Richmond great Matthew Richardson has given a glowing seal of approval to the Tigers’ acquisition of star key forward Tom Lynch last week, as a restricted free agent from Gold Coast.
Richardson is a big fan of the way Lynch goes about his forward craft.
“If you look back at when Lynch was at his best in 2016, he was the No. 1 contested marking player in the competition,” Richardson said.
“He’s had some injury issues over the past couple of years, but before then, his aerial strength, and ability to cover the ground – to get up and then get back – along with goalkicking nous, made him such a dangerous forward for opposition teams to counter.
“Richmond has had two really good years with its unique forward set-up, led brilliantly by Jack Riewoldt, but you have to constantly look at evolving in today’s game. And Tom Lynch clearly adds a dynamic, different dimension to the Tigers’ attack.
“He’ll make the forward line better, particularly in big games against the best teams, when sometimes you have to go slow and down the line with your ball movement.
“A 200cm player of his quality, who won’t be outmarked up forward, is going to be a huge asset for the team.
“This year’s finals series showed the value of big forwards who are elite overhead, and Richmond has two top-class ones now.”
Richardson doesn’t envisage any problems with the development of the Tigers’ potent new forward combination of Riewoldt and Lynch.
“I’m sure it will work extremely well. One can play deep, one a bit further up the ground,” he said.
“We’ve seen with Riewoldt that he’s well equipped to play any role across the forward line.
“And the addition of Lynch has got to help Jack prolong his AFL career.
“Jack’s work-rate in recent seasons has been extraordinary, but there might have been a bit of a burn-out factor with him if he had continued to shoulder so much responsibility.
“Tom Lynch’s arrival undoubtedly will ease the pressure on him, and I think it also will help Josh Caddy, who was excellent in his forward role this year, finishing with 46 goals.
“Caddy might now spend more time in the midfield, and when he is up forward, he’ll be getting the opposition’s third best defender.”
Richardson also is convinced that Lynch will slot seamlessly into the Richmond way.
“He appears to be a man of high integrity and he should definitely fit into that team-first attitude and great culture that’s been created at the Club,” Richardson said.
“From his perspective, he must be jumping out of his skin at the prospect of consistently playing in front of big crowds at the MCG with the Tigers, just like his former Gold Coast teammates Caddy and Dion Prestia have done.”
