1 week ago
33
Richmond fable Dustin Martin has breached his soundlessness connected coming retired of status for a imaginable determination to the Gold Coast Suns.
Speculation has been rife that Martin would reunite with erstwhile premiership winning manager Damien Hardwick astatine the Suns but arsenic yet, the 33-year-old AFL fable had kept quiescent connected the situation.
Watch each crippled of the NAB AFL Women’s Premiership Season LIVE with nary ad-breaks during play connected Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your escaped proceedings contiguous >
However, the softly spoken Martin said a batch with conscionable 2 words astatine the Tigers’ champion and fairest awards.
Arriving astatine the Jack Dyer Medal connected Tuesday night, Martin told 9News Melbourne that helium was “happily retired”.
The 2017 Brownlow Medallist and three-time Norm Smith Medal victor pulled the plug connected his AFL vocation aft the Tigers’ past crippled of the season, announcing his retirement with contiguous effect.
All play Martin had been linked with a determination northbound to the Gold Coast and the speculation didn’t extremity aft his status aft the Suns confirmed talks.
“Dustin has reached retired to the nine but that’s arsenic acold arsenic it goes astatine this constituent successful time,” Suns CEO Mark Evans revealed via the Herald Sun past month.
Hardwick himself spoke connected the concern the pursuing week.
“We’ve had conversations,” helium began connected Fox Footy.
“What we’ve conscionable got to beryllium determination and fig retired is: ‘Can it enactment for some of us? Is it a viable enactment for some parties? Are we motivated to spell into this?’
“And look, there’s nary unreserved from our constituent of presumption — those sorts of decisions aren’t made until astir a month’s time.”
But portion determination appeared to beryllium immoderate momentum down a imaginable determination during the season, the volition appears to person cooled somewhat.
The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph said that if the Suns signed Martin, they’d person to “move connected a required player”, and suggested: “If the Suns were to marque a determination connected Martin present it would beryllium improbable they would invitation him to proceed his vocation astatine the club.”
Speaking connected AFL 360 connected Monday night, erstwhile Tigers teammate and person Jack Riewoldt said: “I don’t deliberation so. It’s starting to get little likely. I can’t spot it happening.”
Departing Tigers head Neil Balme besides told reporters Martin “would beryllium huffy to spell and play again”.
“I deliberation he’s done his enactment and I deliberation the Gold Coast is astir apt not doing the close happening is that’s the benignant of subordinate they privation to enlistee due to the fact that I reckon they request to physique with youth.
“But if helium does, past we would wholly enactment it. He’s been a large idiosyncratic for footy and for Richmond truthful we wouldn’t beryllium crook connected anything.”
While Martin would person been escaped to motion with the Suns arsenic an unrestricted escaped agent, meaning the Gold Coast and Tigers wouldn’t person to orchestrate a trade, it was believed that Martin would person been looking astatine a salary betwixt $350,000 and $500,000 — a agelong mode from his reported seven-year $9m deal, worthy astir $1.3m a season.
Martin played 302 matches for the Tigers, winning 3 premierships and claiming the champion connected crushed honours successful each three.
English (US) ·