Tigers are forced to deny speculation Dustin Martin could leave footy PERMANENTLY as ‘last three weeks see him struggle to deal with his dad’s sudden death’
- Martin has been ruled out of Sunday’s match against the GWS Giants
- He is on indefinite personal leave and missed all training sessions this week
- The three-time Norm Smith medal winner is ‘struggling with his father’s death’
- The Tigers have denied that Martin could walk away from the AFL forever
Richmond have been left to deny speculation Dustin Martin could walk away from the AFL forever as the superstar remains on indefinite leave and will miss Sunday’s clash with the GWS Giants.
Martin requested personal leave this week and is reportedly struggling following the death of his father Shane in the off-season.
He was officially ruled out of their round two match against the Giants on Friday and there is no timeline for his return.
Martin is reportedly struggling to come to terms with the death of his father Shane (pictured together) and has taken personal leave from Richmond for an indefinite period
Martin was not present at training on Tuesday or Thursday and he was not at his elite best in the Tiger’s round one loss to Carlton.
His absence has sparked rumours that Martin might not return this season or could even walk away from AFL permanently.
However, club officials hosed down that speculation on Friday and do not expect Martin to be out for an extended period.
Coach Damien Hardwick said on Thursday that Martin was dealing with ‘a few personal issues’ and that the team did not know if he would be able to play this weekend.
‘We won’t close the door, but we just want to make sure that Dustin’s OK … we are a football club and it’s important to win games but the health and wellbeing of our players is our No.1 priority,’ he said.
‘He is so important to the fabric of our footy club.’
Martin had 21 disposals for the Tigers in round one against Carlton and looked to have completely recovered from major surgery to repair a lacerated kidney.
Physically, Martin is fine. He had off-season surgery for a lacerated kidney that ruled him out of the final five rounds in 2021. He has fully recovered from that surgery.
The triple Norm Smith medalist has been besieged by grief since his father and best Shane Martin died in December of a suspected heart attack in his native New Zealand.
Shaun Martin was deported from Australia in 2016 on the grounds of bad character and was a member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Martin was extremely close to his father and struggled with not being able to see him during Covid restrictions after Shane was deported from Australia for bad character.
The grieving process for his father has severely affected Martin over the past three weeks, according to sources close to the 2017 Brownlow medalist.
They have also stated that Martin has struggled for motivation to train or play and has isolated himself during that difficult time.
Richmond will be significantly weaker without Martin on Sunday. The team will already be missing key midfielder Dion Prestia with a hamstring injury as well as key forward Jack Riewoldt with a thumb injury.
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