Is 'Dusty' still the best player in the competition?Ben Lawless
zerohanger.com
4 February 2022Before last year’s grand final, there was little debate over who the best player was in the competition. After his third Norm Smith Medal, Dustin Martin had solidified himself as one of the all-time greats and the one player that no one wanted to go against.
Fast-forward a year, and many have started to crown Petracca, Bontempeli, Wines or Oliver as the league's best player. While neither Richmond nor Martin lived up to their high expectations, it wasn’t a lost year for the Tiger's premiership hero.
Prior to his season-ending kidney injury, Martin was still playing elite-level football. While he had taken a slight dip from previous seasons, he was still averaging over 22.5 disposals and over a goal a game. Only Marcus Bontempeli and Christian Petracca managed those averages in the 2021 season.
The drop in his numbers is due to his role on the team. With excellent midfield depth coming through Bolton, Graham, Ross, Baker, Collier-Dawkins, Dow and McIntosh all pushed for stoppage selection last year.
During the Richmond Dynasty of 2017-2020, Martin would spend 66% of his time in the midfield during the home and away season. Comparing that to last season, he only spent 45% of his game time in the midfield. That 32% drop-off in midfield minutes reflects his diminished statistics for the season. For context, his best season over that time was 2017 when he won the Brownlow with close to 30 disposals a game. Last season saw close to a 25% decrease from that Brownlow season.
During the 2021 season, Richmond instead used Martin similarly to how he was used in the finals. Over that same time frame, Martin spent 46% of his time in the midfield. Instead, he was being played more one-on-one up forward. His disposals dropped to 24 per game over the twelve finals appearances, instead of having more of an impact on the scoreboard. score assists, score involvements, goals and contested disposals all increased when played more as a forward option.
Over his career, he has also demonstrated an ability to elevate his game in the biggest matches of the year. As a genuine matchwinner, he has swung the momentum of multiple games off his own boot.
While not performing with the same consistency as previous years, he still was able to assert his dominance throughout last season. Games of four goals/28 disposals (Giants), three goals/27 disposals (Essendon), one goal/34 disposals (St Kilda) and two goals/31 disposals (Carlton) were some game-winning performances that he had throughout 2021.
While Martin has hit his 30s, there is still plenty of high-level football left for the Richmond champion. Missing the end of the season could prove to be a blessing in disguise. This will be the longest break that Martin has had between matches for his entire career. That rest could leave him fresher and more driven than we have seen for the past few years.
Teams should be fearful of what Martin can produce in 2022. With the motivation of missing the finals, a potential captaincy and the tragic passing of his father Shane, expect a bounce-back season for Martin. He might not reach his 2017 career-best football but expect when September rolls around, Martin will regain his throne as the number one player.
https://www.zerohanger.com/captain-less-and-winless-after-round-one-five-burning-questions-richmond-tigers-97294/
