Dustin Martin Richmond, biggest strength not being used, form slump in 2016 AFL season, one-on-one contestsBen Waterworth
Foxsports
28 April 2016DUSTIN Martin isn’t the only toothless Tiger at the moment.
But with Richmond desperately needing a spark this season, the 24-year-old’s greatest strength is being curiously underutilised.
It's no surprise that his form decline has coincided with the Tigers’ horror start to the season.
When the Tigers have needed inspiration in previous seasons, they have often turned to Martin to ease the pressure.
Clear out the forward line, plonk Dusty deep inside 50 one-on-one with his opponent and let him go to work — it’s been an effective winning formula.
Since Champion Data began recording the stat back in 2012, Martin has been the competition’s best player for one-on-one contest victories, pipping the likes of Nat Fyfe, Aaron Sandilands and Patrick Dangerfield in the rankings. Overall, he’s won 47 per cent of the one-on-one contests he’s been involved in — the best percentage of any player in that time.
But in 2016, it seems as if Martin has been invisible to his Tigers teammates — remarkable considering how much attention he commands on the footy field.
Last year, Martin won 15 and neutralised seven of his 27 one-one-one contests — ranked No. 1 in the AFL.
Five games into 2016, he’s been involved in just one man-on-man contest.
One.
Remember, this is the best one-on-one player in the competition operating in an era where the ability to win the ball in contested situations is vital.
Yet Martin has only been able to show off his best asset — his one-on-one strength — once. For the record, he won that contest.
What makes this so puzzling is that Martin this year is spending more time in the forward line — the area of the field where most one-on-one contests occur — than he did during his career-best season in 2015. He spent just 40 per cent game time playing as a forward last year, yet is playing 50 per cent game time as a forward this season.
Is Martin simply not putting himself in dangerous positions? He might be playing as a forward half the time, but he’s won 67 per cent of his possessions in the defensive half this season.
Or is this a case where Martin can shift the blame?
A big reason why Martin’s teammates potentially aren’t kicking the ball to him is because the Tigers aren’t moving the ball quickly enough.
According to Champion Data, Richmond is ranked 14th in the competition for transition speed, which is the time taken for a team to move the ball from defensive 50 to forward 50. Mind you, the Tigers are ranked 17th in the league for inside 50 differential.
What adds to the intrigue is that the Tigers have only targeted Martin inside forward 50 just once this year, which was during the second term against Melbourne on the weekend.
He took the mark — his first in the arc this season — then converted his set-shot for a goal.
But that goal, remarkably, was just his second in five games this season, highlighting his inability to impact the scoreboard this year.
Martin kicked 24 goals playing predominantly as an on-baller last year, but has contributed just two from a near 50-50 split of forward and midfield time in 2016. His score involvements have also dropped from seven to five per game compared.
The scoreboard isn’t the only area where Martin is suffering, with his ability to win the ball, as well as his trademark explosiveness, somewhat lacking.
Last year, he was ranked seventh in the competition for metres gained, averaging 470m per game. This season, Martin’s metreage has decreased significantly, only gaining an average of 304m a match — ranked well outside the top 100 in the league. This has also seen Martin average career-low inside 50s (two per game).
Not helping the situation has been the narrowing of Martin’s kick-to-handball ratio, averaging career-high handballs (11) this season and his lowest kicks per game since 2010 (13). In 2014 and 2015, he was in the top three in the league for average kicks.
Again, the Tigers’ poor ball movement and transition speed could be a reason behind the numbers. They more often than not don’t take risks rebounding from defence, opting to kick sideways and backwards towards the boundary line rather than going for high-risk, high-reward options through the guts.
Richmond needs a spark from someone immediately. And Martin desperately needs a spike in form.
If coach Damien Hardwick wanted to kill two birds with one stone, the time has come to use his star’s best quality.
Isolate Dusty in the forward arc.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/dustin-martin-biggest-strength-not-being-used-at-richmond-in-form-slump-in-2016-afl-season/news-story/1b0af087c1635642e7886989f4113872
