It’s not often you find yourself in a changeroom full of beaming family and friends after an eight-goal loss in front of over 92,000 people.
In fact, Saturday evening could well be the first time in AFL history that has been the case.
But that’s the uniqueness that Dustin Martin has brought to the competition for every one of his 300 games at the top level.
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Richmond recorded its second-highest crowd to a home-and-away game in the club’s 116-year AFL/VFL history – and it was all for arguably the club’s greatest ever cult hero and player.
And by the same token, it felt like all 92,311 people were inside the players rooms post-match – all trying to catch the attention of the Tigers legend before he inevitably flies back under the radar.
Despite their eight-goal loss to Hawthorn on Saturday evening, the congested space was rife with only positive talk and appreciation for how lucky they were to either know him personally, or simply know of him and his footballing prowess.
Among the crowd of Martin’s mates glimpsed in the changerooms after the game were former teammates Trent Cotchin, Ben Cousins, Brett Deledio, Shane Edwards and Jake King – with their on-field crossovers ranging from one to 14 years together at Punt Road.
Cousins played the least amount of football with Martin of the aforementioned; 16 games together in Dusty’s debut year of 2010 saw a brief crossover, but still one significant enough to see that they certainly rubbed off well on each other during their period together as teammates.
Beyond the quintet, there were a lot of coats and jackets seen among the crowd given the freezing Melbourne weather, however the players – despite the loss – were far from cold when it came to reminiscing their favourite Martin memories.
Speaking exclusively to Foxfooty.com.au, teammate of Martin’s and young gun Hugo Ralphsmith spoke glowingly of the week that was leading into their clash with the Hawks.
“It was pretty amazing, you know he’s an unbelievable player – we were watching some highlights during the week and it’s just amazing what he’s done for the club and as a player,” Ralphsmith said.
During the week, Richmond unveiled a 25-and-a-half minute documentary on Martin – with Ralphsmith one of many players at the club who had to pinch themselves they play alongside him each week.
“At the start you watch it as a bit of a teammate when you’re seeing him grow up and obviously not remembering that happen – but even once you progressed on, you realise he’s a teammate and it’s still just as special,” the 22-year-old explained.
“He’s probably been the best trainer at the club in the four years I’ve been here; train the way you play (looks like) his motto.”
And funnily enough for Hugo, he himself will be incidentally etched in the highlights hall of fame as the teammate who handballed to Martin his for his epic game-opening goal to start the match on Saturday evening.
It just had to be… DUSTY LAUNCHES | 00:43
Asked if he was ecstatic to be involved in that chain of play, the 41-gamer grinned from ear to ear with his response.
“Absolutely!”
“I was speaking to Dowy (Thomson Dow) before the game, and we were saying ‘have you ever given Dusty the ball and he’s done something amazing?’ We thought, nah we haven’t.”
“But as soon as I took the mark, I turned around, saw him – I had no thoughts and just gave it to him – I think I celebrated harder than everyone else, so maybe that will get played somewhere!”
While Dusty may not have had as much of an impact on the big stage that we’ve seen him do time and time again, the occasion was special to all and everyone involved – including first-year coach Adam Yze.
“To have 92,000 people at the game to celebrate one of our greatest is something that we’re really proud of, and we’re just shattered that we couldn’t put on the performance that we really wanted to … we’ll look at the reasons why later (next) week),” Yze said in his post-match press conference.
Yze lauds Dusty, but ‘disappointed’ | 08:31
“It would be disrespectful if I didn’t (celebrate the milestone) … we’ve didn’t want to miss the opportunity to celebrate one of our best, one of our greatest players and one of our greatest teammates.
“Our players love playing with him, he’s never made it about himself so seeing him walking around the ground to acknowledge our fans was a really nice moment.
“It’s pretty hard to find someone that’s got the credentials of Dusty, so he’s in the upper echelon of our greatest players … to have as many kids at our training that have been named after Dusty just doesn’t happen; or it does if you’re a terrific player and a great role model,” Yze pointed out.
With four All-Australian blazers, three premierships, three Norm Smith medals, three Gary Ayres medals (best player in finals), two best-and-fairest awards and a Brownlow Medal – it’s hard to not smirk looking at Martin’s resume.
While Yze stated that his rightful focus mid-game was purely on beating Hawthorn, a team focus was also about putting on a performance that would “make him proud”, admitting that their efforts in the second half were what hurt that aspiration.
While doubts still hang over Martin’s future in the game, if tonight was in fact his last ever match at the top level – he got everything but the result that he deserved.
An almost-dramatic lap around the hallowed MCG turf was done solo by Martin post-game before an interview with former teammate Jack Riewoldt – an incredibly rare sight given his shy nature.
Everything from the crowd, his first goal, lap of honour and reception in the changerooms was the bare minimum that fans, family and friends could provide the superstar – and just like Dusty, we’ve never seen anything like it.