Bone’s beef: Crows in for lynching if they lose The Connector
INJURIES haven’t helped the Adelaide Crows’ 2018 campaign, but they cannot be avoided. Tom Lynch’s departure can be. And it must be, writes inaugural club captain Chris McDermott.
Chris McDermott
Don't miss out on the headlines from Chris McDermott. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Cornes: Crows could be better off letting Lynch leave
- Rucci: Who will blink first?
- Bickley: Why $5m contract won’t solve Sloane dilemma
- Which free agents should your club target?
YOU can’t be serious!? It is not April Fool’s Day is it?
The suggestion that Crows forward Tom Lynch may not be at West Lakes from 2019 is unthinkable.
Not 48 hours after their most recent defector Jake Lever played a major role in Melbourne’s demolition of the Adelaide Football Club another player is rumoured to be heading towards the departure lounge.
Not just any player, stand-in captain Tom Lynch.
It’s happening far too often and it’s becoming far too costly.
If you keep turning quality players over like Jake Lever, like Jack Gunston, like Patrick Dangerfield, like Charlie Cameron just to name a few, you never get to where you want to be.
It’s time for the Crows to get where they want to be. Where their supporters dream of them being.
Not just playing on that last Saturday in September at the MCG but standing on the dais on that very day raising the premiership cup!
Keep turning over your best and most influential players and you will never get there.
Tom Lynch is a key part of the Crows’ next premiership team.
The Connector. The link between defence and the scoreboard. The man that does the relentless and unrewarded gut running to create space for others.
It is often a thankless role. A role not many put their hands up for but a role very few can do.
Lynch is an exception.
Luke Breust at Hawthorn has evolved in a similar role. Shane Edwards at Richmond is another.
They are the quiet achievers of a football club and Tom Lynch is that man at West Lakes.
A heart-and-soul player that loves his club and everything it stands for.
In 2016, Lynch took an outstanding 150 marks to rank 12th in the AFL along with 79 inside 50s, 42 goals and 20 goal assists.
In 2017 he ranked fifth for marks with 163, along with 75 inside 50s, 31 goals and 16 assists.
The stats do not lie.
The Crows were a scoring juggernaut and Lynch was a key player.
Unlike midfielders, players like Lynch do not come along all that often.
Advertiser columnist and former Power player Kane Cornes is spot on the money questioning the rumours on Lynch’s future and whether the Crows supporters will accept another loss of a quality player and an extension to their 20-year premiership drought.
I’d suggest not!
Finding another Tom Lynch is no certainty, despite the first-round draft picks the Crows have in 2019.
It is not about the player but about the mixture of players. It is a team game after all.
The Crows’ premiership window is still open.
Injuries haven’t helped but they cannot be avoided. Tom Lynch’s departure can be. And it must be.
But show him some respect. He is not holding a gun to the Adelaide Football Club’s head. They must not hold one to his.
Second chances rarely pay off for AFL coaches
History suggests strongly that if you miss out on a premiership at your first try as a coach, you should not get another chance — unless you’re Mick Malthouse or Malcolm Blight, writes Chris McDermott.
When two tribes go to war
It was the game that stopped a state — the first Showdown between the Crows and Power on April 20, 1997. Chris McDermott shares his memories for Part 1 of The Greatest Showdowns series.