Martin back in Tigers’ lair but will he finish his career at Punt Rd?Jon Pierik
The Age
May 6, 2022 — 3.45pmDustin Martin’s love of Sydney the city is well known, but whether that equates to a shift north for the Richmond superstar will be a point of intrigue over the next two years.
While Martin is contracted until the end of 2024 and he and the Tigers remain unified, his manager Ralph Carr understands how things can change in the AFL.
“He has got this year and then another two (under contract). He is kind of set there. But who knows? Football is a funny world,” he said.
Through his month’s break from the club for mental-health reasons while dealing with the death of his father Shane, Martin spent considerable time in the Harbour City, including training at the gym of former NSW State of Origin captain Paul Gallen.
This has sparked industry speculation on whether he will seek to finish his AFL career there, either with the Swans or Greater Western Sydney, once his $9 million, seven-year contract expires - or perhaps earlier.
“Whoever is saying that, I wish they would talk to me. I have no idea,” Carr said.
“I think he just likes Sydney as a visiting place. I never said he wanted to move there. He just often says … he goes up there every now and then, just likes going up there. There is nothing more than that, I don’t think.”
Martin spent time as a teenager living with his father in Camden, 65 kilometres south-west of Sydney. He had stints with the Wollondilly-Camden club and, in 2007, with the Campbelltown Blues, having shifted north from his home in Castlemaine, Victoria.
He enjoys rugby league and was in Sydney over the summer training with boxer and former NRL and rugby union star Sonny Bill Williams, who suggested Martin could become a boxer.
Martin is a rich man through Carr’s sage advice. He eschews the media and public attention, but this has only made football’s biggest rock star in greater commercial demand with sponsors for he is a man of mystery. That he prefers to keep a low profile with the football-reporting media has added fuel to suggestions that he could follow the trail blazed by Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Lance Franklin and leave the Melbourne fishbowl and head north to a rugby league-dominated town.
Wayne Schwass, the former North Melbourne star who joined the Swans and also had a first-hand experience of how Lockett, the former Saint, enjoyed less scrutiny, said Martin should “absolutely” consider a move.
“There is less attention, warmer weather, for his life outside of training and playing, and a smaller ground (SCG) is less taxing on the body,” Schwass said.
Then there are the mental health benefits, something Schwass, a leading mental health advocate, says can be “profound”.
“Without the focus and attention, you’re able to enjoy what you do much more. Training and playing becomes fun again because you have the freedom to do other things outside of football,” he said.
“It provides balance instead of 100 per cent focus on football. It’s a much healthier environment plus the Swans do the individual side of things well on top of being a great football club.”
Paul Roos also knows the potential benefits of a shift north but the Fitzroy great who played with and later coached the Swans to a premiership says he prefers players remain with the club where they have had success.
“Obviously, circumstances are different for each player,” Roos said.
Poster boyThe Swans and Giants, the latter still struggling to make an imprint, need a poster boy as a selling point, and Martin could be their man. However, just weeks shy of his 31st birthday, he is seen to be content at Punt Road.
The Tigers have given him the space he needed after he sought time off after round one, for he was still coming to terms with his father’s death. Shane, 54, was found dead on his kitchen floor in December, his unexpected death believed to be from natural causes.
Martin and Carr were given a tour of the Giants’ facilities in 2013 when Martin was off contract and emerging as a star, but he opted to remain at Punt Road.
Now a Brownlow medallist, three-time premiership player and the only three-time Norm Smith Medallist, Martin’s legacy is assured, regardless of what transpires.
Martin’s griefThe Tigers and wider football world are delighted to have Martin back. He has enjoyed being around his teammates and coaches, and wanted to return to play in last Friday’s romp over West Coast.
Coach Damien Hardwick said the Tigers would continue to support Martin and “wrap their arms around him”.
“He is in a good space, but it’s like anyone who has had the loss of their best mate and their father, there will be ups and downs. We support him and we understand that,” he said.
Carr, a former Carlton board director, remembered the pain and difficulty club great Anthony Koutoufides experienced when he lost his father to cancer. Koutoufides has said the loss of his father Jim in 1998 was the most difficult time of his life.
“Dustin is not the first AFL player to go through that. He was incredibly close to his dad,” Carr said.
Martin also had to deal with his father living in New Zealand, for Shane, a senior member of the Rebels motorcycle gang in Sydney, had been deported there on “good character” grounds in 2016 despite having only minor drug convictions, according to the New Zealand Herald. It has since emerged that at the time of his death Shane was under investigation for allegedly attacking a woman.
“Here he is, his dad who is No.1 fan helped him through footy, certainly a great help to me, and someone he could confide in 100 per cent, all of a sudden gets shipped over to New Zealand, if that wasn’t enough,” Carr said.
“Then he can’t see his son or embrace his son after a grand final and then that wasn’t enough. Then dies at the age of (54). He has been dealt a few blows.”
Back in the grooveOn the field, Martin lacked his typical zest in the season-opening loss to Carlton. It was his first home-and-away clash since he was taken to hospital with a lacerated kidney injury against the Brisbane Lions, ending his 2021 campaign in round 18. That trauma took several months to get over, and he lost 10 kilograms, prompting him to cleanse, rest and detox his body.
Always one to look to improve his running, he has returned to training in recent weeks physically strong and in excellent touch, and shapes as the man who can vault the teetering Tigers, with a 3-4 win-loss record, back into premiership calculations.
Hardwick said Martin would not be at his “optimal” best but expected him to have an immediate impact against the Magpies.
“He is such a vibrant personality within our footy club and he is an energy-in type of guy, so just him walking in the door last week was a significant boost for our club,” Hardwick said.
LongevityMartin is meticulous in his preparation - boxing is a favourite exercise - and recovery or, as club chief executive Brendon Gale puts it, he is an “uber professional”, having had a few rough edges in his younger years. Martin’s work with mindfulness coach Emma Murray has also been well documented.
There is tread off the tyres - that comes with 261 matches - but his game should age well. Carr has previously said the No. 3 pick of the 2009 national draft could play until he is 36, or longer. Club insiders have marvelled at his ability to avoid serious injury (aside from the kidney issue) despite having played such a combative game, or play through pain, as he did with a major corkie in the 2018 preliminary final.
He has spent considerable time as a centre-forward, offensive juggernaut through the Tigers’ premiership years where his powerful kicking has been a major weapon. More time inside attacking 50 - where he is so dangerous as a one-on-one threat and gives defenders nightmares - could help to extend his career.
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