Lynch’s day in the sun
Tom’s healthy belief he will be fit to tackle former side
Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch remains certain he will face his old side in opening round as he gets set to test his worrisome foot by running on grass next week.
And troubled Melbourne star Clayton Oliver is expected to resume training in January after his latest break from football. Tiger goalkicker Lynch began running on an AlterG machine in December, which removes some gravity and reduces pressure on the foot that limited him to just four games in 2023.
After surgery in July, it has been a long slog for the forward but he was still steadfast that he will be fit to face his old team and old coach Damien Hardwick when Richmond travels to the Gold Coast for opening round.
“I think it will be fine for (opening round), everything going well. It’s obviously a long way off,” Lynch, 31, told reporters on Wednesday.
“End of Feb, I will be back in full training. I see myself progressing really quickly and getting back up to full speed.
“I’m running on the AlterG machine, so that is going well and then I will progress in the next week to running on grass, so all positive albeit being a little bit conservative at the moment but my strength and everything is really good.”
Lynch joined a handful of stars at the Portsea Pro Am on
Wednesday, including Melbourne captain Max Gawn.
Gawn provided an update on Oliver, who left the club’s Lorne training camp early last month. Oliver started his preseason late due to post-season knee surgery and has been dealing with health challenges. But his skipper said Oliver is expected back later this month.
“From the last report, (Oliver) is going to join in in and round those January training sessions and hopefully we get a good version of Clarry for the rest of pre-season,” Gawn said. “I still regularly speak to Clarry, he has his ups and downs but I am just excited for him to get back training and amongst us guys.”