For Lynch to even be in this position is an achievement, given his at-times rocky start at Tigerland.
The star recruit came to the club on the back of a serious knee injury that required two surgeries last year, in July while at the Suns and again in November to tidy up scar tissue.
He had an extremely limited pre-season, failing to play a practice match and only training once a week for the first half of the season proper.
Lynch had patchy form early on as a consequence and was even labelled a "liability" by Essendon great Matthew Lloyd in May, but has steadily built to kick 61 goals, playing every game of the season.
"You'd be lying if you said you didn't hear it, the critics and that," Lynch said.
"But as I said a number of times, I spoke to 'Dimma' (coach Damien Hardwick) and 'Mini' (forwards coach Andrew McQualter) and the guys at the footy club whose opinions I really value, and they were really supportive.
"They said I was playing a role for the team and bringing others into it, that 'we're really happy with you, you can perform better, but we're really happy with how you're going,'."
The 26-year-old is in his first finals series after playing his first eight AFL seasons at the Suns and has shown no sign of nerves.
Against Geelong in last Friday night's preliminary final he was particularly outstanding, booting five goals from 19 disposals and 10 marks. He also picked up nine AFLCA votes.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/131933/long-time-between-grand-finals-for-newest-tiger-hero