Richmond star Martin good to go: Hardwick
RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick is confident that superstar Dustin Martin won’t be distracted by the enforced absence of his father for tonight’s AFL qualifying final against Geelong.
Shane Martin, who has links to the Rebels motorcycle club, was deported to New Zealand last year.
He had hoped to be allowed to reenter Australia only for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to make a change to the Migration Act on Wednesday which prevented that from happening.
Despite the ongoing saga with his father and drawn-out contract negotiations, which were only resolved last week when he signed a huge sevenyear deal, 26-year-old Martin has played career-best football in 2017.
He is the odds-on favourite to win the Brownlow Medal and is expected to play a key role for the Tigers against the Cats at the MCG.
“He’s a resilient lad,” Hardwick said yesterday.
“He’s disappointed obviously from a human element, I think we all are, we’d all love our father to see us playing in a final.
“But Dusty has dealt with this for a long period of time, so he understands.
“He’ll put his best foot forward and play some good footy for us on Friday night.
“With the contract status he’s gone through all year – and we’ve seen how he’s handled that – once he crosses that white line he understands what’s there to be done.
“We’re looking forward to a big performance from him.”
Meanwhile, the Sydney Swans have dropped star utility Kurt Tippett. Geelong B: T Stewart, T Lonergan, J Bews HB: Z. Tuohy, L Henderson, J Kolodjashnij C: Andrew Mackie, Joel Selwood, Mark Blicavs HF: J Murdoch 7 H Taylor 32 S Motlop FF: B Parfitt, T Hawkins, J Parsons Interchange: M Duncan, Z Guthrie, S Menegola, S Selwood. Richmond FF: D Butler, J Riewoldt, D Rioli HF: K Lambert, D Martin, S Edwards C: K McIntosh T Cotchin 21 J Townsend HB: B Houli, D Astbury, N Vlastuin FB: B Ellis A Rance D Grimes Interchange: J Caddy J Graham Nathan Broad, J Castagna Sydney B: N Smith, H Grundy, D Rampe HB: C Mills, L Melican, J McVeigh C: J Lloyd, J Kennedy, I Heeney HF: G Hewett, L Franklin, G Rohan FF: K Jack C Sinclair, S Reid Interchange: Z Jones, N Newman, T Papley, D Towers Essendon FF: A McDonald-Tipungwuti, J Daniher J Begley HF: Z Merrett, J Stewart, M Gleeson C: J Watson D Parish B Goddard HB: A McGrath, P Ambrose C McKenna B: J Kelly, M Hartley, M Baguley Interchange: O Fantasia, M Hurley, D Myers T Colyer. Port Adelaide B: J Pittard, T Clurey, D Houston HB: D Byrne-Jones, D Howard, H Hartlett C: J Westhoff, O Wines, J Polec HF: S Gray, T Marshall, R Gray FF: J Impey, C Dixon, C Wingard West Coast FF: D Petrie, J Kennedy, M LeCras HF: J Redden, J Darling, L Jetta C: L Duggan, M Priddis, A Gaff HB: E Yeo, J McGovern, B Sheppard FB: S Hurn, E Mackenzie, T Barrass Interchange: D Sheed, J Cripps, L Partington, M Hutchings.