Dustin Martin’s longtime manager Ralph Carr has released a curious and short statement as speculation continues to swirl over the AFL champion’s future.
Martin is a certainty to be inducted as a Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame when he is eligible, such is his standing in the game, but has faced questions over his immediate future after a lean run of form in recent weeks.
The rumour mill was set alight last month when Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes began arguing that Martin should retire from the game at the end of 2024.
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“I just think it’s time in terms of there’s nothing left for him to achieve,” Cornes said on SEN Sportsday at the time.
“Does Dustin Martin want to go through that and then have questions over his form like he will get, just like Buddy Franklin had when he played probably one more year (than he arguably should have)?”
The three-time premiership player, three-time Norm Smith medallist and 2017 Brownlow medallist is just four games short of the magical 300-game milestone.
He is currently on track to reach that mark in Round 13 against Adelaide, but could be tactically rested to ensure he can celebrate it the next week against Hawthorn at the MCG, at which point some have suggested he will hang the boots up and walk away from the game.
Carr was quick to pour cold water over those claims.
“Dustin at this point has no intention of retiring, and he has never lost his love for AFL football,” Martin’s manager told News Corp in an interview last month.
But in a post on Wednesday morning, Carr was far more cryptic in a curious change of tune.
“Will always be the people’s champion,” he wrote alongside a photo of Martin.
“Three flags, three Norm Smiths, one Brownlow, All-Australian, MVP, cannot be wrong …”
It comes after Martin’s future was again called into question this week by Essendon great Matthew Lloyd.
“I’m not sure spending $750,000 on Dustin Martin is best for Richmond,” he said on Monday.
Richmond currently sit 17th with one win in rookie coach Adem Yze’s first year at the helm.
Martin has played in seven of the Tigers’ nine games, averaging 19.4 disposals and 0.6 goals per game.
Speaking on Talking Footy earlier this month, Yze addressed the elephant in the room.
“I had a really good chat to him again during the week. Those sorts of discussions and his decision-making (around his contract) will happen later in the year,” Yze told Channel 7’s Talking Footy.
“Our main thing is I want him to train well and feel like he can improve, and not only improve (himself) but improve our younger players.
“His lasting legacy at our footy club is obviously what he’s done as a player but for him to be able to help Shai (Bolton) develop and deal with expectation and high performance is going to be a part of our legacy.
“All of our younger players look up to him, they watch the way that he trains, he’s an amazing trainer.
“For him to be able to do that and hopefully do that for a lot longer is going to be really important for us as a coaching staff but as well as a footy club.”
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