Forward thinking delivers Suns gun to RichmondBy Jake Niall
The Age
7 September 2018Long before Richmond won the 2017 premiership, the Tigers’ coaches held the view that they were unlikely to win a flag without another quality tall forward to support Jack Riewoldt.
This assessment was dramatically disproven last September, when an apparent weakness — the Lilliput forward line, with only one genuine tall target (who isn’t that tall either) – was transformed into a swarming menace.
Their grand design of landing Tom Lynch was certainly on the agenda in 2017, although it wasn’t guaranteed; Lynch had to see if the Suns would finally be heading north up the ladder (nope) before he went south.
Today, as Richmond waits for the season’s end to sign him, Lynch’s imminent acquisition by the 2017 premiers and 2018 favourites has invited questions about the future of free agency – can this system be reformed? – and the query on how he will fit in at Tigerland, a query first raised when Alex Rance warned about the risks of ‘‘upsetting the apple cart’’ by bringing in Lynch.
Rance, clearly, isn’t so concerned about Lynch today, given he’s had his contract extended, along with those of Trent Cotchin and Riewoldt, in deals that have been put together with Lynch in mind.
While there are risks for Richmond in bringing in a key forward post knee surgery on a minimum six-year deal on close to a million dollars per season, the Tigers still need a player of his ilk.
The ‘‘Jack and five (smalls)’’ set up was unlikely to be sustainable for much longer. Even this season, when they’ve been well ahead of their rivals, Richmond have suffered bouts of inefficiency (such as against the Eagles), when they’ve struggled to convert their territorial advantage into a winning score. Their attack – effective in keeping the ball locked in – is not a patch on their outstanding defence.
Provided he stands up to injury, Lynch should repair that weakness. He also will allow Damien Hardwick to modify their game style somewhat to one that involves a little less ‘‘chaos’’ and improvisation in their scoring method.
Lynch was the proverbial no-brainer for Richmond. He fits their needs, he’s unlikely to cost them a draft pick. There will be a cost to the club in terms of salary cap and, eventually, it will cost them players. But they have judged that the pluses outweigh the risks, particularly in view of their needs.
That the most sought free agent has chosen the top side has already created a discussion around the troubles with free agency, especially for the Suns, who could well lose Steven May, a free agent next year and on the radar of Collingwood now.
Officials from various clubs have proposed reforms to free agency that would make the system more equitable for the bottom teams. One is that free agents – or at least restricted ones – be off limits to top four teams, another proposal would see the top eight teams only allowed to sign a free agent from another top eight side (whereas non-finalists could sign any free agent).
The most feasible concept of this kind is the idea that there are no restrictions on free agents moving, but that the top four teams – or top eight sides – would have to give up their first draft pick to the team that loses the player.
Unfortunately for Gold Coast and (at this stage) Carlton and St Kilda, the players will not agree to any reform to the free agency system that undermines their ability to move to their preferred club. If restrictions are imposed on top teams etc, then the Players Association will want the eligibility period reduced from eight years to six years (and from 10 to 8 for unrestricted FA).
So, we can forget about free agency reform in the short term. Rather, the AFL will use other mechanisms – whether that’s reforming the draft, the soft cap freeze or something else – to compensate for the fact that players tend to go to teams they think will win games.
Lest we forget, too, that most A-graders who leave their clubs are traded. Lynch would be heading to the Tigers whether he was a free agent or not.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/forward-thinking-delivers-lynch-to-richmond-20180906-p5028k.html
