You could forgive Dustin Martin for tapering off as he enters his 15th season at Richmond.
The Tigers superstar has achieved it all in the game (well, almost).
He’s closing in on 300 games, has won three premierships, three Norm Smith Medals, a Brownlow Medal, three Gary Ayres Medals, two Jack Dyer Medals and is a four-time All-Australian, among many other accolades.
But that has not taken away from his love for the game or his desire to continue setting the standards at training.
New Tigers assistant Chris Newman, who captained Martin in his early days, insists the 32-year-old doesn’t have a ‘head wobble’ these days and is in fact more dedicated now than he once was.
Newman explained how he has been taken by Martin’s attitude, his want share his knowledge and his overall presence amongst the group.
“You’d think he’d have every right to be some sort of big head after winning all those things, but it’s just not in his nature,” Newman said of ‘Dusty’ on SEN Mornings.
“Dustin really is a humble person deep down and quite a private person. I think the biggest thing that struck me in terms of his change is his buy-in to helping others around him and (having) quite a vocal presence around the group.
“When I was there, he was in the first part of his football journey, but I’m really proud to see him grow the way he has into the person he is today.
“I’ve loved his training standards, he hasn’t missed a beat. He looks quite fit at the moment and he buys into everything – every session he’s trying his best.
“So I’m loving his training standards and hopefully that continues on until he starts to play some games.”
As is always the case with Martin, the chatter generally seems to revolve around what position he will play.
He has made his name as a midfielder but is also effective as a roaming forward, either kicking goals or setting them up.
With that being the case, Newman as midfield coach is eager to have Martin with him in that line, but expects the star to spend just as much time as a forward.
“There’s always a bit of a fight to see which line he’ll be in,” Newman added.
“I’d say in terms of his role, it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to what he’s done in the past.
“He’s obviously got a really strong presence in the midfield, he’s a strong stoppage player, hard to tackle, those types of things and provides some really quality use going forward.
“But also, he’s quite a good acquisition to have forward – a hard matchup one vs one.
“So I think we’ll look to spread his load across both lines.”
Martin has been setting personal bests in the gym this pre-season in perhaps a sign of things to come under new coach Adem Yze in 2024.
He’ll become just the seventh Tiger to reach 300 games at the club at the midway point of next season provided he remains injury free.
