THE CURIOUS TIMELINE OF TOM LYNCH'S FOOT INJURY - AND WHEN HE MAY RETURNBY SEN
15 January 2024Tom Lynch has resumed running laps of Punt Road Oval as he prepares to return to playing in 2024.
But the details and extent of his foot injury – which have now played out for over nine months – offer a curious insight into what Lynch has been battling.
The 31-year-old fractured his foot against the Western Bulldogs in Round 4, 2023 and hasn’t played since.
He’s targeting a return in Opening Round, a timeline that has been repeatedly pushed back.
Here’s what Lynch and the Tigers have said throughout.
April 9, 2023“Scans have revealed that Richmond key forward Tom Lynch has a fracture in his right foot,” a club statement read after Round 4.
“Lynch sustained the injury during the second quarter of yesterday's match against the Western Bulldogs.
“The Club will have a clearer indication of the injury's timeline following surgery.”
April 11, 2023The Age reports Richmond is bracing for Tom Lynch to miss between 10-12 weeks, which would see the star forward return for up to nine games to end the season.
June 4, 2023Speaking to AFL Media, Lynch forecast a return late in the season.
“It still won't be (until) after the bye (in round 15). I think a couple after then, so still a while left,” Lynch said.
“But I'm looking forward to getting back.
“I've had other injuries in the past where you're always working on it. Like a hamstring, you're straight in (to rehab). But with a broken foot, you've just got to let it heal, obviously.
“So I'm doing all the fun stuff; swimming, Grinder (resistance machine), all the stuff that AFL players love doing. That's pretty much been me the last six weeks.”
June 28, 2023Richmond remained non-committal to a return date almost two months after Lynch’s initial injury, but were still hopeful of having him back during the season.
“The bone healing process takes time, and we want to be absolutely certain that it is right before we step up Tom's training load,” Richmond high performance manager Luke Meehan said.
“While we remain hopeful that we can get him back at some stage later in the season, it is still difficult to put an exact timeframe on right now.”
July 13, 2023More than two months after breaking his foot, Richmond ruled Lynch out for the remainder of 2023.
He underwent surgery, with the Tigers wanting to have Lynch “fit and firing for the long term”.
“Tom is such a significant player for us, so it is important that we get this right,” Richmond general manager football performance Tim Livingstone said.
“We have monitored the bone throughout the season, and the healing process has been slow – but we have not wavered from the beginning that the priority would be Tom's long-term health.
“It is frustrating because we would love to have Tom playing for us, but even more, we want him fit and firing for the long term.
“This course of action has been recommended by our medical staff and will give Tom the time required to get this right for the future.”
October 6, 2023Lynch himself told reporters he expected to be with Richmond’s main training group in January.
“I won't be with the main group pre-season day one,” Lynch said.
“But I'll build throughout pre-Christmas, then I imagine post-Christmas I'll be with the main group.
“It's a very long way off, but all things going well I'll be no worries at all for round one.”
He added: “With feet, they can just take a long time to heal.
“So it just didn't recover and then when it wasn't going to get back for this year, we decided to take the plate out, so that's why I've been in a moon boot since.
“The plate's come out and we've had to look after it, so it's taken a lot longer than we thought, but it's all on track now.”
November 6, 2023Lynch provided another update a month later, suggesting he would be running in December.
“I’m really good… I’m not running yet but in another sort of three or four weeks I’ll start on the AlterG and then start progressing from there,” he told Wide World Of Sports.
“It’s really positive.”
December 19, 2023Fellow Tiger Jayden Short told reporters Lynch had been running and impressing teammates prior to Christmas.
“It's been a long time for Tom and for anyone who has spent a long time in rehab it's pretty painful," Short said.
“But his attitude throughout the whole time has been second to none.
“Just rocking up every day with a smile, he's been amazing.
Stay up to date with all the latest news from SEN. Sign up HERE.
“It's good to see him back running and I'm looking forward to being able to kick it to him again.”
Days later, Richmond assistant Chris Newman told SEN: “It's been a patient sort of build-up for him and he's in a really good place training.
“He’s ticking the boxes that need to be ticked right now. It was a bit of a milestone getting on the AlterG machine the other day and the players rallied around that, they love seeing him progress.
“He's trending in the right direction. We're hopeful but also treading carefully in terms of building him back to game-fit conditions.”
January 3, 2024The first definitive timeline from Lynch, telling 7News he was confident of a return in Opening Round.
“I'm running on AlterG, so that's going well, and then I'll progress in the next week to on grass,” Lynch said.
“(It's) all positive. We've been a little bit conservative at the moment, but my strength and everything is really good.
“I think it (the foot) will be fine for Round 1.
“I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get up to speed pretty quickly.”
The Tigers struggled without Lynch in 2023 and head into 2024 missing fellow tall forward Jack Riewoldt after his retirement.
Lynch has kicked 456 goals from 216 games and new coach Adem Yze has previously hailed his importance to the side.
Only once has he played more than 19 games in a season at Richmond.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/01/15/the-curious-timeline-of-tom-lynchs-foot-injury-and-when-he-may-return/
