MELBOURNE, Australia -- Perhaps the greatest unknown in the AFL world ahead of season 2019 was whether or not prized Richmond recruit Tom Lynch would gel in what is already a premiership-calibre forward line, not to mention team.
Thursday night's season-opener between the Tigers and Blues at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was never going to answer that question once and for all, but the early signs suggested Lynch could be the addition which takes Richmond to a scary level.
The former Suns spearhead was sent straight to full forward before the Sherrin had been bounced and it didn't take long for him to have an immediate impact.
Inside the first three minutes, Dustin Martin picked the ball up on the wing, wheeled around and blasted long inside the Tigers' forward 50. Lynch rose up, plucked the grab and nailed the set shot from 30m out, sending the Tiger Army into raptures.
Twenty minutes later he had it again, this time on a 45-degree angle running into goal. There was no mistake with that one, either. It really was the fairytale start to life in yellow and black.
Lynch added a third goal to his tally in the final term, snapping truly from 20m out while being slung to the ground. It was a steadying goal for the Tigers who had let Carlton close the margin to just 12 points after racing out to an early 40-1 lead. But Lynch's goal started a fourth quarter run and Richmond ended up with a 33-point victory, extending their winning streak over the Blues to eight games.
"We didn't think it was likely [Lynch would play] about three or four weeks ago but he turned the corner pretty quickly," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said. "He is very hard working, very humble, very driven. The hard work he took to basically learn to run again, over a six-month period, is significant.
"Tom kicked three, but he got his hands to a lot. He's going to take those marks next week or the week after and then he becomes a real player for us."
Importantly, Lynch's presence didn't seem to hamper veteran Tigers forward Jack Riewoldt.
Playing in his 250th game, Riewoldt spent most of the night as Richmond's deepest forward with Lynch patrolling the space just in front of him. In the second quarter, Riewoldt was left in a daze after copping a crude off-the-ball hit from Blues defender Liam Jones, but he responded in the third, taking a hanger over Jones before slotting a set shot.
Chemistry is something which takes time to develop but watching Lynch on Thursday evening you wouldn't have thought it was his first game at the club. He had a number of clever flick ons -- one in the second term which resulted in a Kamdyn McIntosh goal and another in the third which gave Riewoldt a half chance -- which brought his teammates into the game beautifully. That cohesion will continue to build between the Tigers forwards which in itself is a daunting proposition.
In terms of Lynch's debut in yellow and black, he did everything expected of him, even if he was a fraction off at times. There were a few dropped marks, a few little fumbles and a couple of times he just looked completely out of breath.
"He hasn't played footy for eight months so he was always going to be rusty and we accepted that," Hardwick said. "We were happy he got through the game and is moving well.
"People sort of expect players to come in and make an immediate impact. It's really, really hard to understand the system we play. For Tom, it does take time. There's going to be some clunkiness, some understanding of what we want him to do in certain situation and just try to get those habits to change."
In his 131 games at the Suns, Lynch kicked 254 goals and assisted a further 98. He basically carried them in attack for eight seasons and now he has an opportunity to thrive with the premiership favourites.
We could get to Round 23 and still not have a clear answer on whether or not the Lynch signing was the right move for Richmond. But if we take anything away from Thursday night it's that the Tigers' forward line has a new weapon and another element in 2019, and that should seriously worry the 17 other clubs.