CHRIS Fagan says he has sympathy for rivals Gold Coast following Tom Lynch's request to leave, and has questioned the success of free agency.

The Brisbane coach said it had become apparent in the six years since free agency was introduced that it was having the opposite effect to what was intended.

"It'll be interesting to see where he ends up," Fagan said on Friday.

"If he ends up at one of the top sides in Melbourne, it begs the question whether free agency is actually working.

"What's tended to happen over the last few years is the better free agents have gone to the clubs in premiership windows, and that was never the way it was intended.

"From a competition perspective, it's something the AFL need to look at really closely.

"They're very keen to even up the competition and have every team win 11 games and lose 11 games.

"At the moment it's not a level playing field."

Lynch is being chased heavily by Melbourne powerhouses Collingwood, Richmond and Hawthorn.

In the past three seasons, Dion Prestia (Richmond), Jaeger O'Meara (Hawthorn) and Gary Ablett (Geelong) have all forced trades out of the Suns.

Fagan said it was a battle Gold Coast and Brisbane constantly faced.

"What you've got to try and do and what we've been trying to do is make your club a good enough place that blokes just don't want to go," he said.

"That's the only bit of control we have over it, so we'll continue to focus on that."

Fagan has seen the workings of free agency first hand, being at Hawthorn during its golden years and watching players both come and go.

The Hawks waved goodbye to Lance Franklin after the 2013 season, but got James Frawley from Melbourne 12 months later via free agency.

Meanwhile, big-bodied midfielder Tom Bell is out for the year after having surgery for an ankle syndesmosis injury on Friday morning. 

He had carried it for the past month. 

Bell, 27, is out of contract at season's end.