Gold Coast teammates want to know if Tom Lynch is staying or going
TOM Lynch’s teammates have started asking him whether he is going to re-sign with Gold Coast or return home to Victoria, which has made for some awkward moments at training.
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TOM Lynch’s teammates have started asking him whether he is going to re-sign with the Gold Coast Suns or return home to Victoria.
The Herald Sun revealed last month that premier Richmond had armed itself with enough salary cap space to poach the injured Suns captain on a lengthy seven-figure contract.
The Tigers re-signed Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin on a seven-year deal worth about $8 million last September but have still freed up enough cash for Lynch.
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Lynch, 25, has reacted uneasily to teammates who have lightheartedly asked him for an answer.
“He gets awkward about it,” Suns’ co-captain Steven May said.
“We say, ‘what’s going on’ and we ask him about it, because we read the media and see all these big contract offers he’s been getting.
“(They’re) pretty big. We ask him to buy lunch and all that sort of thing, but he does (go) into his shell a bit.
“Which is fair enough, he’s in an awkward position. He’s a captain and in his first year of free agency, which is still relatively new.
“When I was out of contract last year he didn’t hassle me too much.”
Lynch, a restricted free agent, is likely to command about $1.2 million per season from 2019 and would reunite with Dion Prestia at Punt Rd.
The pair spent six years at the Suns together after they were drafted with consecutive picks in 2010 — Prestia at No.9 and Lynch at No.10.
Hawthorn and Collingwood have also been linked to Lynch. It is understood the Hawks have never paid a player $1 million with coach Alastair Clarkson urging his stars to sacrifice dollars for premiership success.
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Clarkson has often told his players they will be rewarded financially long after their playing days if they retire as decorated champions.
It is also unclear how much room the Magpies have in their salary cap and they did explore offloading Chris Mayne’s $500,000 per season salary last October.
May received strong interest last year but recommitted to the Suns after talks with new chief executive Mark Evans.
“I sort of had a little look at how we were going to go forward and Tommy Lynch was involved in that as well,” May told Channel 7.
“I just thought it’s sort of like unfinished business. I’ve been here from the start and really want to play finals.”
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Originally published as Gold Coast teammates want to know if Tom Lynch is staying or going