“The Gold Coast Suns wish to confirm that Tom Lynch has informed the club of his desire to join the Richmond Football Club as a Restricted Free Agent.” The Gold Coast Suns said in a statement.

As a restricted free agent the Suns are able to match the offer from Richmond to force a trade.

“Once the AFL Free Agency Period has commenced Richmond will lodge Lynch’s contract with the AFL. The Suns will then be provided details of the contract and will have three days to determine if it intends to match the offer to Lynch or release him to the Tigers.”

If the Suns match the offer from Richmond Lynch will have to either fulfil his contract with them or enter the draft.

“The club is not in a position to make further comment until the club is provided the details of Richmond’s contract offer to Lynch.” the statement concluded.

It has been widely reported that the Suns are not expected to match Richmond’s offer, instead looking for a compensation pick from the AFL in November’s national draft.

He told the club of his intention to exercise his rights as a restricted free agent in August with Gold Coast Suns CEO Mark Evans addressing it in a statement.

“Upon our request Tom Lynch has advised the club of his desire to exercise his rights as a Restricted Free Agent during October’s Free Agency Period.”
The future of the full forward has been widely publicised. With Collingwood, Hawthorn and North Melbourne having also reported to be vying for the talented 25-year-old.

The free agency period will commence on Friday.

Photo: ‘Richmond vs Melbourne tigers banner’ by Rachel Hofton and used under Creative Commons Attribution