‘Didn’t want to cause harm’: Gun Tiger explains frustrations behind ‘big wild’ punch as Tribunal loomsCatherine Healey and Max Laughton
Fox Sports
June 29th, 2025 8:26 pmRichmond star Tom Lynch says he didn’t mean to cause harm after an ugly strike on Adelaide defender Jordon Butts.
The star forward cut a frustrated figure at the MCG on Sunday as he failed to gather a single disposal in a horror half for his Tigers.
He is facing a likely Tribunal visit for lashing out and punching Butts, amid frustration with how the Crows were treating him. While Lynch did not fully connect with the strike the potential to cause serious injury is likely to see the charge raised from two weeks to a direct Tribunal referral.
Fox Footy vision had earlier captured the moment Lynch “raked his boot” across the face of Josh Worrell before his temper well and truly flared late in the second term.
After being caught against three Crows in a marking contest, Lynch lashed out and his fist connected with Butts’ head.
“Oh Lynch! Lynch is in a lot of trouble here,” Fox Footy’s Brad Johnson said.
“I’ve just seen a big whack!”
“The last time I saw a swing like that at that end of the ground was the same namesake Alastair Lynch,” fellow commentator Dermott Brereton laughed, referring to Lynch’s 2004 grand final throw down with Port opponent Darryl Wakelin.
“That’s a big, wild swing there.”
The moment sparked a push and shove between Lynch and Butts’ teammates Worrell and Mark Keane as the Adelaide defender struggled to sit up.
“It’s frustration. He’s gone again, twice,” Johnson said of Lynch’s follow up swinging arm.
“Could go three times here!
“Lynch has gone again – he’s had another swing at Butts high.
“Keane’s come in again because they are going to have a crack here at Lynch. He’ll do something silly again.”
The act summed up a miserable first half for the Tigers premiership player after the side lost Mykelti Lefau earlier in the match to injury, leaving Lynch to battle solo in the front half.
“He’s in plenty of trouble,” Jon Ralph said.
“I asked Tom Lynch a month ago about his reputation as a tribunal regular.
“He said ‘I’ve been suspended for two weeks across my whole career’ – I think he’s likely to double that.
“He does make contact there with Butts. You’d hate to think he could have followed through and really got him hard.
“It’s clearly intentional, behind the play. Maybe it’s high impact.
“The look of that strike is something (MRO’s) Michael Christian factors in too.
“He’s had scuffles with other players as well – I don’t think there’s a lot in those.”
Ralph believed Lynch was looking at a two-week ban for his actions.
“He actually got reported for the second punch – that first one was a free kick against,” Johnson added.
“He gets in the scuffle again. He punches again. That’s where the umpire comes in and reports him on the spot.”
Ralph said Lynch’s actions were clearly out of frustration.
“It goes without saying, he’s got to be better than that,” he said.
“His coach would be shattered – sometimes when it’s not going your way you’ve got to suck it up.”
Lynch has already served a suspension in 2025 for his high hit on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.
Post-game he spoke with Seven News.
“I haven’t seen the incident,” Lynch said.
“I didn’t want to cause harm or anything like that, I was just trying to get free and the frustration came out. I gave away too many free kicks and was not good enough as a leader; said at halftime sorry boys, thought we were playing pretty well in that second quarter and it pretty much stopped the momentum.
“I was just more frustrated with how he was defending me, I thought. And clearly it was within the rules because there were no free kicks awarded to me and I went outside the rules. I’ve got to be better.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/in-plenty-of-trouble-tigers-gun-facing-hefty-ban-for-big-wild-punch-amid-fiery-scenes/news-story/521f14205cc97aca5140cb07bbd4d43a
