AFL 2024: Richmond won’t pull the pin on Tom Lynch return

Richmond has explained why it is yet to make a decision that would protect a star forward heading into the final year of his contract.

Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch hasn’t given up on a return from a hamstring injury in the final two rounds of this season. Picture: Dylan Burns / Getty Images

A decision on whether Tom Lynch returns to the field this season won’t be made until the end of next week as the Tigers weigh the risk of selecting the star forward.

Lynch, who has only played four games this season due to two separate hamstring injuries, has been back in full training for a week but will not face St Kilda on Sunday.

The 31-year-old is keen to return for the final two games against Hawthorn and Gold Coast, but coach Adem Yze suggested he would need to play in the Hawks clash to justify the risk of playing.

Entering the final season of his seven-year contract in 2025, Lynch also only managed four games in 2023 due to a serious foot injury.

The Tigers hope he can still reproduce the blistering form of his last full campaign when he kicked 63 goals in 19 games in 2022.

Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch has been back in full training for a week as he hopes to play in the Tigers’ final two games. Picture: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

“(Lynch is) training, he’s going into his second week … there’s a possibility he might be available for the Hawthorn game, but if it comes to that point and our fitness staff say that he needs one more week of training, then to play one game of AFL footy to finish off the season might be a bit too high risk,” Yze said.

“We’ll make that decision at the end of next week … he’ll have enough volume of training that we’re in a position to make that decision.

“He hasn’t had a pre-season for two years, so that might override all of that, but we’ll make that call.”

Yze denied the push to play in the final games had been solely led by Lynch, saying it had been a “collaborative approach” with Tigers fitness staff.

The forward returned after an 11-week lay-off due to a hamstring tendon injury to play in Dustin Martin’s 300th game in round 14 but then suffered an injury to his other hamstring.

“It’s going to be a collaborative approach, he’s pushing to train. He hasn’t had the luxury of (getting training volume in), so right now he’s almost having a mini pre-season,” Yze said.

Young Tigers defender Tom Brown (right) is going to have surgery on both shoulders this off-season. Picture: Sarah Reed / Getty Images

“The pre-seasons are shorter as it is, so if you’ve had an injury-interrupted one … we have Jack Ross who hasn’t completed a pre-season for two years as well, so he’s playing VFL footy this week. He’ll get a couple of games in, but we’ve got to start to look at volume of pre-season which will hold us in good stead for next season.”

Richmond will again have fewer than 30 players available when it faces the Saints at Marvel Stadium after Tom Brown and Steely Green both suffered season-ending ankle syndesmosis injuries against the Kangaroos.

Yze said Brown would have surgery on both shoulders in the off-season and had already had the first procedure done after “dealing with almost a dislocated shoulder most weeks” in 2024.

“He’s going to repair both of those (shoulders) over the off-season so he doesn’t miss any pre-season,” the coach said.

“It was a credit to (Brown) for the way he fought out the last six games while he was dealing with that.”

Yze said second-round pick and key position prospect Liam Fawcett would play his first game for Richmond’s VFL side this weekend after overcoming a back issue.