Dustin Martin speaks exclusively to Herald Sun football journalist Michael WarnerHerald-Sun
February 28, 2015DON’T ask Dustin Martin about finals or even Round 1 against Carlton.
He’s not interested in pre-season predictions.
The only focus at Tigerland, he declares, is on the next training session. On getting better.
“We’re just going to keep improving — every session we are looking to improve,” Martin says.
“We had a poor start last year, but over the past two years we’ve beaten some quality sides and we just need to do that on a consistent basis now.”
This is the wiser, more mature version of “Dusty” Martin, 23, on the eve of his sixth AFL season.
Still shy, and maybe a little wary during a rare interview, but with a clearer perspective on his own goals and the team’s.
Last week he signed a two-year contract extension, tying him to Punt Rd until the end of 2017.
It was a far cry from his very public fallout with the Tigers at the end of 2013.
Martin says he was adamant the deal needed to be agreed to before the start of the season to kill off any distractions.
“It was done really smoothly and I was very happy to get it done,” he says.
He’s had his share of moments in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, but Martin is growing up.
“When you’re young you can be a bit silly and do some stupid things,” he says.
“But I definitely think I’ve learnt a few life lessons through the club and people who are close to me.
“There’s a lot of great people at the footy club and they are always trying to point you in the right direction. I’ve definitely got a leg up there.
“You look back and think about when people were telling you things and you thought they were talking crap. But as you get older you realise it was the right thing.”
These days he’s passing on those life lessons as an adviser to indigenous youths at Punt Rd’s Korin Gamadji Institute. It’s an unlikely role he admits has surprised and inspired him.
“It’s something I’d really like to keep doing,” he says. “I know when I was growing up I would have loved to have had someone to look up to ... a lot of the kids have a dream to do something. It’s just letting them know that you can do anything you put your mind to.
“I’m usually pretty shy and not much of a talker, but once you get into it you see how much the kids like it. I just speak to them about my story and a few challenges that I had and few decisions that I had to make along the way and still have to make now.
“The sacrifices and just sticking to a plan.”
Martin, once compared to a young Darren Millane by former Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan, polled 13 Brownlow Medal votes last season, finished third in the Tigers’ best-and-fairest and was named in the 40-man All-Australian squad.
Track watchers are predicting a far bigger year.
“I’m still young and everyone playing the game can still find something,” he says. “I’ll just keep working hard and keep trying to find it. It’s probably just about building my engine more and more to get more time in the midfield and cover the ground harder for longer.”
Over the off-season break Martin travelled to Las Vegas with his good mate, Collingwood champion Dane Swan, and three other friends.
The Magpies star is eight years older but they’ve hit it off.
“We just met around the traps through mutual friends and started hanging out,” Martin says.
“Now we’re pretty close friends and do what normal mates would do — go out for dinner, go out fishing. A couple of times we’ve had a few laughs running past each other (on the ground).
“Vegas was good fun. I go away at the end of every year. It’s something to look forward to.”
He’ll never catch Swan in the tattoo stakes, but Martin admits he’s planning a sleeve for his largely un-inked right arm.
Asked if he sometimes sought advice from Swan on football, Martin replies: “Yeah — he’s a premiership player, a Brownlow medallist. We talk footy every now and then and chew the fat.”
Despite the daily demands of professional football, Martin says his passion for playing has never been stronger.
“I love footy. I’ve always loved it, ever since I started kicking a footy as a kid,” he says.
“There’s nothing better than playing footy in front of the Tiger fans at the ’G or wherever we’re playing.
“The best day of the week is game day and that’s what we live for.
“It’s all worth it when you are running around out there.”
His best mates at the club include Trent Cotchin and Chris Newman, but Martin says it’s a tight-knit playing group.
Golf is all the rage and after some initial hesitation Martin has caught the bug.
“I’ve actually been getting into golf a little bit. I wasn’t a massive fan because I couldn’t hit it too well, but I’ve been hitting it all right lately,” he says.
“It’s nice and relaxing. I had a hit with Jack (Riewoldt) this week, he’s a jet. I’m rubbish but I’m enjoying it.”
These days he lives with former teammate Aaron Edwards.
Another strong influence in Martin’s journey has been the club’s development coach Mark Williams, who is recovering from a recent cancer scare.
“I’m super close with ‘Choc’ and his family,” Martin says.
“He’s been amazing and really looked after me, but he’s been amazing with a lot of the guys.
“Sometimes you just have that connection with people. He helps me with anything and if I’m ever having a bad day or need some advice from someone he’s one of the first I go to. He’s always willing to help.
“He just wants me to be really driven and get the most out of myself — and Pauline, his wife, always cooks me up a good feed.”
Everywhere Martin has turned at Richmond, there’s been somewhere there to help.
It’s the reason Greater Western Sydney told him to stick with the Tigers during that contract stand-off a few years ago.
He’s lived with Cotchin and his wife, and in the early days with former president Gary March and his family in Middle Park.
He caught up for dinner with the March clan again this week.
“I still keep in touch with them,” he says. “I’ve had a lot of great support along the way and hopefully I can repay a bit of the faith.”
http://www.news.com.au/national/dustin-martin-speaks-exclusively-to-herald-sun-football-journalist-michael-warner/story-e6frfkp9-1227241832193
