Katie Lynch


Katie Lynch is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition.

Early life and state football

Lynch started with Australian rules football in the Auskick program at Canterbury, Melbourne. She then continued to junior level with the boys at Camberwell Sharks, playing 77 games with them until the under-14s level. During her year with under-11s, she was announced as the Yarra Junior Football League best and fairest and was selected for the V squad, a representative team of the YJFL. At the age of 15 joined the youth girls' team of Kew Rovers and played 34 games with them, winning Under 15 Girls Best and Fairest in 2015 and Youth Girls Best and Fairest in 2017. In 2016, she fractured her right ankle and didn't return to playing until halfway through 2017. In 2018 Lynch played for Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup and represented Vic Metro in the AFL Women's Under 18 Championships, playing in both midfield and forward positions. During the 2018 season, Lynch was touted for an AFLW draft spot. While representing Vic Metro, she was selected for the initial squad of the 2018 AFL Women's Under 18 All-Australian team. Following this, Lynch also played two games with Collingwood VFL Women's team, with the first one being against NT Thunder at Collingwood's home ground Victoria Park. Lynch said that playing in the different competitions helped her adapt to different playing styles as each one is a different kind of game.

AFL Women's career

Lynch was drafted by Collingwood with the club's second selection and the 11th pick overall in the 2018 AFL Women's draft. The coach Wayne Siekman said that she's "a tall, big bodied midfielder who can also push forward. Katie uses her size to her advantage to win the ball and also push the opposition off. She has a very damaging left foot kick that rarely misses the target." She made her debut in a loss to at Victoria Park in round 2 of the 2019 season. Following her debut, Lynch didn't miss a game of the season, playing in all six of the remaining matches.

Personal life

Lynch grew up as a Richmond fan, ironically barracking for them in a match against Collingwood a month before being drafted to Collingwood. She studied at Carey Baptist Grammar School and was part of their Australian rules football leadership group.

Statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2020
! colspan=3| Career
! 7
! 1
! 0
! 22
! 17
! 39
! 10
! 15
! 0.1
! 0.0
! 3.1
! 2.4
! 5.6
! 1.4
! 2.1