Deja vu of blockbuster moves; Giant switch coming full circle? The $2.6m Dusty trade landscapeRonny Lerner
Fox Sports
July 7th, 2022 4:35 pmA question made famous by legendary English rockers The Clash (or at least a variation of it) is fast becoming one of the biggest talking points of the AFL season, and it concerns the future of Richmond superstar Dustin Martin.
The triple Norm Smith medallist might still be contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2024, but speculation continues to grow that he may not want to honour the remaining two years of that deal.
His future could lie up in Sydney if he chose to depart Richmond, and that would amount to some pretty handsome compensation for the Tigers if a trade of that magnitude occurred, not to mention the salary cap space that would be freed up.
As Fox Footy journalist Jon Ralph explained earlier this year, the Swans would have to stump up a lot to make a Martin trade happen.
“Sydney have two first-rounders, pick 10 and 18, (the latter) which is Melbourne’s first-round pick. They’ll look to pay ‘Buddy’ Franklin around $500,000, down from $900,000,” Ralph told Fox Footy.
“They’ve got expiring deals — Josh Kennedy, Callum Sinclair, Sam Reid, Lewis Taylor, Ben Ronke, Sam Naismith — they’ve got some cap space.
“But Martin is due $2.6 million in the next two years, he wouldn’t take less, the Richmond footy club wouldn’t pay him elsewhere. And so, if — and it’s a massive if — the Swans gave up two first-rounders, Richmond would have three first-rounders and a North Melbourne second-rounder, they could start to rebuild again.”
There would be a sense of deja vu if Martin ended up at the Swans, given that club’s incredible track record of attracting the biggest stars in the league.
Indeed, the 2017 Brownlow medallist would follow in the footsteps of Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Lance Franklin as marquee attractions who were wooed by the siren song of the Harbour City.
But, of course, if Martin wanted to head north, his passage would be made easier due to the fact that there are two teams in Sydney to choose from these days.
If the three-time premiership champion ended up at Greater Western Sydney, it would be a case of the Giants coming full circle given they withdrew their interest in recruiting him at the end of 2013 after he famously toured their facilities along with manager Ralph Carr.
To see Martin in charcoal and orange almost a decade later would be a remarkable story and a great coup for GWS.
Besides, the Giants still owe their local rivals Sydney one after the Swans gazumped them at the death knock for Franklin’s signature in late 2013.
For all intents and purposes, Franklin appeared destined for a move from Hawthorn to the Giants ahead of the 2014 season, but stunned everyone, including AFL powerbrokers, when he joined Sydney instead on a whopping nine-year deal (which expires this year).
So enraged was the league, especially then-chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, by Franklin blindsiding them and snubbing their expansion baby in western Sydney that they slapped the Swans with a trading ban for two years.
Officially, the ban was linked to the controversial cost-of-living allowance, but many observers in the footy industry saw it as retribution for Sydney’s bold recruitment of both Franklin and Kurt Tippett.
But Jon Ralph believes the Giants would find it even more difficult to accommodate Martin than the Swans.
“GWS are on the record through their football boss Jason McCartney saying, ‘If Dustin’s interested, we are as well’,” Ralph said.
“(But) They already need to cut someone under their cap.
“They already have so many elite inside mids — Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper, (Tim) Taranto, Tom Green, Tanner Bruhn — now you can make up the BigFooty-style trades, but again the salary cap is an even bigger issue there.”
However, foxfooty.com.aureported on Wednesday that Victorian clubs, including Richmond, are circling Taranto, who comes out of contract this year and has put off talks with the Giants.
That could definitely be a starting point for GWS if they were to seriously pursue a Martin trade.
But unlike Lockett (29), Franklin (27) and Hall (25), Martin (31) will be in his 30s if he starts a new chapter in the NSW capital.
Seeing him leave the Victorian AFL fishbowl wouldn’t be all that surprising. He could very well have got to a stage where the spotlight has become too much for him.
This year, in particular, has been extremely difficult for the Richmond living legend.
He had to deal with the death of his father, who Martin was very close with, and it was a situation made even tougher for Martin given his father was living in New Zealand.
After Martin played in the Tigers’ season opener against Carlton, he took personal leave away from the club, and serious question marks began to hang over his career.
He spent much of that time up in Sydney, a city he has come to love, and the main reason why speculation is linking him to either the Swans or Giants for next year.
Ultimately, he took what amounted to be a six-week break from football, and returned for Richmond‘s Round 8 win over Collingwood, accruing 23 touches and two goals to boot.
His form since returning hasn’t been too bad, but has been a few levels below his absolute best, which is understandable considering his best footy was some of the best footy any player has ever produced.
However, frustratingly for him, he injured his hamstring in the first half against West Coast on the weekend just as he looked like potentially returning to those dizzying heights of yesteryear with 17 disposals and a goal already to his name.
Of course, there’s also the very real prospect that Martin may stay with Richmond and see out his seven-year contract.
The Tigers might be seventh on the ladder heading into Round 17, but at their best this year, they still look like a team that could go deep into the finals, and perhaps even pinch a fourth flag in six years.
It could be argued that another premiership this year might in fact serve as the perfect swan song (excuse the pun) to Martin’s Richmond career and provide the impetus for him to start a new chapter north of the Murray.
But on the other hand, with Shai Bolton, Liam Baker, Noah Balta, Daniel Rioli, Jack Graham, Josh Gibcus, Jack Ross, Hugo Ralphsmith, Maurice Rioli Jr and Judson Clarke all on Richmond’s list and aged 25 or younger, Martin could see the potential for more success at Punt Road in the future, even if the Tigers fall short this year.
The 268-gamer certainly has a lot of thinking to do.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-tigers/afl-news-2022-dustin-martin-state-of-play-trade-to-nsw-clubs-sydney-swans-gws-giants-stay-at-richmond-tigers-24-million-contract-latest/news-story/5dc93c5d4e6070042e47eb6655dea431
