HOW DOES RICHMOND HANDLE LIFE AFTER JACK RIEWOLDT?BY ANDREW SLEVISON 7 HOURS AGO
What does life look like for Richmond’s forward line in the wake of Jack Riewoldt?
The champion Tiger finished his storied career at the end of the 2023 season after 347 games, 787 goals, three premierships, three All-Australians, three Coleman Medals and two Jack Dyer Medals.
Riewoldt carried the load up forward last season in the absence of Tom Lynch, winning a 12th Michael Roach Medal as the club’s leading goal kicker.
But now he’s gone, and with question marks surrounding how Lynch will return from a lengthy layoff, it brings about some uncertainty as to how Adem Yze’s forward line will operate.
David King wants to know who will step into the gaping hole vacated by Riewoldt.
The Tigers recruited Jacob Koschitzke from Hawthorn to compete for a starting spot with developing tall Samson Ryan, while there are lesser options in the form of defenders Noah Balta and Josh Gibcus, who could be thrown into attack when needed.
“It’s all about life after Jack,” King said on SEN Afternoons.
“Jack’s been so good for so long. Now he has departed the Tigers, and we’ve celebrated him on the way out, but it leaves a huge hole.
“Tom Lynch has missed a bit of footy over the last couple of years. Who’s the next option?
“I know they’ve got Koschitzke, I know that we talk a lot about Samson Ryan, is Josh Gibcus maybe thrown forward? Balta is another option to go forward.
“They’ve got options, but really, life after Jack is going to look different, isn’t it?
Co-host Cam Luke agreed: “It mostly certainly is”.
He wonders who Yze will turn to if Lynch is unable to fully recover from the debilitating foot injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2023 campaign.
“A lot of people are banking on Tommy Lynch getting back to a high enough level,” Luke continued.
“Keeping in mind he didn’t play after Round 4, but he is another year older, he’s had the injuries.
“If all things go well and Tom Lynch slides back in as the star he has been, then they’re going to be ok to a certain extent.
“But it is also a question mark and a big ‘if’.”
Lynch played just four games in 2023 before he was struck down by the pesky injury which came with a lengthy recovery period.
He is the key to Richmond’s forward line hopes in 2024, otherwise Yze will have to bank on the largely inexperienced Ryan, the talented yet inconsistent Koschitzke, the very raw Jacob Bauer and the enigmatic Noah Cumberland, to a lesser extent.
Obviously Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton are handy forward options but are by no means key forwards and will spend time up the ground.
A lot will depend on the availability of Lynch who has kicked 202 goals in 85 games for the Tigers since moving from the Gold Coast Suns.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/12/07/how-does-richmond-handle-life-after-jack-riewoldt/
