From Inside Football
Reported by Paul Amy
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A few weeks ago in his Inside Football column, Crackers Keenan said it had become customary for Port Melbourne players to throw water over Malcolm Lynch after games.
The reason? Lynch's form is so hot he needs cooling.
Of course, Keenan, Port's assistant coach, was spreading mayonnaise over the story, but his point was made: the Boroughs' left-footer with the blinding pace is braining them.
So much so that Keenan and Port Melbourne coach Gary Ayres say without hesitation and qualification that he should be drafted at the end of the season.
"He's one of the most exciting players in the VFL," Keenan declared.
"He's quick, he's courageous, he reads the play well and he's developed an engine, due in no small part to Gary's handling of him in the past 18 months.
"He's fit, motivated, extremely team oriented and a quality person to have around the football club. He should be given a second chance."
Ayres said that for all his excellence, Lynch could get better.
"I don't think we've seen the best of him yet. I reckon he's got another gear to go to," he said.
Earlier this year GWS coach Kevin Sheedy turned up at Cramer St to watch Port play the Northern Bullants. He was there to scout the Bullants for a Foxtel Cup match and run an eye over a few players. Lynch was one. The speedster did not disappoint.
Lynch's resurgence will bemuse Western Bulldogs supporters. The club drafted three indigenous boys in November, 2006, Lynch, Brennan Stack and Josh Hill, all skinny types blessed with skill.
Lynch, a Tiwi Islander who attended boarding school in Sydney and went through the NSW/ACT Rams program, was the first to play in the AFL. He was also the first to be cut, at the end of 2009.
Meanwhile Hill and Stack remain with the Bulldogs, but swing between the AFL and the VFL, more teasing than pleasing coach Rodney Eade.
You suspect that if Bulldogs recruiting manager Simon Dalrymple had an unencumbered hand at the draft table he would lasso Lynch, injecting pace into a team that looks leg weary and foot sore.
Lynch says chronic hamstring injuries tailed him at the Doggies, sidelining him for most of 2008.
He said the battle to regain fitness became a "drag" and "very tiring". "My body couldn't handle it (the demands of AFL), wasn't ready for it," Lynch said. "Just about every week I'd be doing a hammy. I tried to come back and when I couldn't I was very harsh on myself."
But he considers his delisting a "blessing" rather than a blow.
"I needed to step back, get my body right and go back to enjoying my footy. So it was a good thing," he said.
"Port's been great for me. We're winning games and I'm doing my bit for the team. I feel refreshed."
He's aware of the talk that AFL clubs are scouting him, but is determined to set it aside and maintain a consistency that has him among the early favourites for the JJ Liston Trophy. "I don't want to put that pressure on myself to get picked up."
While Lynch is known for his pace, balance and creativity, Ayres says there is a toughness to him that is sometimes overlooked.
"He's actually added another dimension to our stoppage set-up by going in there," he said. "He's a very rounded player now."
A well-spoken, thoughtful young man, Lynch covers a lot of ground on the field and has travelled vast distances off it.
As part of an AFL traineeship, early last year he toured South Africa with a squad of indigenous youngsters known as the Flying Boomerangs, acting as a mentor alongside Michael O'Loughlin and Chris Johnson. He took the chance to "pick the brains" of the premiership pair, about football and life.
Visiting a shanty town outside Cape Town, he met Bayanda Sobetwa, visiting his home.
Sobetwa, 19, is now on Port's list, having come to Australia under the auspices of the AFL's game development arm. The 19-year-old played at GWS last year.
"I felt very privileged to see where he has come from, and how he's tried to take an opportunity," Lynch said. "I hope he keeps developing his skills and perseveres with his football."
After his South African trip, Lynch was invited to attend Antarctica for climate change studies.
He called it an "out-of-world" experience. "It's the last place on earth you'd think to visit. It fell into my lap. It's something I'll never forget."
Eager to put more time into his footÂball, Lynch is working part-time in retail. Stylishly and decisively, he is doing a faultless job of spruiking his credentials as a player with much to offer.
