Lynch keen to get back for Round 1
AFL RICHMOND recruit Tom Lynch remains determined to play Round 1 and says he is not worried by the prospect of slotting into his new team without a practice match under his belt.
Lynch, who had surgery on a ruptured posterior cruciate ligament last July, remains in the Tigers’ rehabilitation group and missed the club’s intra-club match on Saturday.
He has been ruled out of featuring in either of Richmond’s JLT Community Series pre-season matches but said he still had hope of being fit to tackle Carlton in the seasonopener on March 21.
Asked if a Round 1 appearance remained on his agenda, Lynch replied, “Hopefully”.
“If I answer honestly, I’m not sure at the moment, but I’ll be very close,” Lynch said at Richmond’s Community Camp in Albury yesterday.
“If I miss out, I miss out. But I’m planning for that so hopefully I’ll be out there.
“Over my career I haven’t played many games at the ‘G so it will be pretty exciting playing out there Round 1 against Carlton.”
The 26-year-old said he had been “stepping up the training” over the past month but had been taking a cautious approach under the guidance of Tigers medical staff.
“I knew when I had the surgery initially that it was going to be a long time and we had to be patient with it,” he said.
The former Gold Coast Suns co-captain said he was not concerned about team synergy early in the season, saying he would be given a role to play and fill it.
“We’ve been training for a fair while now,” he said.
“The boys have been playing together for a while now so I’ll be able to slot in and just play my role.”
Lynch has kicked 254 goals in 131 career games, his best haul being 66 in 2016.
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