Tom Melch of North Melbourne has called for time for his AFL career as the club opens second on the list for Wednesday’s mid-season draft.
The club already had a selection, the second selection, after rookie injured Miller Bergman was placed on the Roos ’long-term injury list after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Lynch first joined North Melbourne in March as a pre-season by-election as he took on the role of development coach at Arden Street to allow the club to pay him outside the soft limits of the football department.
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The 31-year-old did not play any senior games with the club.
His retirement came before the Tuesday deadline at 2pm for clubs to fill vacancies on the list for this week’s mid-season draft.
The former Saint and Crow man made 164 appearances in the AFL in total since his debut in 2010, scoring 203 goals.
“Tom joined the club with the goal of supporting and guiding our young players on the field at VFL level. We didn’t require him at this stage this year, so he’s made the selfless decision to retire and open this place in the list, “said Roos football general manager Brady Rawlings.
“His football experience is very valuable to our youth group and he will continue to work with our development coaches for the rest of the year on our VFL program.”
North Melbourne veteran Tom Lynch has retired (Image: nmfc.com.au) Source: FOX SPORTS
Rawlings suggested questions and answers from members last week that the club would target key defenders, small strikers and runners in the mid-season draft.
“There are a few players out there that could cover those needs,” he said.
“We looked for 19 – year – olds from across the country who are eligible, we looked for state leagues and we looked for retired players from previous clubs.
“We have a good management of what it seems, we have been looking for a little more in the mature space that last year we looked more at the 19-year-olds.
“In terms of being in a rebuild, obviously we have some places that we need to fill. We need a little more maturity in certain parts of our playlist.”