Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has confirmed meeting with Tom Lynch and made a public pitch for this year's most in-demand AFL free agent.
Ahead of their match of the season against Richmond this Saturday, the Magpies coach spoke about Lynch and the interest from the Tigers in the Gold Coast co-captain.
Collingwood, Richmond and Hawthorn are considered the front runners if Lynch decides to exercise his status as a restricted free agent.
Lynch is back in Victoria, recovering from season-ending knee surgery, and his manager Paul Connors said on the weekend that the star forward is yet to make a call on his AFL future.
"We have (met with him) ... a while back," Buckley told Channel Nine's Footy Classified.
Buckley would not go into any more details about what was said or when the meeting happened.
"Tom Lynch is a player I can see fitting into our structure really well and making us a better team," Buckley said.
"So if that's an indication of our interest in him, then so be it."
There were reports last week that the Tigers also have sat down with Lynch and made a pitch to him.
"I don't think there would be too many coaches who wouldn't want him," Buckley said of the key forward.
"I don't know what the Richmond offer is - I don't know where that stacks up against other offers."
Meanwhile, Buckley is optimistic that key defender Darcy Moore will prove his fitness for Saturday's match of the season against the Tigers.
Moore was a late withdrawal from the weekend's win over North Melbourne with hamstring tightness.
"He had a scan and it was clear, so it was a good validation, I suppose, for him," Buckley said
"So we expect him to train this week and he'll be doing everything to put his hand up for the weekend."
Moore will come out of contract at the end of this season.
"I believe there's been an offer on the table since before the season began - even late last year," Buckley said.
"But Darcy has been keen to get back and play some football - we understand that's still what he wants to do.
"It doesn't concern me, because as a coach you have bigger fish to fry right now.
"One of those is getting Darce up and confident in his body, to be able to help us have a crack at the back end of this year."
Moore missed two months because of a left hamstring injury and successfully returned in round 17, only to pull out of weekend's win because of tightness in the same hamstring.
