BUCK’S PARTY
Pies get into chase for Suns weapon
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has confirmed the Pies have met Suns forward Tom Lynch in an effort to lure him to the Melbourne club.
COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has confirmed the Pies have met Gold Coast star Tom Lynch in a bid to lure him to the Victorian club. Lynch, widely tipped to leave the Suns for a Melbourne club on a multimillion-dollar longterm deal, has interest from the Pies, Richmond and Hawthorn. The 25-year-old forward was spotted at Melbourne Airport this month with Richmond footy boss Neale Balme. Buckley (left) said on Nine’s Footy Classified he had met Lynch personally. “We make no apologies for being a club that wants to be as competitive as we possibly can in the future,” he said. “We understand there are other clubs that are going about their business in the same manner. Tom Lynch is a player that I can see fitting into our structure really well and making us a better team.
“So if that is an indication of our interest in him, well then so be it. I don’t think there are many coaches that wouldn’t want him.”
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says talk around Lynch’s future is warranted.
Asked whether he liked the running commentary around Lynch, McGuire said: “I don’t want it played out necessarily in the public but at the same time if you deny it you prove to be a liar at some stage, so if you ask directly you might as well answer the question,” he told Triple M’s Hot Breakfast.
“I think the difference with Tom Lynch is that he’s out for the rest of the season and is actually actively talking ... everyone knows he’s out talking to different people.”
The revelation will only pour more fuel on the belief Lynch, the Suns’ all-time highest goalkicker, will leave his club at season’s end.
The off-contract forward had successful surgery on his troublesome knee in Melbourne last week and will miss the remainder of the Suns’ season.
Coach Stuart Dew last week said he had “parked” discussions about Lynch’s future for now but fears he may have played his last game for the struggling franchise, admitting the club’s prospects of keeping him are “not looking great”.