Dustin Martin to continue training with Richmond while Police investigate Chapel St incidentMichael Warner
Herald Sun
December 10, 2015 8:00pmDUSTIN Martin will continue to train with Richmond until Victoria Police completes its investigation into last Saturday night’s Chapel St restaurant incident.
Martin will travel to Queensland with his Tigers teammates for next week’s pre-season camp in Palm Cove.
All parties believe it would be unfair to impose a penalty on the star midfielder until the police investigation has concluded.
AFL integrity unit investigators took a formal statement from the woman at the centre of the allegations on Thursday before deciding to refer the matter to police.
The Channel 7 staffer alleges Martin, 24, threatened to stab her with a chopstick at the Mr Miyagi eatery in St Kilda at about 9.42pm on Saturday.
She will give her version of events to police on Friday.
The AFL Players’ Association said on Thursday it would “help and support” Martin through the investigation.
Asked on Thursday whether Martin should be slapped with a heavy penalty to send a strong message to the community, AFLPA chief Paul Marsh said: “That issue is still under investigation. There is no excuse for violence.
“In saying that, if we have a player in a situation like Dustin has been alleged of, we will still help and support him. It is about changing behaviours long term.”
Marsh and star Geelong recruit Patrick Dangerfield on Thursday took part in an anti-violence rally on the steps of State Parliament.
“What’s been reported is really disappointing — Dustin’s actions are really disappointing,” Dangerfield said.
“Richmond have put that across in a media release, obviously. But at the moment, it’s still very much being investigated. So until we know all the facts, we can’t really hang someone out to dry.”
Fallen footy star Brendan Fevola warned Martin was at a major crossroad in his life.
“It’s not about footy now, it’s about the club finding something with counselling especially on violence against women, but not just that,” Fevola told SEN.
“There’s got to be something else going on — I know Dusty so it’s hard for me to talk about it a little bit, but there’s an underlining problem with him and he needs to address that.
“I didn’t realise what was happening with me until I opened up about things and then you’ve got to source help.
“The only one that can help Dusty is him and he needs to help himself.
“My footy career ended because of misdemeanours off the field and it doesn’t matter how good of a player you are, and he’s a good player.
“If I had my head on my shoulders when I was playing footy I’d probably still be playing.”
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