Will Dustin Martin retire a one-club player?
While he’s contracted at the Tigers until the end of the 2024 season, SEN’s Tom Morris believes there is a world where he could leave the club at the end of the 2023 campaign.
Speaking to sources close to the superstar, Morris says there’s an attraction for Martin to one day live in Sydney or the Gold Coast.
After Gold Coast were said to have asked the question of Martin last season, Morris pondered whether they’d again go after the Tiger this trade period with one list manager suggesting the Suns could part with a top 10 pick for Martin with Richmond paying a chunk of his large salary.
“I think it’s time we had the Dustin Martin conversation, he’s out of contract at the end of 2024, he’ll be a free agent then,” Morris said on SEN Breakfast.
“There was enough chatter last week around clubland for me to put this on the agenda this morning.
“This is what we know, this is what we know for sure, Gold Coast asked the question last year, it didn’t go anywhere but Gold Coast asked the question.
“His salary next year as I understand it is about $1.2 million for 2024.
“His success is indelibly linked to Damian Hardwick, he won’t be there, and Trent Cotchin probably won’t be there either at Punt Road.
“Stuart Dew is not safe for the Suns, that’s true, he might keep his job but he’s not 100 per cent safe.
“Gold Coast’s salary cap is not as precariously placed as it was 12 months ago, partly because Jack Bowes was traded out to Geelong.
“I’m not saying they’ve got a lot of space but they’re not in as bad a position as they were 12 months ago.
“This is what we know about Dusty based on the people I speak to that know him far better than I do. The attraction of living in Sydney or the Gold Coast is real at some stage down the track, whether it’s soon or after he retires.
“The Tigers will look somehow to get back into the first round of the draft, at the moment their first pick is pick 23.
“Gold Coast, which has built a pretty good list, are likely to ask the question again.
“The view from one list manager I spoke to a couple of days ago is that the Suns could look to give up a top 10 pick for Dusty, which he’s probably not quite worth anymore, but Richmond would pay a large chunk of his salary next year.
“My question to you both is, can you see a world in which Dustin Martin is not at Richmond football club in 2024?”
In response to Morris, Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley discussed a world where Martin moves this off-season, with both agreeing that any move would have to happen on the superstar’s terms.
Cornes: Yes (I can see him leaving) , but it, it's his call. I don't think it's Richmond's call.
“If he goes to the club and says this is what I want to do (they would let him) like Damien Harwick and their ability to let him stand down with what he has contributed to the club.
“He's going to be a legend and in the hall of fame, he goes with their blessing.
“Then you work out for Richmond, ‘Okay, how do we make the best of this situation?’, because they have traded all their picks.
“It would free up a big portion of their salary cap even if they paid some of Dustin Martin's wage.
“He's not at his absolute best, he’s been really good and really solid and for the first three quarters yesterday I thought, ‘Wow, he's the one that he's going to win them the game’, but then you don't see him in the last quarter.”
Buckley: “One thing I would suggest with that is once a stalwart like Damien Hardwick decides to step out, then everything's up for grabs.
“What it was, it's not what it's going to be because there's going to be a shift in perspective and a change in philosophy or direction.
“So, Dustin Martin could well end up wherever he wants to end up.”
Cornes: “It does amuse me though, that they're trying to get back into the first round of the draft.”
Morris: “Well, that's what other clubs expect them to do, I assume they’re having conversations with the Tigers.”
Cornes: “You've just traded all your picks away and they’ve traded pick four currently to GWS … how quickly your strategy changes.”
Morris: “I do agree with you that Dustin Martin has to start the conversation himself or a club has to come to Dustin Martin.
“The Tigers aren't going to start that conversation.”
Through 10 appearances in 2023 Martin is averaging 20.4 disposals, 1.3 goals and 4.5 inside 50s a game.