Collingwood ruckman Max Lynch has requested a trade to Hawthorn.
The 23-year-old has played just three career games at the Holden Centre since joining the club via the 2017 Rookie Draft, making his debut against Brisbane last year before two more appearances in 2021.
Lynch currently sits behind star ruckman Brodie Grundy and ruck/forward utility Darcy Cameron in the pecking order at the Magpies, with a move to the Hawks likely to grant him more exposure at AFL level.
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Collingwood football boss Graham Wright confirmed to 3AW on Monday that Lynch had requested a move to Hawthorn ahead of the Trade Period deadline.
“He’d like to (get to Hawthorn). His management’s made us aware of that,” Wright said.
“We would like to keep him, to be honest … What we discussed was him looking to explore the opportunity to be a first ruck somewhere and Hawthorn has said that the opportunity may present itself at Hawthorn.
“I’ve spoken to them (the Hawks) a couple of times and they haven’t put much forward at this stage. We’ll see where that goes over the next couple of days.”
Lynch's request is tipped to see a number of ruckman across the league swap clubs ahead of Wednesday's deadline, with the young Magpie set to be the first domino to fall.
The pending move to Waverley will impact the future of veteran Hawks ruckman Jonathon Ceglar, who has been linked to Geelong this off-season.
The Cats are keen to acquire Ceglar's services and could part ways with out-of-favour tall Darcy Fort to Brisbane in order to do so.
Wright's revelation that Lynch is keen to move to the Hawks comes on the same day the Magpies secured Bulldogs midfielder Patrick Lipinski in exchange for Pick 43.
