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au Saturday September 23, 2017 BENDIGO ADVERTISER 71

FOOTBALL SPORT

Dustys D-day...again
H
ES become the
biggest name
in the AFL who
tonight is ex-
pected to become a Brown-
low medallist.
Hes Dustin Martin, who
before becoming a superstar
with Richmond had already
forged a big reputation with
both Castlemaine and the
Bendigo Pioneers.
Ahead of tonights
Brownlow, heres what a
young Martin had to say to
the Bendigo Advertiser on the
eve of the 2009 AFL Draft.

ITS D-DAY FOR

DUSTIN
By Luke West
November 25, 2009
FOR as long as he can
remember, all Dustin Martin
has wanted to do is play
AFL football.
From the time he first
pulled on the guernsey
for the Campbells Creek
Junior Football Club in the
under-10s, to this year with
the Bendigo Pioneers in the
TAC Cup, that dream has
never wavered.
Tonight, Martins dream
of making an AFL list is set
to become a reality at the
national draft.
And according to all the
pre-draft speculation of the
past month, it seems a given
the club Martin will join is
Richmond with pick No.3.
For Martin, tonight cant
come around quick enough.
He has garnered enor-
mous media attention in
the metropolitan papers in
recent weeks with interviews
and photo shoots, but all the
quietly-spoken 18-year-old
wants to do now is just get
out on the training track at
wherever it is he is selected
and let his football do
the talking.
Footy is my life; I just love
it and its all Ive ever wanted
to do, Martin said.
And when you get to
the AFL, thats what footy
is - it becomes your life by
training every day, and thats
the way I want to live. I cant
wait and hopefully, Ill get an
opportunity.
Barring any major
surprise, Richmond will
tonight be Martins AFL club,
with the Tigers poised to
pick him after Melbourne
uses its No.1 and 2 selections
on Tom Scully and Jack
Trengrove, who, like Martin,
have become the faces in the
draft lead-up.
It hasnt been too bad;
it doesnt bother me too
much, Martin answered
when asked how he has
handled all the media hype
that has surrounded him.
You just do what youve
got to do. I dont get a big
TEENAGE TALENT: Dustin Martin was a nervous AFL Draft hopeful in November, 2009. Tonight he could be a Brownlow medallist.
head or anything like that,
I just keep going about
my business.
Hopefully, I can get
picked up and then the hard
work will all really begin.
Ive got a long way to go
and just cant wait to, hope-
fully, get an opportunity and
work as hard as I can.
The Martin story has been
well documented by several
pre-draft profile stories in
the past month.
As a teenager growing up
in Castlemaine, school and
he never agreed, so in 2007
Martin moved to Sydney and
worked for his dad, Shane,
while also playing with
the Campbelltown Blues
under-18 side.
After a year in Sydney,
Martin returned to Castle-
maine, where in 2008 he
lined up for the Magpies
senior team in the Bendigo
Football League and took
the competition by storm
with his speed, penetrating
kicking and ability to bust
packs open with his fierce
attack on the contest.
Playing that year with
Castlemaine against a lot
of bigger bodies was really
good for me in getting used
to the tougher contested
ball, Martin said.
I had a lot of good
teammates that year, a good
coach (Jamie Elliott), and
playing that year of senior
footy was a really good
grounding.
It was an ordinary season
for Castlemaine, with the
Magpies winning just five
of 16 games, but Martin was
the clear shining light.
Despite missing the last
two games when finally
called up to the Pioneers,
Martin won the Magpies
goalkicking with 22 and was
a hands-down winner of the
leagues Rising Star award.
One of the obvious
attributes from his first
senior game for the Magpies
in 2008 against Gisborne at
Camp Reserve was Martins
confidence to take the game
on and play with flair.
Such was the impact
Martin was having at
Castlemaine early in his
debut senior season, coach
Jamie Elliott knew he had
something special on his
hands to the point where he
contacted one of his former
clubs, St Kilda, but received
no response.
As a club we felt we need-
ed to be pushing the kid to
where he should be, because
you knew at that early stage
he was pretty special, but he
was too young to be drafted
in 2008, Elliott said.
Hes just a powerful,
powerful kid; I used to do
one-on-ones with him as a
16-year-old and he would
just push me off the ball.
I thought he could have
played senior AFL football
this year as a 17-year-old,
no doubt.
Ive never seen a kid
run into a pack of six or
seven men and come out
backwards with the ball
its not as though he was
running through the pack,
he would run in like a bull,
grab the footy and run
out backwards.
Theres no doubt hes of the attributes of a guy who
the best kid Ive seen play at
that age.
After playing the last four
games for the Pioneers in
2008, Martin a St Kilda
supporter who works as a
labourer for Luke Arnott
Electrical was one of the
sides stars this year playing
as a midfielder/forward.
I was just happy to come
into the Pioneers team late
in 2008, and to have those
four games was a really good
experience to get a bit of an
insight into what it was all
about, Martin said.
But it was at this years
under-18 national cham-
pionships in June and July
where Martins talents were
truly on display representing
Victoria Country.
Martins fine carnival
was capped by being
named in the centre in
the All-Australian team as
he further enhanced his
growing reputation as one
of the countrys hottest
young prospects.
Among those who
selected Martin in the
All-Australian team was AFL
national talent identification
manager Kevin Sheehan.
Dustin has this enor-
mous potential because he
arrived on the scene really would use its No.3 pick to
late last year, and even then
looked to be a young star
in his four games for the
Pioneers, Sheehan said.
But this year, right from
the start people were talking
a first-round draft choice
when he was showing some
used to play in the midfield
for Bendigo a few years
earlier in Joel Selwood.
His attack on the footy
is just outstanding and he
has elite speed for a guy who
stands at 186cm.
He was the sec-
ond-quickest over 20m at
the draft camp with 2.89
seconds, and you can see
that in the way he plays
with the way he just bursts
through the midfield.
Its hard to lay a hand on
him and tackle him; hes just
a powerful inside midfielder
and thumping kick on his
right and left foot.
Really, all the boxes have
been ticked with his elite
speed, he is prepared to
work, has a real motor for
endurance, and he played
well in the big games for
Victoria Country.
He seems destined to
make a real success of it.
... hard work ahead, which Im
looking forward to.
NEVEROUS WAIT
FOR DUSTIN
Post-draft story
November 27, 2009
A WEEK before Thursday
nights AFL national draft,
Dustin Martin had been
told by Richmond that it
player you just hope theyre
select him.
But that didnt help ease
Martins nerves.
With the first 10 picks to be a fantastic player,
unveiled in reverse order,
Martins nerves were
heightened when it came to
selection four Fremantle.
While simply wanting to
realise his dream of being
selected on an AFL list, ide-
ally, Martin didnt want to
have to pack up and move to
the other side of the country
to do so.
So when the Dockers
called out Anthony Morabi-
tos name, Martin breathed a
sigh of relief, before becom-
ing a Tiger.
It was really nerve-rack-
ing for the whole time
waiting to see what would
happen, Martin said.
Especially when it got
to pick four and they were
reading out Fremantle, be-
cause I was still a bit worried
that I might get picked there.
But when I got through
that and then my name got
called out at Richmond, it
was just unbelievable and
a big relief. Its an unreal
feeling and I cant believe it;
I just cant wait to get started
because theres plenty of
Richmond recruiting
manager Francis Jackson
says the Tigers have no
doubt 18-year-old Martin
is going to be a fantastic
player for the club.
I think as a recruiting
manager when you take a
going to be the best they can,
and I dont have one second
of doubt that Dustins going
Jackson said.