Richmond expects Tom Lynch to face Carlton in Round 1 with Trent Cotchin to continue as captain

Richmond expects boom recruit Tom Lynch to suit up against Carlton in Round 1 as he returns from knee surgery while Trent Cotchin is expected to be confirmed as captain for a seventh season.

Richmond expects Tom Lynch to suit up in yellow and black in Round 1 after a strong summer rehabilitating his surgically repaired knee.

The Tigers this week returned from a week-long camp on the Gold Coast encouraged by Lynch’s progress as well as Dustin Martin’s fitness and sky-high motivation.

The former Gold Coast captain has methodically built up his endurance and while he is yet to join full training he has another eight weeks before the season opener against Carlton.

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It would take a setback to push Lynch out of consideration for Round 1.

The Hawks undertook the rare PCL surgery with stars including Luke Hodge and Jarryd Roughead and had positive results.

The Tigers are in no rush to throw Lynch into football early but Tigers football boss Neil Balme told the Herald Sun he was on track for the season opener.

Tom Lynch poses for a picture with fans on the Gold Coast.

“We have said to him to just take your time. He is a bloke who is going to play for us for eight years, so we don’t want him breaking down again but I would be surprised if he is not available first up,” he said.

“He is doing a lot of work now on the track and the medical guys are really pleased.

“There have been quite a few positive results from (PCL surgery). Grant Birchall has had some troubles (at Hawthorn) but most of the results are quite reasonable.”

Trent Cotchin will again captain Richmond this year for the seventh season, with Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt in pole position to continue as vice-captains.

Richmond’s challenge under coach Damien Hardwick and leadership consultant Shane McCurry is how to fast-track the growing list of emerging leaders.

“We haven’t sat down and talked about it but Cotch will be captain next year,” Balme said.

“We are talking about different layers and levels of leadership.”

Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin run laps at training.

Lynch will quickly emerge with strong leadership, while the Tigers believe Martin is building a strong leadership profile despite his reluctance to talk in the media.

Martin played lame in the preliminary final loss to Collingwood but after admitting replicating 2017’s heroics was tough last year, is in superb physical shape.

“He is in a really good place. He is fit, is he well, he is mentally really good and he’s keen to play well,” Balme said.

With some of Richmond’s stars playing AFLX, there will likely be chances to showcase draftees Jack Ross, Riley Collier-Dawkins and youngsters Noah Balta and Ryan Garthwaite in the JLT Series.

Ross is a strong-bodied inside midfielder still working on his running capacity, while Collier-Dawkins is a 193cm midfielder who has impressed in scratch matches already.

Jack Graham is only weeks away from full training after a summer shoulder reconstruction but the Tigers have so far been spared the summer injuries that have hurt Essendon, Carlton and Port Adelaide.