‘Aggressive’ Lynch escapes ban for head shove

TOM Lynch has escaped suspension for his head shove on Lions opponent Alex Witherden in an act a Richmond great has suggested might have been fuelled by an attempt to “get himself going”.

The Richmond spearhead was hit with a $500 fine – down from $750 with an early guilty plea – for the act, which match review officer Michael Christian classified as “misconduct”.

Richmond great and former full forward Matthew Richardson said he had the sense Lynch had embarked on a more physical intent against Brisbane.

“You could tell right from the first bounce that he was trying to get himself into the game, he was trying to get a little bit more aggressive,” Richardson said on 3AW.

“There was a lot of push and shove going on, and there’s not much in that. What can they do? They bump, and a bit of pushing. I think he was trying to get himself going.

“As a key forward at times when you’re involved in big marking contests throughout the whole game, sometimes you’ve got to be a bit angry. You just hit the contest a bit harder in the air and you take a couple of contested marks.”

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick had said post-game that Lynch performs better when he is playing physically, but Richardson questioned whether the incident was needed in the game.

“Do we want to see that sort of stuff?,” he said.

“I heard Nick Riewoldt saying that we don’t need head rubbing, and that’s basically what (Lynch) did – he pushed his head into the ground. It’s not a great look, and I’m not sure that we need it in the game, but in saying that, I do think by being a bit physical early, it did get Tom into the game.”

Riewoldt had said it would be up to the players to rid the game of such acts.

“I think it’s got to be down to the players as a fraternity to come together and get rid of that stuff that’s crept in,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy. “I don’t think it does anyone any favours. It doesn’t look good for Tom Lynch, it doesn’t look good for the game.”

Brisbane defender Harris Andrews was fined $1000 for what Christian determined to be a dangerous tackle on Lynch. “Based on the available evidence, the incident was assessed as careless conduct, low impact and high contact,” Christian said in a statement.