In a special summer series, Richmond Media is counting down the top 25 Tiger recruits from rival AFL clubs throughout the past five decades. Coming in at No. 5 is Tom Lynch.

Richmond’s recruitment of Gold Coast star and co-captain Tom Lynch, via the AFL’s free agency system at the end of the 2018 season, was deemed to be a major coup for the Club at the time.

Four years on, it looks even better, with the powerful key forward having delivered in spades for the Tigers.

In just four seasons at Punt Road, Lynch has been a vital member of two premiership teams, won two Michael Roach Medals as the Club’s leading goalkicker and last year he captured his inaugural Jack Dyer Medal.

He has kicked 193 goals in 81 games with Richmond and been a consistent match-winner for the team.

Lynch had a huge impact in first season as a Tiger in 2019 booting 63 goals, including a superb five-goal performance in the preliminary final against Geelong.

His efforts that year were extra important for the team considering the fact that veteran star key forward Jack Riewoldt was sidelined through injury for half the season.

It’s doubtful Richmond could have won the 2019 premiership without Lynch.

As good as Lynch was in 2019, however, his efforts during the 2022 season surpassed that.

Lynch destroyed opposition defences on a regular basis with his aerial prowess, strength in the contest, mobility and goalkicking ability.

He finished with 63 goals again, picked up a career-high 14 votes in the Brownlow Medal and won Richmond’s Best and Fairest despite missing four games due to injury and being subbed out of the Round 17 match against his former team Gold Coast early in the opening quarter with a hamstring issue.

The eight goals he scored against Hawthorn in the Round 22 clash at the MCG was an equal AFL career-high total for him.

Lynch’s goal average in 2022 of 3.3 is the best of his 12-year AFL career, and he polled the most Brownlow votes in a season by a key Richmond forward since Matthew Richardson.

At the end of the home-and-away rounds last year, Lynch was ranked No. 1 for goals per game, No. 2 for total goals (one behind Carlton’s Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow), No. 1 for contested marks and No. 2 for marks inside 50 per game.

Lynch also was a valuable contributor for the Tigers in the COVID-19 afflicted, abbreviated 2020 premiership year, kicking 32 goals, and in 2021, with 35 goals.