Dustin Martin [merged]

[one-eyed]

Double page spread.

TIGERS UPBEAT ABOUT DUSTY PROGRESS​

The Tigers have been beaming about Martin across the pre-season.

Senior official Neil Balme told the Herald Sun this week Martin’s attitude towards “being part of the group and his training has been wonderful’’.

“He’s bought in, he’s in really good shape and I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t have a very influential year. He looks terrific,” Balme said.

And mentally?

“You never know but he seems good to me, he seems really good to me. He’s always a pretty quiet bloke, he doesn’t say a lot, but every time you talk to him, he’s with you. I think he’s very engaged,” he said.

“In its own funny way, the fact we recruited those two kids from GWS (Taranto and Hopper) as midfielders, it makes Dusty’s job much easier.

“He doesn’t have to drive the midfield, he can be what he needs to be, which is explosive wherever needs to be. If he’s in the midfield, good, if he’s forward then good. He’ll have an enormous influence.

“He’s always believed in his responsibility to himself and to his team, that’s never been an issue. It’s just that he’s talented and sometimes he doesn’t play as well as we think he can, because it’s not the easy game that it looks. No, he’s in a very good place from that point of view.’’

Across the board, the Tigers are in Martin’s corner.

On December 5 last year, Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale said: “He’s been training pretty hard … he’s a proud athlete and he’s a proud man and he’ll look forward to getting back in the swing of things, that’s for sure.”

Teammate Liam Baker said on January 19: “Dustin is back, he is fit and he has got a full pre-season in, which is exciting for us. Out on the track he is big and strong, and pushing people around.’’

Coach Damien Hardwick said on January 24: “He had a terrific session this week, we played a quarter of match practice and he moved well, used the ball well, so we’re very excited to see how he goes. Once again, he has missed a lot of footy over the last 18 months so it will take a little bit of time to get back to full fitness.’’

Assistant coach Andrew McQualter said on January 31: “We’re rapt that he’s been able to do all the training this pre-season. He hasn’t really missed a session at all, so hopefully it’s a really exciting year ahead for him.”

Let the Hunger Games begin.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/news/mark-robinson-does-the-hungry-still-remain-to-carry-dustin-martin-to-heights-only-he-can-reach/news-story/50e63128eccf37126b5c208901c6b191

[one-eyed]

From Mick McGuane's twitter:

Underestimate the champ at your peril…!!!!

Can Dustin Martin make Richmond the AFL's best forward line?

@MickMCG34 is tipping a 35 to 40 goal season for Dusty!

How many do you think he will kick?

See Mick's 1-18 ranks here: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-2023-mick-mcguane-ranks-every-forward-line-1-to-18/news-story/ceae04a62c0f47f2a96acb2ce296f41b

https://twitter.com/MickMCG34/status/1628246525548859392

[mightytiges]

The breeze caused the kick to just overshoot so it wasn't a perfect play but you know Dusty is on when he's "don't argue"-ing
 and holding off an opponent with his left arm while using his vision to see open teammates out of the corner of his eye and kicking across the body with his right side. He was back today turning 50/50 contests into wins for us and kicking multiple goals. He's been flying this preseason. So, touchwood he gets an injury-free run this year . 

[Tiger Khosh]

Looked fit, strong and silky with the ball. Excited to see him remind everyone who he is this season.

[one-eyed]

KANE CORNES’ OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WEEKEND’S AFL MATCH SIMULATION GAMES

There’s life left in Dusty and Nat

“They just look fit (Dustin Martin and Nat Fyfe). I think you can judge a lot by how players turn up… five goals between those two and it will be terrific to see those two firing again, hopefully they both stay sound.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/02/27/kane-cornes-10-observations-from-the-weekends-afl-match-simulation-games/

[the claw]

Hmm not sold on Dusty getting back anywhere close to his best.
For me he needs to play primarily as a mid with stints forward not the other way round.Playing midfield frees him up and i think he needs that.
Is he worth a spot playing primarily as a fwd well im not sure about that. For that to work he will need to kick 40 plus this year imo.

Im a Bit worried if we play Dusty as a fwd then we wont admit to the need to play a third tall and boy if we have a need its finding and playing another tall forward.

Hoping like hell he can get back to his explosive best in the mid field but he is no spring chicken any more. A fit and firing Dusty would be a big big bonus.

I think if we are asking questions about his mate Cotchin being past it i dont think its too far removed to be asking similar questions about Dusty.
Yep there are damn good reasons why he dropped away the last couple of seasons but im wondering if age and hunger are problems.
He has a bit to prove after his last two seasons and im sure we all hope he proves me and any other doubters wrong.

[Andyy]

Hmm not sold on Dusty getting back anywhere close to his best.
For me he needs to play primarily as a mid with stints forward not the other way round.Playing midfield frees him up and i think he needs that.
Is he worth a spot playing primarily as a fwd well im not sure about that. For that to work he will need to kick 40 plus this year imo.

Im a Bit worried if we play Dusty as a fwd then we wont admit to the need to play a third tall and boy if we have a need its finding and playing another tall forward.

Hoping like hell he can get back to his explosive best in the mid field but he is no spring chicken any more. A fit and firing Dusty would be a big big bonus.

I think if we are asking questions about his mate Cotchin being past it i dont think its too far removed to be asking similar questions about Dusty.
Yep there are damn good reasons why he dropped away the last couple of seasons but im wondering if age and hunger are problems.
He has a bit to prove after his last two seasons and im sure we all hope he proves me and any other doubters wrong.

Agree with a lot of that.

Dusty I feel has often been a bit of a momentum player and when he's involved in the middle it helps him get involved up forward.

I don't think he's ever played majority forward and had as much of an impact as when he's midfield and resting forward.

[Buddysucks]

I feel like playing him in the midfield helps him get mismatches when he rotates forward. If he’s a permanent forward he’ll attract a better and more physical defender because he doesn’t have the breakaway leg speed.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Hmm not sold on Dusty getting back anywhere close to his best.
For me he needs to play primarily as a mid with stints forward not the other way round.Playing midfield frees him up and i think he needs that.
Is he worth a spot playing primarily as a fwd well im not sure about that. For that to work he will need to kick 40 plus this year imo.

Im a Bit worried if we play Dusty as a fwd then we wont admit to the need to play a third tall and boy if we have a need its finding and playing another tall forward.

Hoping like hell he can get back to his explosive best in the mid field but he is no spring chicken any more. A fit and firing Dusty would be a big big bonus.

I think if we are asking questions about his mate Cotchin being past it i dont think its too far removed to be asking similar questions about Dusty.
Yep there are damn good reasons why he dropped away the last couple of seasons but im wondering if age and hunger are problems.
He has a bit to prove after his last two seasons and im sure we all hope he proves me and any other doubters wrong.

Great post -  forget how important it is for him to play midfield for him - it’s important for us to have him in there - his explosive burst from contest and beautiful leg are critical for us. He’s Adam Gilchrist - can break open a game in the blink of an eye.
If Danger can do it at 33-34, Dusty can 100 come back - it’s one thing that gives me hope for this season.

[georgies31]

I see him similar to Cotch bursts in the midfield and maybe a mismatch upforward when need be.Let's hope we don't get to cute with the Dusty and Cotch situation.

[one-eyed]

On AFL360, Robbo and Whateley discussed "Can Dusty get his mojo back?"

Robbo has faith Dusty can and if Dusty does then we (Tiges) can win the flag.

Click on pic/link to watch:

https://twitter.com/FOXFOOTY/status/1635198151740252160

[one-eyed]

Fox Footy’s Nick Dal Santo believes Martin needs to kick at least 40 goals this season if Richmond are to be successful.

“I think their point of difference or what needs to happen for them to be competitive this year, it goes back to Dustin Martin,” he said on AFL Tonight.

“We know what he’s done in the past – there’ll be so much reliance on him.

“He has to kick 40-50 goals for them to be round the mark at the end of year I reckon.

“It’s a huge responsibility – nothing that he’s not capable of.

“Two goals a week is a huge impact and influence on that forward line that’s already stacked.”

AFL great Jonathan Brown wasn’t sure Richmond’s veterans, including Martin, could find their best form in 2023.

“I’m a bit worried about the Tiges,” he said On the Couch.

“They were heavy scorers last year along with Brisbane, probably should have beaten Brisbane in that first final, but there are quite a few veterans – stars of the team, those A-graders – that for Richmond still to be successful, they still need to be playing at A-grade level.

“And I’m not sure they’re capable of that anymore. We haven’t seen it from Dusty (Martin) the last 12 or 18 months.”

Robinson also questioned if Martin can “get his mojo back”.

“I mean we are talking about one of the great players of all time,” he said on AFL 360.

“If he can get his mojo back, Richmond can win the flag.

“He wins games of football.

“It’s so hard to find good players, it’s really hard to find players who say to everyone on the ground ‘I’m going to win the game’. And he does it. He’s done it in big games.

“Mentally, that’s the only issue.

“He looks really fit. People at the club say he’s really keen, his manager said to me (Martin’s) really keen to redeem himself (after) not a bad year last year but not the Dustin level.

“I’ve got faith in Dustin Martin.”

Former Tigers coach Terry Wallace said he believed Martin could return to his best after a big pre-season.

“I think when you have a major injury it takes you sort of 18 months to get over it,” he said on AFL 360.

“If I was looking at the moment, I’d probably have (Tom) Lynch and (Shai) Bolton in front of him at Richmond.

“But if he can get back to what we know Dusty can do, clearly he’s going to be a shining light for them.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/stop-going-in-the-past-robbo-grills-tigers-coach-about-dusty-amid-greats-big-call-on-superstar/news-story/98b2c26d49c9f3a5b4a219334c194f93

[Andyy]

The idea that Dusty would kick XX amount of goals as a more permanent forward has soured on me.

He needs to be involved up the ground. He runs forward and is an attacking player. Resting forward he will jag a goal here and there too but I've become less and less convinced he would ever be an overly damaging permanent forward.

He doesn't have enough defensive side either.

[Gracie]

The idea that Dusty would kick XX amount of goals as a more permanent forward has soured on me.

He needs to be involved up the ground. He runs forward and is an attacking player. Resting forward he will jag a goal here and there too but I've become less and less convinced he would ever be an overly damaging permanent forward.

He doesn't have enough defensive side either.

Defense matters less if Dusty is kicking multiple goals per game

[Tiger Tragic]

If Dusty kicks 40 to 50 goals, we will be premiers by the length of the Flemington straight.

They forget we made finals and should have won at least one final and Dusty barely sweated all year.

Any contribution from Dusty will make us better than that, even before you add in TT and Hopper.