Eight reasons: Tom Lynch the final piece in Tigers’ new premiership puzzle

With Jack Riewoldt and his mosquito fleet, Richmond boasted the best attack in the AFL last season. This year they added one of the best big forwards in the game in Tom Lynch. Will he take them to another flag?

With Jack Riewoldt and his mosquito fleet, Richmond boasted the best attack in the AFL last season. This year they added one of the best big forwards in the game in Tom Lynch. Will he take them to another flag?

CHRIS CAVANAGH takes a look how everything is falling into place at Punt Rd ahead of season 2019.

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Is gun recruit Tom Lynch the key to Richmond’s return to the promised land? Picture: Wayne Taylor

EIGHT REASONS FOR RICHMOND TO GET EXCITED

LYNCHPIN

The biggest player movement story of 2018 was undoubtedly where Gold Coast Suns co-captain Tom Lynch was going to play his football next season and there was seriously hot competition for his signature. Lynch eventually landed at the Tigers through free agency in a move that could prove massive for the 2017 premiers. In 2016, Lynch kicked 66 goals from 22 games in a Suns team that won six games. On a wider sample size, the 199cm key forward has kicked over 40 goals in four of the past five seasons, excluding 2018 when he played just 10 games before rupturing his PCL. Before the 2017 season, former Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton declared Lynch the “best player in the comp”. If the 26-year-old can return to fitness and top form, his impact at Richmond will be huge.

POWER FORWARDS

Tom Lynch isn’t the only talented forward set to feature in the Richmond attack next season, with Champion Data ranking the Tigers’ forward line the most talented in the competition. While Richmond came out at No. 3 overall in the best list rankings, the likes of Jack Riewoldt, Josh Caddy, Dan Butler, Daniel Rioli and Jack Higgins — in addition to Lynch — create a powerful line-up on paper at the attacking end. How the addition of Lynch impacts the dynamic remains to be seen, but with Riewoldt (70 goals) and Caddy (46 goals) coming off huge years it is a scary prospect just how damaging the Tigers could be.

Daniel Rioli could well be the Tigers’ most important player. Picture: AAP

MOSQUITO FLEET

Daniel Rioli, Dan Butler and Jason Castagna became known as the ‘Mosquito Fleet’ in the Richmond forward line in 2017, with their pressure, tackling and goalkicking ability key to the club’s push towards the premiership. However, injuries meant the trio played just three games together in 2018. Rioli (broken foot) did not get on the field until Round 13 and Butler (ankle) did not feature again after Round 16. The three players contributed a combined 57 goals and 160 tackles last season, well down on 2017 when they accumulated 81 goals and 243 tackles. If they can stay fit next season, the Tigers will be very well placed.

FAIR FIXTURE

Considering it finished atop of the ladder in 2018, Richmond appears to have got lucky with its fixture next season. Champion Data rates it the sixth-easiest fixture of any side, with double-up matches against Collingwood, Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide and Carlton. Contrast that to last season’s fixture with had the Tigers play double-up games against Adelaide, Geelong, Essendon, St Kilda and Collingwood in what was deemed the second-hardest draw.

MCG GAMES

The 22-game winning streak at the MCG is over thanks to Collingwood’s stunning preliminary final performance. But the fact still stands that the Tigers have won 27 of 30 matches at the home football since 2017, an extraordinary record. Richmond defends the MCG better than any other side, having conceded an average of just 67.7 points a game at the venue over that period. While there are only 13 MCG games for the club in 2019 — one less than last season — Damien Hardwick’s men play their last seven games at the venue in what should be a very handy lead-in to an expected September appearance.

Dion Prestia looms as a key figure in Richmond’s 2019 season. Picture: Mark Stewart

MORE PRESTIA

Such a key part of the push to the 2017 premiership, midfielder Dion Prestia struggled to stay fit in 2018 as he managed just 13 of 24 games due to calf, rib and hamstring injuries. The 26-year-old is the third-best clearance player at the Tigers behind Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin, having averaged 4.61 a game last season. He also finished second behind Martin for average disposals at the club, logging 24.1 a game. Richmond is well aware of Prestia’s importance and will be carefully managing him in a bid to ensure he plays more football in 2019.

BAD NIGHT

Richmond really didn’t do a lot wrong in 2018, its failure to win back-to-back flags largely coming down to one bad night against Collingwood in the preliminary final. The Tigers had beaten the Magpies twice during the regular season and overcame every other finalist at least once during the year except for Greater Western Sydney (two points) and West Coast (47 points). Overall the club went 19-5 and has lost only one player who featured in more than seven games — Reece Conca (Fremantle) — over the off-season. All that gives plenty of reason for optimism about next season.

MAGIC MARTIN

An X-Factor player of the highest order, all eyes will be on Dustin Martin and what he can produce again next season. The 2017 Brownlow Medalist was at times a touch off last season and had a calf issue mid-year which saw him miss one game in Round 12 and appear not quite right in a couple of other matches. Overall, Martin averaged 4.1 less disposals, kicked six fewer goals and polled 17 less Brownlow Medal votes than 2017. However, still just 27 years old, Martin has plenty of good football left in front of him and the Tigers will be looking to him to take his game to another level again next season.

Any side that features Brownlow Medal champion Dustin Martin is going to figure prominently in September calculations. Picture: Michael Klein

THE NUMBER: 1

The inclusion of Tom Lynch has only improved the Tigers forward line, who clearly rated the best in the competition. They will be hoping some of their middle-tier midfielders can go to another level in 2019 to improve their midfield rating.

Source: CHAMPION DATA

■ TAB ODDS

Premiership: $5

Top-8: $1.18

Most losses: $501

■ TRAJECTORY

2014: 8th (12-10, elimination final)

2015: 5th (15-7, elimination final)

2016: 13th (8-14)

2017: 3rd (15-7, premiers)

2018: 1st (18-4, preliminary final)

Originally published as Eight reasons: Tom Lynch the final piece in Tigers’ new premiership puzzle