Tom Lynch won’t play for Richmond in opening round against Gold Coast

Richmond star Tom Lynch is putting all of his recovery focus on being ready for a round 1 MCG showdown with Carlton but not the opening round blockbuster against former coach Damien Hardwick.

The gun forward confirmed on Tuesday that he would “set his sights” on the Blues as he increases his recovery from foot surgery that ended his 2023 season.

Lynch said he had “really picked up” his training workloads in recent weeks as he plots a path back from a horror 2023.

After kicking 63 goals in 2022, Lynch played just the four opening games of 2023, for nine goals, before attempts at getting back late in the season were shelved and he had the operation.

Every milestone has been welcomed at Punt Road in his recovery, with loud cheers from teammates when he ran on the oval for the first time.

He said his foot was “fully healed” but despite his positive recovery, Lynch conceded the “round zero” clash on the Gold Coast against both his old team and his former mentor on March 9 may come a week too soon.

So he’s thinking only about being ready to tackle the Blues, a match that is only five days later, or even possibly Port Adelaide in Round 2..

“I think round zero might be a bit tough, especially with a five-day break leading into round 1 so at this stage it is less likely than likely,” he said.

“I’ll put my focus on round one, or even that Port Adelaide game in round two.

“The last three or four weeks I have really picked up the loads and am looking forward to transitioning into footy in the next week or so.

“All things are tracking well, I’ve clearly missed a lot of football, I need to get some good training under my belt and some conditioning. We don’t want to rush back, we want to get as many games this year as we can.

“So if I miss Opening Round, so be it.

“My foot bone is completely healed, it’s just the (risk) of soft-tissue – clearly, I hadn’t run for nine months, so I need to get some miles back into my legs. If we wanted to really push, I could get up ... but I want to play for the whole year.”

Lynch is yet to rejoin full training with his teammates and may not be the only gun forward missing from that opening round clash.

Gold Coast spearhead Ben King is dealing with knee soreness and could also be watching from the sidelines.

The match against the Suns will be the first for new Richmond coach Adem Yze, who was named to replace Hardwick, who took the Tigers to three premierships before stepping down.

Hardwick was then signed on a five-year deal to coach the Suns, who have never made the finals.