RICHMOND is hopeful spearhead Tom Lynch will play against AFL strugglers Gold Coast as the premiers look to snap their two-game losing run.
The Tigers were left reeling from a shock 40-point loss to St Kilda, where they also lost Noah Balta and Nathan Broad until late in the season through syndesmosis injuries that required surgery.
Lynch hasn’t played since having knee surgery after round 10, but trained on Tuesday and coach Damien Hardwick said the goalkicker was a “strong possibility” to face his former side on Thursday, in a game moved to Marvel Stadium amid Queensland’s coronavirus outbreak.
Hardwick was keen to play Lynch alongside Chol, Callum Coleman-Jones and Jack Riewoldt as he works out his best forward mix.
“We think he’s a strong possibility to play for us,” Hardwick said.
“… At this stage, I’d like to think that ‘CJ’ and ‘Mabs’ stay in, with the addition of Tom.”
David Astbury is set to return from an Achilles issue while fellow key defender Ben Miller could debut, but Nick Vlastuin (corked quad) and Chol (dislocated finger) need to prove their fitness.
Dion Prestia (hamstring tightness) has already been ruled out of Thursday’s game, where the eighth-placed Tigers will be out to make a statement.
“The connection of our side is just not quite there at the moment, we’re not quite playing the Richmond way. (Our) DNA – we looked at (on Monday), what that looks like as a footy club and we’re falling short of that at the moment,” Hardwick said.
“We’re a blue-collar side that plays the game a certain way and we’re just not quite where we want to be in that situation.
“But the vast majority of the vision we showed (on Monday), it’s the same players that have been in the spotlight before and have done the job for us before.
“We expect them and our organisation to respond accordingly.”
The Suns are hoping to regain David Swallow from concussion but are sweating on the fitness of Sam Collins (ankle) and Lachie Weller (hamstring).
(C) AAP 2021
