Dusty finds his ‘hunger’ as Tigers blitz wounded HawksMay 19, 2019 6:02pm
Anna Harrington
FOX SPORTS1,241.That’s how many games of experience Richmond was missing against Hawthorn.
Indeed, the Tigers were missing the likes of Alex Rance, Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, Toby Nankervis and Daniel Rioli — who was making his return via the VFL.
But it still had Dustin Martin.
And when the Hawks looked like seizing control of Sunday’s clash at the MCG, the 2017 Brownlow Medallist stood up to be counted.
Martin has received his fair share of criticism this season, struggling to regain the dare and ruthless ball use that set him apart in that brilliant individual season.
But early on Sunday afternoon, it would be easy to forget the patchiness of the 27-year-old’s 2019 season.
From the opening bounce, Martin prowled the centre of the MCG like a caged tiger, keen to sink his teeth into the contest.
And in the first quarter, the star Tiger clawed at everything in his path — racking up the ball at will and returning to his classic high-risk, high-reward style of possession.
“This bloke has a hunger for the footy that I don’t think we’ve seen all year,” Essendon great Tim Watson said on Channel 7.
“He just wants to rip this game apart.”
As the seconds ticked down late in the first term, Jack Higgins spotted the commanding lead of Martin, and honoured it with a clever, rising kick.
Martin snatched it with aplomb, then coolly converted after the siren to give his side the lead for the first time.
At the first break, the star Tiger had 13 disposals, four clearances, 176 metres gained and a goal to his name.
The Dusty of old was back — and he forced a change of tack from the Hawks, with Liam Shiels moved onto the Tiger at the start of the second term.
It worked for a time, too, with Martin struggling to get his hands on the ball early, as the Hawks piled pressure on the Tigers around the field — but not on the scoreboard.
The Tigers were looking manic, but fumbly, with Hawthorn picking them off around the field, but failing to make it count.
Meanwhile, Martin couldn’t quite recapture that magic, with one snap rushed through for a point and another round-the-corner kick fading wide.
Then, late in the term, with the Tigers struggling to hold ground, their star man stood tall.
Liam Baker drove the ball long inside 50 and Martin dug his heels in and outmarked Shiels, who’d done so well to quell his midfield influence early in the term — but couldn’t go with him for height and power at deep forward.
Martin went back — and cool as you like — slotted the goal, ensuring the Tigers snatched a 16-point lead at the main break.
And while his second-quarter stats line didn’t have the wow factor of his first term, his 19 disposals, six clearances and two goals were still clearly the difference.
In the third term, the Hawks made their charge, booting the opening two goals of the term.
But the Tigers absorbed the damage, then hit back in kind.
Martin cut his way through traffic, slicing open the Hawks’ half-back line with a handpass to Kane Lambert. From the resulting contest, Josh Caddy snapped his second, to increase his side’s lead once more.
They would then kick four of the next five goals to sneak out to a handy 28-point lead at the final change, with Martin collecting nine disposals, including five kicks, two clearances and two more inside 50s for the term.
He had plenty of company among his accomplished and less experienced teammates, too, with Brandon Ellis and Dion Prestia racking up plenty of the ball — thriving off some strong tapwork by replacement ruckman Ivan Soldo — and Caddy and Noah Balta providing a genuine spark.
From there, the wounded Hawks — with Ben McEvoy (ankle) and Mitch Lewis (concussion) sidelined — rarely looked in the contest as the Tigers cruised to a 36-point win.
For all the experience that was missing from the Richmond line-up, they had Martin — and he brought plenty of teammates along for the ride.
And that was all they needed.
ROYAL RUMBLE AT THE ‘GWhen James Frawley was ruled out pre-game, it was clear another defender would have to step up and take on Tom Lynch.
The task fell to James Sicily, with the in-form defender lining up on the Tigers’ star recruit.
And the antagonistic Hawk went out of his way to wind up his bigger opponent from the opening bounce, with AFL Nation commentator Sandy Roberts describing the match-up as ‘Dancing With the Stars with violence.’
Sicily was badgering Lynch behind the play, with the pair pushing and shoving as the key Tiger grew increasingly frustrated — with an umpire watching on the whole time.
Then, Lynch snapped — lashing out at Sicily and earning the Hawks a downfield free kick on the point of their forward 50. From the resulting kick, Luke Breust was able to crumb his second goal in a matter of minutes, closing the gap to four points.
Lynch should have had a third goal when he took a hanger in the third term, but had the shot on goal pinched by a free kick to Kamdyn McIntosh.
While Sicily arguably took the points, the Hawks were also largely deprived of the classy defender’s kicking and composure off half back.
Then, when the defender dropped a mark early in the final term, leading to a Tigers set shot, Lynch couldn’t resist running from full forward to just inside 50 to let his opponent know all about it.
Sicily had arguably won the match-up — but Lynch, and his Tigers, would have the last laugh.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/live-afl-round-9-richmond-v-hawthorn/news-story/fb916f44e6b9f318f405c07a1f5a0775
