Tom Lynch [merged]

[one-eyed]

Alastair Lynch's view:

Richmond went for Lynch as the long-term replacement for veteran Jack Riewoldt and I tip this will be a big win in the long term.

Lynch is still clearly working back to fitness and may have some ongoing knee soreness, but he is also sitting second on the Coleman Medal list so I reckon they’d be happy enough at Tigerland.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/afl-great-alastair-lynch-looks-at-the-hits-and-misses-from-the-2018-trade-period/news-story/ef12b269dc8c981ed7ab171f050af0a5

[Tigeritis™©®]

I’m of the opinion that Lynch is a potential great forward and I would think he’d be embarrassed by his performance against the bulldogs. We’ve all seen his effectiveness when he just crashes the packs he is exactly the player we were looking for.
But when we see him waving and one on one jostling but getting beaten in one on one contests whilst not committing to imposing himself on the game rather than expecting someone else to do it, I’m not sure is exactly what you’d expect from a former club captain.

[pmac21]

This is just the fickle AFL media knob trying to make a headline which has worked.  Next time he plays a good game they will praising him as the messiah again like they did after he kicked 6 against Port.  Look at what the media have done to the Blues, last week they win and the rebuild is working next week they lose and talk of Bolton getting the sack pops up.

There is a complete over saturation of AFL media (in particular social media) that IMO is ruining the reporting of the game.  Mostly because it's 90% negative like Tom's story.

I myself don''t watch any of the footy shows anymore.  Only the games.

[Diocletian]

Won't make it. Trade for Taberner. 

[wayne]

Won't make it. Trade for Taberner. 

If Taberner is ever in the yellow and black, i'll spew up!

[pmac21]

Won't make it. Trade for Taberner. 

If Taberner is ever in the yellow and black, i'll spew up!

Will kick 5 now, nothing surer

[Diocletian]

 

[one-eyed]

'Thanks for that Lloydy': In-form Docker wary of wounded Tiger

AFL.com.au
Travis King
May 9, 2019

BEWARE the wounded Tiger.

So says in-form Fremantle defender Alex Pearce, the man set to stand Tom Lynch after the Richmond star was labelled a "liability" by former champion forward Matthew Lloyd this week.

"Nah, it's not ideal," Pearce stated wryly in response to Lloyd's comments in an interview with AFL.com.au ahead of Sunday's clash at Optus Stadium.

"I've played on Tom Lynch before and he's a really good player.

"Whenever I've played him each time he's just a fierce competitor and he doesn't give an inch.

"I'm sure that kind of talk will fire him up, so thanks for that Lloydy."

Lloyd's criticism that tall target Lynch is a one-trick pony who offers little defensive pressure has gained traction after the boom recruit's lean period.

Lynch sits equal-second in the Coleman Medal race with 17 majors, but has booted just 1.4 in the past three games.

Interestingly, Lynch has laid eight tackles over that stretch, compared to just four in the opening month.

He will be up against arguably the AFL's best key backman this Sunday, and the strong and quick Docker is an ideal match-up. 

Standing at 201cm and weighing in at 101kg, Pearce has not just the size but also the agility and closing speed to worry the 199cm and 99kg Tiger.

"It will be a team approach to try and shut him down, because he's probably their most dangerous forward," Pearce said.

"I try to use my strengths each week. I feel like I'm quite strong in a one-on-one. If I can get the ball to ground, I always back myself in to beat the key forwards on the deck.

"I'm going to need plenty of help, and I think that's been a good thing this year. There hasn't been too many one-on-one contests in our D50.

"We've had Lukey Ryan and Ethan Hughes rolling off and helping out, so if we can get that support throughout the day then that will be huge for us."

Speaking at his weekly media conference, Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was wary of an ambush from the injury-hit Tigers, who will rely heavily on Lynch without spearhead Jack Riewoldt (knee).

"I did see the sensationalist headline. I forget who clipped him, but everyone gets clipped very quickly in AFL these days," Lyon said.

"A lot of sensationalism around (Steven) May, but that's just the cycle we're in.

"I'd be surprised if Tom Lynch is any more motivated this week than he was last week – I think that would surprise everybody.

"But that focus, maybe you can galvanise and steel yourself a little bit, but we'll be prepared and should be prepared for whatever comes."

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-09/thanks-for-that-lloydy-inform-docker-wary-of-wounded-tiger

[one-eyed]

Star Tiger's return to best a slow burn, says Hardwick

AFL.com.au
Sarah Black
May 10, 2019

RICHMOND star recruit Tom Lynch will "always be working back" from the PCL injury that sidelined him for six months, coach Damien Hardwick says.

Despite sitting equal-second in the race for the Coleman Medal with 17 goals, Lynch has been held to just one major from his past three games.

The barren run of form led to Essendon great Matthew Lloyd on Monday labelling Lynch a "liability", and Hardwick was unhappy with his former premiership teammate.

"I'd love 'Lloydy' to spell the word 'liability', it'd be interesting, wouldn't it?" Hardwick said dryly.

"We'll just worry about what we can control; he's second in the Coleman I think, last time I looked. At the end of the day, it's easy to sit behind a keyboard and throw out barbs, isn't it? But we certainly know what we value Tom for … he's an incredible player for us, and he's going to get better.

"We've been through this path before with (recruits) Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and Toby Nankervis, they took a little while to come through our system and learn it. It's a different system, and Tom's adjusting to that.

"We spoke about it at the start of the year, we knew that, so we're very happy with where he's at.

"Can he play better? He can, there's no doubt about it. But I look at the game and I look at it pretty heavily, and there's probably some contests that he didn't get rewarded for by the umpiring department, probably could have got three kicks inside 50 for three goals, and we wouldn't be having the same conversation."

Lynch had a very limited pre-season after two surgeries on his PCL, and didn't play a practice match before round one.

"He'll always be working back from that, it's a significant injury that saw him miss six months of footy," Hardwick said.

"It does take time. People forget that when you have injuries of a significant nature, it takes time to get back to your absolute best. He's working incredibly hard and we're happy with his progress."

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-10/star-tigers-return-to-best-a-slow-burn-says-hardwick

[Chuck17]

Well the fickle AFL media knob and the fickle AFL (how many games have you played) Richmond knob sure look like fools now

[one-eyed]

3. Tom Lynch isn't a liability, especially when Richmond's smalls are swarming

Expert pundits are paid big bucks to get cut through amid the 'noise' around footy media, and Matthew Lloyd's criticism that boom Richmond recruit Tom Lynch was a "liability" who turned like a 41-year-old and couldn't apply pressure certainly gained traction. Lloyd is entitled to his opinion and as a former champion it carries plenty of weight, but Damien Hardwick masterminded a drought-breaking flag built around an undersized forward line which relied on its tall targets bringing the ball to ground for fleet-footed smalls to swarm. Lynch was always going to do that against the Dockers, but from the early exchanges it was clear he was 'on' and keen to assert himself. After taking a strong mark on the wing to get into the game, he soon snuck through Richmond's second goal in the visitors' early blitzkrieg. He continued to provide a target throughout the match, and had the better of in-form Freo duo Alex Pearce and Joel Hamling, something few have done this year. Lynch's day could have been huge, but he still finished with 2.2 plus 15 disposals and eight marks – a massive six contested – in a huge road win for the Tigers, who are back roaring despite their injury woes.

– Travis King

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-12/nine-things-we-learned-from-round-eight

[one-eyed]

Lloyd reveals Hardwick texts after Lynch jabs

By Chris De Silva
Nine.com.au
13 May 2019

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has revealed how his former teammate and current Richmond coach Damien Hardwick texted him after his Tom Lynch criticism.

Lloyd raised eyebrows last week when he was scathing in his criticism of the Tigers' star recruit, and explained how his former teammate had reached out to him after his comments.

"Damien did text me and just said, 'I understand that you've got a job to do, but I'm also protecting my players as well'," Lloyd told the AFL Sunday Footy Show.

"Everyone's falling back and saying that he's kicked 17 and that he's second in the Coleman Medal, but I think his goals are masking his issues in his game.

"He is coming off a PCL so some will say give him more time, but he's had a bad three weeks. If he can't mark the ball, he's offering nothing else."

To Lynch's credit, he did find some form in the Tigers' 25-point win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Sunday, kicking two goals and collecting 15 disposals.

In his pre-match press conference, when Hardwick was asked about his former teammate's jab at his star forward, the Tigers coach took a tongue-in-cheek jab at Lloyd.

"I'm happy to shoot Lloydy something else," Hardwick said when asked whether he would shoot Lloyd a text.

"I would have loved Lloydy to spell the word liability."

https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/essendon-legend-matthew-lloyd-reveals-hardwick-texts-after-lynch-criticism/31e2b336-7a09-4a8f-b795-ffb96afe3a5f

[one-eyed]

‘Let the guys play’: Coach’s plea after Sicily, Lynch’s fiery clash

May 19, 2019 8:11pm
Anna Harrington
FOX SPORTS

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says he’d like to have seen a “little bit of leniency” from umpires when Tom Lynch lashed out at James Sicily during a heated match-up at the MCG.

With James Frawley a late withdrawal, Sicily went to Lynch from the opening bounce and engaged in an enthralling contest with the Tigers’ star recruit.

Sicily clearly went out to get under Lynch’s skin - and succeeded - with the Tiger giving away a downfield free kick when he snapped and hit Sicily in the chest in the third quarter, after the defender had engaged with him a number of times.

From the resulting free kick at the top of the 50, Luke Breust was able to crumb his second goal in a matter of minutes, closing the gap to four points.

Hardwick queried the need to pay a free kick, given the pair had been clashing all game.

“Look, James is that sort of player,” Hardwick said post-match.

“He’s an incredible talent that kid, he’s a player I’d come to watch - I love the way he plays the game.

“And he plays it to the line - I love that about our game ... do we need the umpire paying a free kick for when Tom shoves him down? I don’t know - let the guys play, let them have a crack.

“At the end of the day, they’ve been at each other from go to woah - it’s nice to have a little bit of leniency every now and then.

“But I thought it was a great contest - Tom kicks three goals, at the start of the day I would have said that’s a great result for us and I thought James played a pretty good game as well, they’re both pretty good players.

“Tom’s got a mean streak in him - I thought James Sicily played it really well. He’s a good player, that’s what good players do - play to the edge.”

After Lynch kicked an early goal, Sicily largely won the battle, keeping him to two goals and five disposals across three quarters.

Lynch snagged a late goal - and missed out on a shot at goal due to a free kick to Kamdyn McIntosh - as the Tigers cruised home, finishing with three goals from six marks and nine disposals.

Meanwhile, Sicily finished the day with 21 disposals and eight marks.

Hardwick’s Hawthorn counterpart Alastair Clarkson was happy with the way Sicily went about facing his bigger opponent.

“This was a big task - losing Frawley before the game didn’t really help so we had to see what we could do in terms of our back end,” Clarkson said post-match.

“So I thought it was a pretty good battle - Lynch has seven touches, kicks three goals, he gets an easy soda late in the game.

“I thought ‘Sis’ battled pretty manfully in that position and probably - outside of the fact that Lynch has kicked three goals - in the contest you’d say that Sicily was pretty competitive if not won his fair share of those contests, which was valuable for us and we were pleased with the way he attacked the role.

“But unfortunately it’s the supply at different stages - that last one that came down for Lynch to kick that late goal, no-one’s gonna stop that. So that would be particularly frustrating I’m sure for any player who’s trying to actually get a job done and he (Lynch) gets it handed to him on a platter like that, it makes it pretty difficult.

“But throughout the course of the game we thought he carried out his role really strongly for us today.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-richmond-coach-damien-hardwick-calls-for-leniency-in-contests-like-james-sicily-v-tom-lynch/news-story/0329baf47c203d646037720d769a1520

[one-eyed]

Tom Lynch, Richmond, has been charged with Striking (Fixed Financial Sanction) James Sicily, Hawthorn during the third quarter of the Round Nine match between Richmond and Hawthorn, played at the MCG on Sunday May 19.

In summary he can accept a $1500 sanction with an early plea.

  Based on the available evidence, the incident was assessed as Striking (Fixed Financial Sanction). The incident was classified as a $2500 sanction as a first offence. The player can accept a $1500 sanction with an early plea

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-18/match-review-statement-round-nine

[one-eyed]

Tom Lynch has ... kicked 22 goals so far in his debut season with Richmond and is ranked third in the Coleman Medal race, third in the competition for marks inside 50 and sixth for contested marks.

“We knew it was going to be a slow burn. This sort of injury that he’s coming back from is obviously quite significant and he’s still only training once a week,” Hardwick said.

“I think he’ll start to train twice, possibly just prior to the bye, so his form will improve again.

“What I’m seeing is he’s starting to get his leap back.

“He’s jumping on the (marking) bag (at training) as hard as he has since he’s been here.

“We’re really looking forward to him playing his best footy from the middle to the back-end of the year.

“But his contribution thus far . . . without Tom we wouldn’t be sitting where we are.”

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2019-05-24/lynch-set-to-soar