Richmond Coach Damien Hardwick Still Isn't Sure Whether Tom Lynch Will Line Up On Thursday Night

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick still isn't sure whether star recruit Tom Lynch will play against Carlton on Thursday night.

However, he has confirmed that Lynch will be used as a second ruck.

Speaking to afl.com.au, he said that Lynch would be used to give No.1 ruck Toby Nankervis a rest.

"Tom probably will at stages, there's no doubt about that."

"At the end of the day, the second ruck for us plays, what, 10 per cent of the game? So he'll be pinch-hitting.

"Whether it's if he plays, say, on Thursday night, we're not too sure (because he's coming back from a long-term knee injury)."

He's also tempered expectations surrounding Lynch making an immediate impact to the Tigers.

"We're not expecting Tom to come in and be a superstar of the competition. We're expecting Tom to come in and play a really important role to us to make our side better."

"Tom wants to win and that's what we're here to provide him and he's in to provide us a contest up forward that's going to allow our little blokes to be able to pressure and kick crumbing goals.

"The dynamic will take a little bit of time to figure out how it works best, but we'll allow Jack and Tom to make those decisions.

"With Tom coming in, it's hard to believe this, but I think Jack will become a better player … and instead of two guys hanging off him, he might be going back to one-on-one marking contests. That excites us."

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