Brad Lynch focuses on big 18 months back home

The pull to return home to be closer to family and play in front of them again was too much for Brad Lynch and now he's focused on making the most of playing at Swan Districts over the next 18 months and contributing to success as much as he can.

On the back of being part of the Swan Districts colts team that made a grand final in 2015, Lynch joined the Western Bulldogs in the AFL rookie draft in 2016. It's been quite the ride for the defender before now returning home to finish the 2023 season and beyond.

Lynch would remain at the Bulldogs until the end of the 2020 season which including him playing all nine of his AFL matches in 2018. Since then, he spent two years playing in Queensland and then started 2023 playing at Essendon's VFL side.

However, when that wasn’t going to plan, he felt it would be the perfect time to return home and to come back to play for Swan Districts for the rest of the 2023 WAFL season rather than wait for 2024.

The 25-year-old is now setting his sights on doing all he can to help Swans win as many games as possible above everything else over the next 18 months while enjoying being back home to live for the first time since 2016.

"I was definitely missing family and probably had been for a lot of the last 12 to 24 months so I was pretty keen to get back home," Lynch said.

"Smarty (Phil Smart), Pruey (Andrew Pruyn) and Greg (Harding) have been ringing me quite a fair bit over the past 12 months or so see what I was doing and letting me know I had a home to come back to the club.

"They felt I could help bring back that winning culture on and off the field, and helping the boys proceed to getting back to finals which is obviously a big thing with the list that we have.

"It was mainly about missing family but I also wanted to come back to play footy in front of my family and people that I used to play in front of."

Once Lynch made the decision to come back home to Perth, he knew that he would never even consider playing anywhere but at Swan Districts where he's still yet to make his league debut having been drafted after that 2015 colts grand final.

"It was only Swans I thought about. The thought of playing elsewhere in the WAFL wouldn’t feel very comfortable with me so I never really considered that," he said.

"To be able to play for Swans and in front of family who are nearby it just felt very convenient and comfortable. That's what made me keen to come back to Swans."

Lynch made his first appearance back at Swan Districts on Sunday in the reserves against Perth where he had 14 possessions and three marks in the 40-point victory.

He loved everything about the experience being back out there in a black-and-white jumper at Steel Blue Oval.

He now feels ready for that long-awaited league debut with Swans whenever it eventuates.

"It was great being back out there. I was very excited and had a lot of fun out there with the ressies boys," Lynch said.

"Before the game and even at the start of it, my goal was to just go out and have fun, and just enjoy my time out there. That's what ended up happening and we fortunately got the cookies too so that was good.

"I feel mentally like I'm ready and have been because I was really excited just to play on the weekend in the ressies.

"I'm feeling well and truly up to taking it up to the league level when I get that chance, and just put my best foot forward and contribute. Hopefully over the next nine or 10 weeks I can help us get to play finals footy at the league level."

After spending the past two years playing in Queensland, Lynch returned to Melbourne at the start of 2023 and felt like returning to the VFL and playing at Essendon would give him the best chance to try and earn another AFL opportunity.

However, things didn’t quite go to plan at the Bombers and that's why he made the decision to come back home and immediately start playing at Swans rather than let 2023 be a wasted year on the football front for him.

"Things weren’t really going my way over at Essendon unfortunately. It had been on my while for some time now to make my decision to come home so it wasn’t just an overnight decision that I made," he said.

"I just thought putting everything together that it was the best time for me to go home, and not waste this year.

"Then with the position that Swans are in with a really good list when we're at full strength, I thought I might as well take my talents back home and contribute there instead of waiting for next year.

"Unfortunately my time at Essendon wasn’t great but it made me realise the decision to come back was the right one."

Lynch spent the past two seasons in Queensland firstly playing at Southport and then Broadbeach, which included him being a key part in his team making the QAFL grand final.

He loved everything about his time in Queensland and he might have returned there too once things didn’t work out at Essendon if there wasn’t the full of family back in Perth and how keen Swan Districts was to have him back.

"I did really enjoy my time in Queensland. The weather there is very appealing and it's awesome up there," Lynch said.

"The lifestyle that you live is a great one too, it's very relaxed and it probably fit my personality. So I enjoyed it a lot.

"The footy up there is played at a high quality too considering Queensland is a bit behind culturally on the side of footy things, but the level was a really good level and I enjoyed my time up there very much.

"I almost considered going back to be honest but the family factor came into place and that's why I chose to come home."

Lynch has nothing but good things to say about the four years he spent with the Western Bulldogs which included playing nine AFL matches and taking part in a VFL premiership for Footscray.

It's only upon reflection, though, that he does wish he approached things a little differently at least from a mental perspective. That's why he feels he'd be much more ready for an AFL opportunity should one present again.

"I loved my time there and if I could have my time over again, I absolutely would do it. I made some lifelong friendships there and have no bad blood at all about the situation over being delisted," Lynch said.

"It was obviously unfortunate but in the way I've looked at it, I probably found myself a little bit naïve to not see it coming. If I was to go back, there are things I would do different more so just with the preparation and mental side of things.

"I know that I had the skill and all those things that they wanted, but when I look back now, I would change the mental side of things in terms of how I addressed myself away from the game and thought about footy.

"I didn’t go out a whole lot or anything, it was more that I wish I had more of a positive attitude output towards myself and teammates," he added.

"I just found myself miserable a lot of the time when I was out of the team in the last two years so I found that difficult. So if I had my time over again or got another chance, I would have a different outlook mentally and I still feel like everything happens for a reason. "

While Lynch would embrace another AFL chance should it come his way, he also knows that's out of his control and it's not his focus coming back to Swan Districts.

All he wants to do is get out on Steel Blue Oval and play good football for Swans, help the team win as much as he can and now that he's signed for the rest of 2023 and all of 2024, that's his focus for the next 18 months.

"Whatever happens next for me here or later in life if I ever get picked up again, I've matured and my mind is more mature so I'd have a lot different outlook," Lynch said.

"I would love another chance, but my thought process over the past two months has just been about realising things weren't going right at Essendon so now I just want to focus on the next 18 months here at Swans.

"I don't want to focus on being picked up or drafted again, I just want to play the rest of this season and next year at Swans, and focus on that and play my best footy and let the rest take care of itself. I'll live whatever the result is from just making the most of the next 18 months."