Tom Lynch, the 32-year-old full-forward of the Richmond Tigers, has recently endured a five-game ban. This comes on the heels of a heavily publicized blunder that happened during a game with the Adelaide Crows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. The suspension stems from a late hit on Jordon Butts. The tribunal concluded that it was categorized as intentional conduct, extreme impact and contact at a high degree.
The whole thing was an unfortunate incident that happened when Lynch took a swing with a closed fist out of frustration. Given the harshness of the ruling, hardly less shocking than the incident itself is the fact that Butts survived the encounter with only minor physical injuries. Lynch’s decisions were under a microscope, especially considering he had a tough game in the big picture. He somehow conceded five free kicks while making zero effective disposals all game.
Yet in recent seasons, Lynch has experienced notable difficulties on the gridiron. He has appeared in only 21 games over the past three years. It encompasses just four appearances combined in 2023 and 2024. Somehow, he’s found a way to stay in 13 games this year. While Lynch’s experience and accolades are nothing short of impressive, his goal-scoring production has seen a significant decline. As it stands, 38 players have more goals than he’s scored this season.
Lynch’s salary shows that he is a professional athlete — he makes about one million dollars a season. That’s for roughly $142,000 per game played. That leads to difficult questions about his performance, and whether he’ll be worth the trouble on the field while he’s suspended.
It will be a daunting journey for the Tigers as they now step forward without Lynch for their last five games. This huge loss from the monumental line-up will be felt. The team has a lot of work to do to figure out smartly how to pivot and cover for this major loss.
