Revealed: Dustin Martin’s mystery overseas trip that meant he had no chance of proving his fitness for Richmond as doubts grow over footy legend’s future

Richmond legend Dustin Martin was unable to prove his fitness for this weekend’s game against Port Adelaide as he had been away in New Zealand.

According to 7News reporter Mitch Cleary, Martin spent the start of the week overseas and only returned to Melbourne on Tuesday night.

‘He travelled there last week to visit family, missing the Tigers’ loss to the Giants,’ Cleary said.

‘He returned late on Tuesday night, meaning he was never any chance to prove his fitness from his ongoing back concern.’

The 33-year-old was ruled out of this weekend’s clash with the Power due to an ongoing back injury that has seen him miss the Tigers’ past two games.

He was not at Punt Rd on Thursday and there are growing doubts that he will even return to the field in yellow and black.

The triple Norm Smith medallist has been heavily linked with a reunion with Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast next year. Other reports have suggested he could walk away from footy altogether.

The 33-year-old has been ruled out of this weekend’s game against Port Adelaide

‘It’s a bit of a frustration for us,’ Richmond coach Adam Yze said of Martin’s back injury.

‘We were hoping he was going to get up for training today. His back’s still a little bit grumbly. So if we get him out there today, he’s probably going to aggravate it again.

‘So it’s just easier for us to just rule him out this week and try and get some training load into him the following week.

‘He’s got a crook back at the moment – it spasms. So right now, if we go and try and push him through that, it could aggravate it.

‘We’ll give him that extra time to hopefully get up next week.’