‘Suck it up’: Champion’s message for Tigers starApril 8, 2019
FOX SPORTSRichmond star Dustin Martin needs to “suck it up” and learn to cope with being tagged, says St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt.
GWS tagger Matt de Boer kept Martin goalless and to just 15 disposals in the Giants’ win over Richmond, with the Tigers midfielder involved in a number of incidents during the contest as his frustrations became evident.
Coach Damien Hardwick spoke out in defence of Martin after the match, suggesting the umpires need to better protect players being tagged.
But Riewoldt believed de Boer played within the rules and Martin needed to deal with the added attention.
“No, I don’t think so,” Riewoldt said when asked if de Boer overstepped the mark.
“We’ve all been there as players who would’ve been tagged every week as key forwards, so the mids can probably suck it up a little bit and understand what it’s like to get tagged every week.
“De Boer didn’t, I think, overstep the mark in terms of unnecessary niggle, punches behind play, hits in the back — I didn’t think there was anything over the top.”
The Tigers star is having his worst season since signing a mega-contract at the end of 2017, with Martin averaging just 21.3 disposals in three games.
In 2017, Martin averaged 29.8 disposals, 3.5 tackles and 1.5 goals per game. But the midfielder was unable to produce those numbers last season as Richmond made it all the way to the Preliminary Final.
His numbers dropped to 25.4 disposals, 2.2 tackles and 1.4 goals per game in 2018.
“The off-the-ball spray — he’s unlucky in that situation that the camera was just on him because that sort of stuff happens,” he told SEN.
“People might say ‘we don’t want to see that in our game’, well you might be right but it happens a lot out on the field.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-dustin-martin-needs-to-suck-it-up-when-taggers-come-to-him-says-nick-riewoldt/news-story/17f1d58d0d9d4cad9415f2c1e0a0e87b