Naomi Fryers spoke to Richmond Football Club’s yellow and black army about what Dustin Martin meant to the Tiger faithful.
AS A RECENT journalism graduate, writing a legacy piece about one of Australia’s most iconic sporting legends of this century made me understandably nervous. How in 900 words could I get close to encapsulating the enormity of Dustin Martin’s contribution to AFL? Let alone the kind of impact he made on Tiger and sporting fans alike.
I quickly realised this would take a team and turned to my extended family from Punt Road. When I called in backup from a few of the 100,000-odd members (and fans) of the Richmond Football Club to share their favourite memories, moments or manoeuvres from the iconic cult hero, they didn’t argue.
Something that caught me off guard, however, was that many of the reflections were not just on-field achievements of an incredibly talented footballer. They also beautifully captured the heart of what Dusty meant to people. A team player, a club man and a source of joy, hope and courage.
Dusty didn’t just come with accolades of Norm Smiths, Brownlows and premierships. He also brought to Punt Road fans a time of sheer excitement and joy, arguably regrettable tattoos, questionable buzzcut type haircuts on kids, aesthetically pleasing Bonds advertisements, understandably thumbing one's nose to the mainstream media and for some of us, a few of the greatest moments of our lives.
Mason from Ballarat (aged 34) spoke reverently of Dusty’s on-ball prowess and gift for sporting foresight. He marvelled at his favourite on-field moment during the 2020 Grand Final when Dusty took on five Cats players — and scored.
Mason said:
“I must have watched that replay 100 times. You see him check his speed and wait for the handpass. He knew where the ball was going before Geelong decided where they were going to send it.”
Kerry from Stawell (aged 62) suggested that Dusty showed Richmond what it meant to maintain that sense of hunger or “fire in the belly” while being part of a team. While Shenelle of Epping (aged 41) concurred and felt that as a lifelong Tiger’s supporter, the 2017 season was outstanding footy to watch, with the brilliance and excitement “of a Premiership and Norm Smith to cap it off”.
Amanda of Forest Hill (aged 42), reflected more on moments than match day performances and reminds me of Dusty’s selfless pass-off to Marlion Pickett to sure up a goal for him in his debut seniors match during the 2019 AFL Grand Final. That was a moment that arguably showed who Richmond was as a club and outfit. It perfectly portrayed the comradery of the team and spirit that ascended the field to create fairytales.
Damien of Hawthorn (aged 40) has also been a supporter his whole life (following in the footsteps of his father). He reminisces that “for many years, we didn’t really have old finals to watch”. He notes that they did however make the best of what they had with an old VHS semi-final from when Richmond played Essendon in 1995.
Damien surmised that “Dusty helped bring Richmond to life again”. He went on to suggest that the magic of the 2017 Premiership was one of the best days and nights of his life.
Andrew of Albert Park (aged 39) spoke to the “sense of belief in team, club and culture that [Martin] evoked by staying in 2017” after turning down a North Melbourne offer with more on the table. We went from being a club whose younger fans not only saw us win a flag but three in four years. Much of that he attributed as “team-lifting performances from a once-in-a-century big game player”.
Such legendary reflections were backed by Russell of North Ringwood (aged 64), who proudly donned his Tiger beanie on the streets of Paris the day after the drought-breaking 2017 Grand Final.
Russell thoughtfully reflects:
“Dustin is the best player Richmond has ever had and I’ve seen the likes of KB, Royce Heart, Francis Bourke and Richo. He truly is a one-in-a-lifetime champion of the game.”
Having felt blessed to witness the champion play over the years, Russell concludes:
“Most importantly, I hope his post-footy life is long, happy and fulfilling.”
As a diehard Tiger myself, who from a young age endured many cold long years in the Outer at the ‘G, I didn’t just marvel at Dusty’s on-field performance, but his off was easily as noteworthy. He handled (or elected not to handle) mainstream media with a touch of iconic marketing genius, denying their every request for insight until that was literally all there was left to talk about.
Martin's displeasure with the media circus was not a well-kept secret. From Bruce McAvaney on Brownlow night to Riewoldt at his 300th game, he didn’t ever feel obliged to give any more than was absolutely necessary. I found it particularly admirable that he let his athletic prowess speak for itself. Dusty was never a commodity that could be bought — he truly lived his life as a player, on his own terms.
It’s not usually the Richmond Football Club Grog Squad that puts things most aptly but it's them who made famous the “Dustin Martin — you are the love of my life” chant to the tune of Frank Sinatra infamous.
Now more than ever, it is a sentiment that is echoed among the Tiger faithful. From Punt Road over to the hallowed turf at the ‘G, Dusty blessed us. Now potentially up for new adventures with his beloved old coach up on the Gold Coast Suns (to create a new Dimma-sty — who knows?), only time will tell.
The mystique and enigma that is the great Dustin Martin has now closed a chapter with his news of retirement. So the only thing left for us to do is marvel at what an era it was!
Naomi Fryers is a writer, author, storyteller and journalist from Melbourne.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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