might just see the Dockers emerge to challenge for finals footy next year.

Small comfort for both St Kilda Football Club and Harvey, who would have every right to spend tonight, curled up with a bottle of something very stiff, making some pretty angry phone calls.

Stay tuned, this one has scandal and bad blood written all over it, and I for one will be watching with great interest!