Tom Lynch is officially a Richmond Tigers player today after the Gold Coast Suns confirmed they had decided not to match the bid made for the restricted free agent.
The news didn’t come as a surprise – industry expectation has been unanimous that Gold Coast would reject the chance to match the bid, simply because the reward for doing so is too great.
Lynch’s seven-year contract at Richmond has earned Gold Coast band 1 compensation, which means a first-round pick directly after their current first-round pick.
Given that they finished 17th this year and had pick 2 as a result, they now have pick 3 also. This gives them a total of three picks inside the first round, as they also have pick 19, originally belonging to West Coast.
What’s good news for the Suns is of course also good news for the Tigers, as it means they have gotten their man without having to give up anything in the way of trade capital.
They’ll retain their first round pick this year which could hypothetically be used in a trade, but seems more likely to be something they’ll take to the draft.
By all reports the Lynch contract has stretched their salary cap pretty thin, and the deal has reportedly been heavily back ended in order to make it fit into their budget.
Lynch is reportedly only going to be paid around $500,000 in the first year of his contract, but will be earning something in the realm of $1.5 million in the seventh and final year, when he will be 32 years old.
The Tigers and Suns also conducted another piece of business on Monday, with fringe Richmond midfielders Anthony Miles and Corey Ellis both moving to the Gold Coast for a cheap price.
The Tigers sent their 2019 third-round pick to the Suns along with Miles and Ellis, and received Gold Coast’s 2019 third-round pick back in return.
Is it coincidence that the trade was announced not an hour after Gold Coast confirmed they wouldn’t match the Lynch bid? Well, I’ll leave that to you to make your mind up on.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
The future of GWS Giants players Rory Lobb and Will Setterfield became much clearer today as the Giants confirmed that both players are seeking trades away from the club, and have nominated preferred destinations.
Lobb has requested a trade to the Fremantle Dockers, who are believed to be offering him a contract worth $700,000 per year.
As both Fremantle and Melbourne remain in the dark with regards to where Jesse Hogan would like to be playing in 2019, it’s believed that landing Lobb is – for now – Fremantle’s top priority.
Setterfield meanwhile has requested a trade to join the Carlton Blues, much like roughly one in three out of every GWS players ever, or so it seems.
Essendon had also been pursuing Setterfield, so it’s a significant win for the Blues to have been named his preferred destination.
The future of Scott Lycett currently hangs in limbo amid rumours that the West Coast premiership player, who has accepted a bid to join Port Adelaide as a free agents, wants to backflip on his commitment.
Lycett’s manager today said those rumours were ‘fake news’ and he expects West Coast will decline to match the bid, which would officially make Lycett a Port Adelaide player.
The Eagles however have left the door open to match the bid, saying they’re yet to make up their mind. They have until midday tomorrow to do make a decision.
Marcus Adams yesterday joined a growing list of players requesting a trade to Brisbane, but like fellow would-be-Lion Lachie Neale, his club doesn’t want to let him go.
Sam Power at the Bulldogs today said that the club has no interest in entertaining a trade for Adams, and will hold him to his contract, which expires at the end of 2020.
This of course a line we’ve heard from many AFL clubs in the past, and it’s fair to say it’s an ultimatum that has been reneged upon more than once before.
Adams joins Neale and Tim Kelly as sagas to watch this trade period, as the Bulldogs, Dockers and Cats all seem intent on digging their heels in to keep contracted players at their club.
How long will they hold out? Only time will tell.
(Photo by Will Russell/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Brisbane have landed at least one of their targets though as earlier in the morning Geelong’s Lincoln McCarthy became the first player in 2018 to be traded to a new club.
McCarthy was traded along with picks 55 and 58 to the Brisbane Lions in exchange for picks 43 and 61.
Geelong then quickly on traded pick 43 to Carlton for the rights to sign one state league player, and picked up SANFL forward Nathan Kreuger.
That means Carlton only have one signing left available to trade, and it’s believed they’re at war with Gold Coast over another SANFL prospect, Shane McAdam.
Gold Coast have three spots they can fill with state league signings and while they haven’t formally confirmed it, it’s believed they’re on the verge of signing VFL forward Josh Corbett.
They would be after McAdam with the idea of him appearing at AFL level for them, while Carlton would be hoping to on-trade him to the Adelaide Crows as part of a larger deal for Mitch McGovern.
Under the AFL’s rules for the priority pre-listing of mature state league players, it’s up to McAdam to decide which club he’d like to sign with – which you’d imagine puts Adelaide, via Carlton, in the box seat.
Today also saw father-son prospect Bailey Scott nominate North Melbourne as his preferred destination in the AFL draft, having been eligible also to join either the Geelong Cats or the Gold Coast Suns.
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