Tom Lynch almost certain to get to Richmond but what next for Brendon Goddard?
SOME appear certain to leave their current AFL club while others are touch-and-go. JON RALPH and SAM EDMUND discussed the main players ahead of the looming trade period.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SOME appear certain to leave their current AFL club while others are touch-and-go.
From Tom Lynch to Andrew Gaff to Mitch Wallis, JON RALPH and SAM EDMUND discussed the main players ahead of the looming trade period.
Here’s a sample of what they discussed:
SAD STORY: COUSINS DENIED BAIL OVER FRESH CHARGES
ROBBO: VITRIOL DIRECTED AT ALY WAS SHAMEFUL
HOW SURE ON TOM LYNCH TO RICHMOND?
SAM EDMUND SAYS:
“(I’m) at least 90 per cent sure. I think you can be as sure as you can be without taking it all the way to the bank, if you like. I think he’s there, and I think every other club knows that to be the case. This isn’t a six-month operation, by any stretch, they’ve been into Tom Lynch for the best part of two years. Before it even made headlines, before it even made newspapers and TV stations around the place. They’ve been grooming him (to come to Richmond).
“We know all know that his sister now plays there, in the VFLW. We know that with all those big names — Cotchin, Martin, Rance, Riewoldt — they’ve all front-ended (their deals), they’ve all signed, they’ve all taken little haircuts. All the planning is in place, ready for the big T. Lynch to slot into the forward line.”
THE QUESTIONS ABOUT BRENDON GODDARD?
JON RALPH SAYS:
“I think Brendon was blindsided, and yet speaking to enough people at Essendon to know both sides of the story, I think what’s clear is they said to him ‘there’s a chance you might play on, but there’s also a chance that we might retire you’ … what did happen is that when they crashed out of the finals, I think there was a realisation there that Aaron Francis and his type are very much coming. Brendon would still play good football for them next year but for them to go with (Mason) Redman, they’ve got Conor McKenna on one halfback flank and Adam Saad on the other. That’s a pretty good starting point, isn’t it?”
DOES THIS MEAN BOMBERS HAVE LANDED A BIG NAME?
JON RALPH SAYS:
“I think we could have had that conclusion and some of us did, but what they’re saying today is, ‘look we’re in for those people — Dan Richardson said publicly last Friday — yes you could make that assumption that we’re into Dylan Shiel, but all those things, it’s going to take them six weeks to work out whether they can get them or not.
CAN YOU SEE ANY CLUB COMING FOR BRENDON GODDARD?
“I think Brendon Goddard is in massive strife,” Ralphy said. “If he does get a position somewhere as a delisted free agent, it might be after the free agency period, it might only be as a delisted free agent in late October … everyone’s got a half-bank flanker who gets 20 possessions, can kick it well … I reckon he’s in real strife.”
WHAT NEXT FOR ANDREW GAFF + JARED POLEC?
JON RALPH SAYS:
“I sort of feel uncomfortable having this discussion (with his father recovering in hospital),” Ralphy said. “At this stage we think he’s going to North Melbourne, but his old man is in hospital. I think it’s almost one we just park for a week or two. It’s important that his father gets out of hospital. I don’t think we should be here assessing all those things.
“Jared Polec is the other one. I think it’s likely he gets to North Melbourne. That’s fine. Sometimes you’ve got to pay a bloke overs. It’s probably well overs.”
SAM EDMUND SAYS:
“I like that signing, on the surface of it. They’ve got the money to burn. Forget the fact they’re overpaying. Sometimes you’ve got to do that to get the bloke out. The guy is an ideal fit for that club on the surface and can seriously play the game.”
WHY THE SPECULATION ON DYLAN SHIEL?
JON RALPH SAYS …
“I don’t know. Are people around him fuelling it? I haven’t spoken to his management (about it), every time I do speak to them they say he’s not going anywhere. I suppose it’s because the salary crunch is on at GWS … at some stage they’re going to have to move another player on. I don’t think it’s Dylan Shiel but the formula will be ‘if we lose him next year and he’s a free agent and we win the flag, we get pick 19 for him. (GWS will say) ‘If we trade him now, we potentially could get two first-round picks’. That’s the equation.”
THE LATEST WITH SHAUN McKERNAN
JON RALPH SAYS:
“He’s one that is being low-balled by Essendon. It’s interesting, these blokes who play 8-10 really good games. So he’s been offered something less than $200,000 a year — I don’t know if it’s one or two years … There is this two-speed economy where the worst players are getting crunched and the best players and the free agents, a lot of the money is going to those guys. So he’s got to make a decision … it’ll be interesting to see how that one unfolds.”
WHAT IS MITCH WALLIS WORTH?
JON RALPH SAYS:
“So he’s only 25, 26 I think in October. There’s clearly a gap between what they (Western Bulldogs) want to give him and what other clubs are offering. If I was them I’d say ‘look, we’ll give you three years, with a clause for a fourth, so if you play 45-50 games in those three years, you get the fourth year and we’re paying for $430,000, so it’s above the average wage … these are only my figures. I’m not a list manager but they’d be trying to find the middle ground that would allow him to stay on.”
SAM EDMUND SAYS:
“I’m only reading the tea leaves but I reckon the last month or so, I feel better about him staying there. I don’t know if it’s because he’s playing better footy or some of the things you hear about the traps, it’s hard to imagine him leaving now whereas two, three, four months ago I reckon you’d have all your eggs on the fact that he’s going.”
Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >
Originally published as Tom Lynch almost certain to get to Richmond but what next for Brendon Goddard?