Dustin Martin could make decision on his future this week after flying to New ZealandSTEPHEN DRILL,
Herald Sun
27 August 2017RICHMOND is under pressure to increase its offer to Dustin Martin, with the gun midfielder to decide his football future as early as Monday.
The Sunday Herald Sun has confirmed that Martin will arrive in New Zealand on Monday.
He will meet his father Shane in Auckland where they will discuss his contract deal along with manager Ralph Carr.
Martin has been made aware he only has one chance to sign a deal that could set him up for a lifetime and must maximise his payday.
“The ball is in Richmond’s court,” a source said.
It’s understood no decision has been made yet and Martin will be choosing between a $1.5m deal at North Melbourne or $1.1 million a year at Richmond, which it has refused to increase.
Both deals are over seven years so Martin would have to give up $2.8 million to stay with the Tigers.
It’s possible a decision could be announced this week, which would likely keep him at Richmond.
A delay until after the finals likely means Martin will be wearing blue and white stripes next year.
But despite the threat of Martin leaving, a club insider who asked not to be named said he was confident Martin would stay.
“The bigger picture will come into play and the dollars and cents of the two contracts won’t matter,” the insider said.
“If he’s a Brownlow Medallist at Richmond he’ll make a quarter of that up this year — 20 years into the future that’s going to be worth so much more.”
Dustin’s father Shane has been forced to watch all his son’s games on TV after he was deported because of his alleged links to the Rebels motorcycle club.
Richmond legend Francis Bourke said that Martin had every right to make the best choice possible for himself.
He said that Richmond’s best chance of keeping Martin was to play good football.
“As far as I’m concerned, I hope he stays. You would argue that your instincts would be sated by being in a successful organisation,” he said.
Bourke who was in Richmond’s 1967 premiership, which was the first flag since World War Two, said this crop of Tigers were on the verge of something special.
“They’ve got a chance to put themselves in a unique position. That’s what football is all about,” he said.
Martin will line up in a must win match for the Tigers against St Kilda on Sunday at the MCG.
If Richmond wins it would seal a top-four berth and a double chance in the finals.
Richmond cheersquad chairman Gerard Egan said that while he desperately wanted Martin to stay on, he hoped the gun would do “whatever made him happy.”
“It’s a lot of money North are offering. But Richmond has more to offer,” he said.
“We play at the MCG in front of 60,000 people on a regular basis, we’re not selling games to Tasmania and playing in front of 15,000 regularly,” he said.
“If North pay Dusty $1.5m a year what’s that do to the rest of the playing list. Dusty can do so much, but if there’s nothing around him. You can’t do it all by yourself.”
Richmond declined to comment.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/dustin-martin-could-make-decision-on-his-future-this-week-after-flying-to-new-zealand/news-story/4b35b081e52a82114bde38329236bb21
