Tom Lynch desperate to make Richmond debut against Carlton in 2019 season opener

Richmond forward Tom Lynch will need to prove his fitness to Tigers medical staff before being declared a Round 1 starter but the star recruit believes he is more than ready to face Carlton in the season opener.

Tom Lynch in action at Richmond training. Picture: Sarah Matray

Tom Lynch says he desperate to take on Carlton in Thursday night’s blockbuster season opener, declaring on Monday: “I want to play.”

The star Richmond recruit expects to know his fate on Tuesday after the club’s main training session but is adamant he has done enough to be declared fit after a PCL reconstruction.

Richmond recruit Lynch on Monday told the Herald Sun he had made clear to coach Damien Hardwick he was ready to fire in front of 90,000 fans at the MCG.

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Hardwick said after the club’s JLT Series win over Hawthorn that Lynch only had to tell him he was ready to play to be slotted in next to Coleman Medallist Jack Riewoldt in the club’s forward line.

But Lynch said at the launch of Fox Footy’s 2019 AFL season the club’s medical team would make a decision on his availability on Tuesday.

“I feel like I am ready to go. I told ‘Dimma’ (Damien Hardwick) that, it’s just whether the fitness staff think I have done enough’’ he said.

Tom Lynch in action at Richmond training. Picture: Sarah Matray

“It will be interesting. I will train tomorrow and hopefully train well and push for selection.

“It’s our main session going into Round 1. I will find out one way or another tomorrow, but hopefully I will play. I am keen and I would be excited to play Thursday night.

“I feel confident and ready to go. I have been doing some good sessions, I have been running since Christmas.

“And I have been in skills training the last month-and-a-bit and in tackling and everything else the last couple of weeks. I feel fully confident in my knee, it’s just probably not even my knee, just whether they think the load would be too big. I feel confident, I feel ready to go.”

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Lynch is desperate to play in the clash, with the Tigers’ alternative playing him for a half in the VFL against Carlton’s VFL side at Punt Road at 4pm on Thursday.

Lynch, the former Gold Coast captain and a player tipped by Dermott Brereton as one of the future greats of the game, could not be more determined to take his place in the Round 1 side.

Asked what his message would be to Hardwick if he was asked about playing Round 1, he replied: “I want to play”.

Lynch runs alongside new teammate Jack Riewoldt. Picture: Sarah Matray

While Richmond roared back into the JLT contest against Hawthorn in Tasmania last week he was proving his fitness in front of the club’s fitness bosses in a testing training session.

“It was fairly football specific. Tackling some of the old roll-the-ball-out and pick it up. And then I did a bit of work with (defender) Ryan Garthwaite who is in the same boat as me (after achilles issues). A lot of competitive work, so that was a big session and it was just full contact and I pulled up well from it.

“I have been in full skills training for six weeks. I did my first drill halfway through January and playing games is different to playing against opposition and I think I have done enough.

“We will do better as a forward group within a month of playing but I am confident I have done enough.”

He said on Monday he was happy to play in the ruck despite his PCL surgery over the summer.

“Absolutely. I think I will do a little bit. ‘Nank’ (Toby Nankervis) does 90 per cent but some days you get stuck down forward and it’s good to have a run in the ruck. That would be good.”