Richmond coach Adem Yze has leapt to the defence of star forward Tom Lynch, who missed multiple chances to kick Richmond a matchwinning goal in their thrilling loss to Carlton on Thursday night at the MCG.
Lynch would go on to finish with 2.7 in the four-point loss – with his second goal coming only from a free kick directly in front in the dying minutes.
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Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna joked that Blues coach Michael Voss should send “a bouquet of flowers to Tom Lynch’s house” after the win given “Richmond blew it” in the final term.
But Yze refused to put the blame on his veteran.
“Harry Armstrong missed one from 15 in front – to focus on that (Lynch’s woes) I think is the wrong way to go about it,” he said post-match.
“He’ll obviously feel like he’s let his teammates down. But we won’t be working that way.
“His patterns and the opportunities to score is the main thing.
“It was just our execution on the day.
“It was really blustery. I think it’s a little bit harsh (to put the blame on Lynch).”
The 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) victory was a great escape for the Blues as they managed just one goal after half time – coming in the dying stages to break a 55-minute goal drought.
But down the other end, Lynch couldn’t convert, with three consecutive behinds in just six minutes in the last quarter; and two of those were to give Richmond the lead.
Rival Harry McKay also defended Lynch’s goal woes when speaking to Fox Footy post-match.
“It actually was really windy out there,” he said.
“Even pre-game, we were trying to work out what the best method was.
“We’d kick one at the left goalpost and we’d go the other side and the wind would completely change. It was quite tough to read.
“Tom’s usually a beautiful kick so if he’s struggling to kick them, you know the wind is doing a bit.
“It was quite tough to read … that’s footy sometimes.”
Lynch would finish with the worst disposal efficiency of the match for either side at less than 31%.
“He didn’t really have a lot of good looks from 30 (metres) out straight in front … but he’d be disappointed,” Montagna said.
“This is what he’s in the team to do – the senior player.
“Left a few on the table that was very costly.”
AFL great Jason Dunstall said Lynch was left questioning his routine, which had a negative effect on his shots late in the contest.
“Normally you rely on your routine. You sit there, and you convince yourself that if I do my routine properly, I’ll more than likely kick the goal,” he shared.
“But when you’ve got 1.7 and you’re sitting there going ‘the routine is not working’ … it tells you there’s something you’re actually doing wrong in that routine.
“I think tonight there was a little bit of indecision.
“They didn’t know what the wind was doing. If you’re not convinced about where to start the ball, that makes it really hard to commit to the kick.
“It sounded like he kept throwing them up in the end, hoping one of them would drift through on the breeze.
“You have to have conviction – make a decision, stick to it and then hopefully follow through.”
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