A TAD DUSTY BUT TIGER STILL IN THE MEDAL MIX
DUSTIN Martin will have to learn to turn the other cheek to the next Nick Robertson who niggles him or risk his Brownlow Medal chances.
The brilliant Tigers midfielder collected a certain three Brownlow votes and $2500 in fines out of Sunday’s 31-point Lions win.
He was an unstoppable force on Etihad Stadium but was also sucked into a run- ning battle with Brisbane Lions tagger Robertson.
He is considered the main challenger to Patrick Dangerfield for this year’s medal but put that in doubt when he delivered a swinging arm to Robertson that left him with a lump above his eye.
It was considered low impact and high, though Martin remains eligible for the Brownlow – but is now walking a tightrope after he was slapped with two fines, which means he faces an automatic suspension if he commits a third low-level offence in the remaining six rounds.
Martin received a $1500 fine from the match review panel for making unnecessary contact to the face of Robertson and was also fined $1000 for rough conduct against Lewis Taylor in a separate incident.
Robertson came off second best on Sunday and again in the review session.
He was offered a onematch ban for headbutting Richmond captain Trent Cotchin and was also fined $1500 for kneeing Martin.
Meanwhile, Magpies skipper Scott Pendlebury has suffered a broken finger in his club’s win over Gold Coast on Saturday night.
“I’ve broken it up the top. I’ll have surgery tonight to put a pin in it,” said Pendlebury, who could not confirm the length of his absence.