Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin back in shape * Al Paton
* From: Herald Sun
* January 20, 2011 11:56AMRICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says young midfielder Dustin Martin has learnt his lesson after returning from a post-season break out of shape.
Hardwick ackowledged reports that Martin had come back out of condition from the November break were correct, but he said the 19-year-old was back on track.
Martin finished fourth in Richmond's best-and-fairest in his first season last year.
"At some stage in a player's career they're probably going to let themselves down a little bit over the course of a summer and Dustin's had his early, I think he's learnt his lesson and we look forward to a big season from him this year," Hardwick told SEN radio this morning.
"He's been in terrific form thus far, we had a scratch match last Friday and he probably had about 30 touches in 20 minutes of play so we're really pleased with the way he's going."
Hardwick said he hadn't set a pass mark in terms of wins for 2011 but the size of losing margins would be a sign of how much the Tigers had improved.
"We had a number of blowouts last year, (losing by) 10 goals or more, I think we had six or seven of those, so losing margins, if we do lose, we're looking to curtail them to 4-5 goals ... that's a sign that at least we're reamining competitive for the remainder of games," he said.
"There's a number of areas we need to improve and we know that, we take stock of that, and we look to develop that this year."
Hardwick said midfielder Nathan Foley was on track to return in Round 1 and would be "virtually a first-round draft pick for us" after missing almost two years with ankle problems.
He said the Tigers were looking to play Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt as more of a mobile forward in the mould of his cousin Nick, and the club was committed to troubled teenager Troy Taylor.
Taylor took some time off before Christmas to ponder his future at home in the Northern Territory but has returned and impressed at pre-season training.
"He had a few issues over summer, some cultural issues that he had to deal with, but since he came back he's been terrific," Hardwick said.
"We expect big things of Troy, he's going to take some time there's no doubt about that, but he's a player we think we've got an enormous future with and we've just got to perservere and help him fit in as best he can."
The Tigers will make a major sponsorship announcement at 2.30pm today.
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