Robbo has got stuck into Dusty today in his 'The Tackle' article on the Herald-Sun website:
DUSTED MARTINBest and fairest awards are the best judges of performance.
Richmond, then, didn't rate Dustin Martin's season.
He finished a lowly 10th in the Jack Dyer Medal held last Wednesday night, which means the rest of us overate
him, and that Martin is more hype and hope than consistent performer.
The final placings were:
1st Trent Cotchin 296 votes;
2nd Brett Deledio 263;
3rd Ivan Maric 248:
4th Shane Tuck 207;
5th Shaun Grigg 198
6th Alex Rance 192
7th Steven Morris 191
8th Shane Edwards 188
9th Jack Riewoldt 173
=10th Dustin Martin 170
=10th Bachar Houli 170
First-year player Morris had a promising season, with his competiveness a standout, and Edwards played better football than I could've imagined, but the fact Martin finished below both of them should rankle Martin and the Tigers.
It shows that Martin, despite his obvious talent, he has serious consistency issues.
Comparing him to Trent Cotchin is probably unfair, but Cotchin, who was drafted a year ahead of Martin, already has two best and fairest awards to his name.
Martin finished third last year behind Cotchin, and dropped seven places this year.
When the graph on most young players is expected to head north, Martin's dipped.
He played one less game but had fewer possessions (447-486), 10 fewer goals (23-33), 13 fewer tackles (73-60) and 15 fewer marks (63-78).
Much was made of Martin's social life when he was suspended, and Daniel Connors was sacked, after a night on sleeping tablets meant they missed training the next day.
Nothing was official correspondence, of course, but concerns were there for Tigers officials.
No-one wants a team of choir boys, but there's an expectation that if you are cowboy, don't let your footy slip.
Less cowboy and more choir might be needed in 2013.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/expert-opinion/fremantle-spearhead-matthew-pavlich-deserves-honour-of-being-named-all-australian-captain/story-fn5937w8-1226468491638
