Martin at ease facing staredown
DUSTIN Martin has declared that Richmond will not be daunted if the Adelaide Crows attempt another national anthem staredown in Saturday’s grand final.
The Crows have stood to attention during the anthem in every final so far, evenly spaced apart and staring directly at their opponents until they break away.
The move has drawn comparisons with the haka engaged by New Zealand’s champion national rugby union team the All Blacks.
Martin, fresh from his Brownlow Medal triumph on Monday night, said yesterday the Tigers will not be put off by any pre-game strategy.
“No, I don’t think it’ll be intimidating,” Martin said.
“Once the ball is bounced, we’ll worry about winning the footy. That’s the plan, so it won’t bother us.”
Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs said yesterday that the line formation was “based around focus”.
“If people want to look into it and the other teams want to be worrying about that at that stage of the game, it is just about us respecting the national anthem and getting a good focus on what we’re about to do,” he said on Melbourne radio station SEN.
Jacobs also dismissed the “blink first” theory that the team would not move until the other team did, while teammate Rory Laird recently revealed that it was the brainchild of skipper Taylor Walker and the Crows leadership group.
Martin left his Brownlow Medal at home yesterday as he took part in a training session with his teammates.
He said the medal’s home might lie with his mum, Kathy.
“I left it at home (yesterday) – it’s just on my bedside table. I’ll probably give it to Mum and she can have it at her place, I reckon.”
The 26-year-old said he was yet to really think about Saturday’s clash but as the game grew closer he would “start to get nervous, but really excited as well”.
He said that he had never held any doubt as to Richmond’s chances this season, saying off-season changes and a “refreshing” feeling meant that “on day one (of preseason) as soon as I got here, I knew we were in for a good year”.