With Tom Lynch expected to command upwards of $1.5 million dollars a season from several Victorian clubs, Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew has stated that he has no problems with the outside noise surrounding Tom Lynch's contract.
After Richmond premiership coach Damian Hardwick expressed his interest and desire in the out-of-contract Sun earlier this week, stating that he'd make room in his salary cap, Richmond list manger Blair Hartley promptly rung the Suns to clear the air around the whole situation.
However, Dew has made it clear that it’s just outside noise and he's not the slightest bit worried.
Dew believes it's something that he feels his club needs to deal with and something he doesn't necessarily need to respond too.
“We don’t really need to [respond]. It’s outside noise to us, whether it’s from another coach, other teams, media, we’re not concerned,’’ Dew said.
“It happened all last year, it’ll happen all next year, sometimes I’ll have to deal with it, sometimes I won’t."
With the AFL drastically moving towards more of an open way in dealing with trades and free agency, the public statement from Hardwick isn't out of the ordinary.
Last year we saw a public spat between Adelaide’s Don Pyke and Brisbane coach Chris Fagan over Brisbane's interest in Charlie Cameron.
It is also understood that there was also constant tension between Damian Hardwick and North Melbourne coach Brad Scott over the North Melbourne's approach for Dustin Martin.