Upcoming free agent Tom Lynch may be forced to have surgery on his troublesome knee

THINGS are going from bad to worse for the Gold Coast with skipper and soon-to-be free agent Tom Lynch potentially needing knee surgery. How will this impact his upcoming free agency? SAM EDMUND has the latest.

Tom Lynch has been playing hurt. Picture: Getty Images

TOM Lynch could face surgery on his troublesome knee, with the Gold Coast co-captain continuing to play in pain.

Lynch is still struggling with the complicated PCL injury that ended his 2017 season early and required a month on the sidelines earlier this year.

The in-demand restricted free agent has told the Suns he is playing sore and that his running and mobility has been effected by a knee that continues to swell up.

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Surgery on PCL injuries is rare, but medical experts say it’s the only option if rest fails to fix the problem.

Jarryd Roughead, Luke Hodge, Cyril Rioli and Nakia Cockatoo have all undergone PCL operations in recent years.

Tom Lynch could be forced to have surgery. Picture: Getty Images

Leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins said PCL injuries were “underestimated as to how significant” they are.

“The PCL is a back-to-front surgery for the ACL. It’s a lot more difficult, technically, and generally over the years you’ll find 95 per cent are treated with a brace and rehabilitation. With the surgery there’s more complications and more infections.

“We’ve done 1,730 ACL reconstructions here (Epworth Hospital) in the last two years and we’ve done 14 PCL’s so there’s the sign … and there’s dozens and dozens out there in AFL circles who don’t have surgery. Most knee surgeons don’t do it.

“The equipment is different, it’s at the back of the knee not the front of the knee, but it’s the same principle — if your knee is loose you tighten it up and they use a hamstring graft; same as the ACL.”

Victorian Lynch, 25, is being wooed with multi-million dollar offers and the chance to return home from Collingwood and Richmond as the Suns fight to stop him joining their ongoing exodus.

How the injury effects Lynch’s immediate future, if at all, remains to be seen.

He is known for his toughness and willingness to play through pain, with coach Stuart Dew admitting his forward needed to be convinced to take time off earlier this year.

Tom Lynch has been playing hurt. Picture: AAP Images

“Sometimes they get away with it … the problem is if you keep playing the swelling in the knee makes the knee stretch up and so a PCL that’s a medium one becomes a high grade one over a period of time because it gets looser,” Larkins said.

“I think there’s going to be more of them and when you hear a story like Lynch you think ‘What’s his next option? Well, his next option is to say ‘Let’s have the operation that Jarryd Roughead had, that Luke Hodge had, because they’re back playing.”

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