By the time that Richmond officially signed Tom Lynch from Gold Coast during the 2018 trade period, the move had been so deeply discussed and so far in advance forecasted that it was barely a blip on the news radar.
The headlines at that time were instead awash with discussion of half a dozen other developing trade dramas, none more surprising and unexpected than the departure of Lachie Neale; fleeing Fremantle, Brisbane-bound.
Flash forward 12 months since then and they stand head and shoulders above the rest – literally in the case of Lynch, figuratively in the case of Neale – as clearly the two best recruits of season 2019.
Their respective clubs, Brisbane and Richmond, met in the final round of the home-and-away season, and in that match – while they had vastly different statlines – both players put on display the value they have brought to their new homes.
Lynch has simply been solid as a rock for Richmond in season 2019, a year where so few other things have been.
Alex Rance has missed virtually the whole year, Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin have all suffered disruptions – but Lynch has played every match and shepherded them through.
On-field, his impact has been exactly what we so curiously discussed throughout 2018 – he’s turned the Tigers forward line into a double threat, his partnership with Riewoldt rivaling Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy is the AFL’s best key forward combo.
Nine disposals and a goal might not read as the most impressive return of his season in Round 23. It was the first time in ten weeks he didn’t kick multiple goals! But it would be a mistake to look at those stats and think he made a poor contribution.
He drew Brisbane’s All Australian full back Harris Andrews and sacrificed his own game so Riewoldt could get off the chain against a lesser opponent. Riewoldt bags four goals in the first quarter and Richmond hold on to that advantage through the rest of the match – that doesn’t happen if Lynch isn’t there.
In October last year I wrote that Lynch’s arrival would provide Richmond with the components needed to revinvent a gamestyle that rival clubs were starting to figure out. And to his credit, he has achieved exactly that.
(Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos/Getty Images)
On the other side of the equation, Lachie Neale. Whereas Lynch’s move between clubs was on the radar as far out as 12 months away, and then finalised with relative ease, Neale’s came as one of the big surprises of the 2018 trade period, and did not get done without some drama.
The Lions rolled the dice big time. They traded out their future 2020 first-round pick in order to get the currency needed to bring Neale to the club, and they let go of their wantaway ex-captain Dayne Beams with their fingers crossed that Neale could at least come close to matching his output.
He has, in the end, done all that and more. Neale’s 2019 output has been simply monumental – already a shining light at Fremantle, he found a way to take his football to a new level this season, and took Brisbane long for the ride with him.
That Round 23 match saw him put together a simply freakish statline of 51 disposals (45 of them effective) and 14 clearances. He has provided the tireless grunt that has allowed teammates like Hugh McCluggage to shine, All Australian selection and, perhaps, a Brownlow Medal to come proving fitting reward.
Neale is a long way from being the only reason Brisbane have improved this year, but he has been arguably the biggest and inarguably the most symbolic.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Tonight, fresh off playing each other just two weeks ago, Lynch and Neale – and, more importantly, their respective clubs – go head to head in a match with far more at stake; a qualifying final, with the chance to earn a home prelim on the line.
What might play out differently this time around from last? One of the big debates had among Brisbane coaching staff in the lead up to the match will undoubtedly have been how best to quell Richmonds twin-tower threat.
Will Andrews again line up on Lynch and Chris Fagan back in Marcus Adams to have better luck on Jack Riewoldt the second time around? Or will they make a switch in the hopes of a better result?
Will Richmond seek to limit Neale’s influence at stoppages, or will they – as they so often have – allow the opposition’s best ball-winners to run amok, trusting their systematic team defense and their aerially-dominant backline to take back possession?
If so, do Brisbane shake things up in the midfield to make their ability to win the ball a more lethal weapon? Do they change the manner of their entries inside 50 – lowering their aim, hoping to give Charlie Cameron better opportunities?
The way I see it, Brisbane have two factors pushing things back in their direction: a favourable and familiar change of venue, and the keenness to improve that will come from their last-up loss.
Your failures always have more to teach you than your successes do, and Brisbane strike me as a side that is hungry to learn. They’ll have spent two weeks shaking their legs, waiting to get another crack at the Tigers.
Richmond, however, are no complacent kittens either. Their injury-stricken season has put them back in the position of predator, rather than prey, a location in the food chain they find far more comfortable. The moments where they let their guard down are few and far between.
It all adds up to probably the most mouthwatering finals match of the weekend, and predicting how it will pan out is a fool’s game that I’ve somehow wind up playing.
Richmond will go in as the more experienced side and history suggests that’s important. But, so is home-ground advantage – this would be the Tigers’ first interstate finals win.
With no great degree of confidence, I’ll tip Brisbane by two goals… but I’ll also tip that this won’t be the last time these sides meet in 2019.
That’s my finals forecast. What’s yours?
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