AFL 2022: Damien Hardwick opens up on Dustin Martin and the plan he floated to save West Coast

A win-win situation where clubs loan young players to Covid-hit AFL rivals was discussed after more than half of West Coast’s team was wiped out last week. HAVE YOUR SAY.

Sam Landsberger

@samlandsberger

7 min read

March 29, 2022 - 7:46AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Damien Hardwick says he still doesn’t know when Dustin Martin will be back in action at the Tigers. Picture: Michael Klein

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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick conceded on Monday night he still doesn’t know if Dustin Martin will return to Richmond

In a wide-ranging interview Hardwick also revealed the Tigers considered loaning Covid-stricken West Coast their young players and called for an overhaul of the medical substitute.

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The integrity of AFL matches hangs under a Covid cloud after the Eagles made 14 forced changes and fielded five players from outside the club’s list in Sunday’s loss to North Melbourne.

“I did feel sorry for ‘Simmo’ (Eagles coach Adam Simpson), and the same will happen to Freo I presume at some stage,” Hardwick said.

“To make it competitive (we discussed) offering some of our younger players if they wanted to pick them to play.

“It would be great to see young players get experience at the top level if they’re not playing.”

Damien Hardwick says he still doesn’t know when Dustin Martin will be back in action at the Tigers. Picture: Michael Klein

Hardwick has long supported a soccer-style loan system in the AFL.

Last year he wanted to send 206cm ruckman Samson Ryan to Gold Coast after the Suns lost every ruckman on their list to injury.

Ryan was stuck playing forward in the VFL because he was behind Callum Coleman-Jones and Mabior Chol.

The medi-sub rule drew criticism on Saturday when Brownlow Medallist Gavin Wanganeen flew to Melbourne to watch son Tex make his AFL debut for Essendon without getting on the field.

The same happened to Wanganeen’s cousin, St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, when he made his debut last week.

“Why after halftime can’t we put the kid on?” Hardwick said on AFL360.

“It just doesn’t make any sense that you have a perfectly healthy player sitting there the whole game that can’t actually impact it.”

The medi-sub rule was parachuted in on the eve of last season.

Several AFL coaches including premiership coach Luke Beveridge support the rule evolving to become a tactical sub.

The decimated Eagles struggled to pull a full team together against the Roos. Picture: Getty Images

On Martin, Hardwick said: “He’ll take the time he needs to figure out what he needs. There’s no set date”.

Martin, 30, withdrew from Sunday’s win against Greater Western Sydney for personal reasons as he mourns the loss of his father, Shane Martin.

“I think Dustin’s taking his time to figure out what he needs to move forward,” Hardwick said.

“He’s had a really tough six months, none tougher than what he’s had to deal with.

“First with injury (lacerated kidney) then with the loss of his father. He just needs some time to heal.

“Grief is a thing that is really like an injury. You have to get some treatment to make yourself heal, and he’s just taking the time to do that.

“His father was incredibly close to him, obviously from a parent point of view, but also his best mate.

“So it’s going to take some time and we’re just prepared to give him that.”

Hardwick said Martin brought “irreplaceable energy” inside the walls at Punt Rd.

“He’s such an important fabric of our footy club. We miss him, there’s no doubt,” he said.

“But not on the footy field, but just in the club. He is just an exuberant person, enthusiastic.

“We just miss him.”

Tiger train back on track, for now

—Jay Clark and Owen Leonard

Richmond’s 2022 campaign is back on track in the face of growing uncertainty about the team’s immediate future after a hard-fought triumph over Greater Western Sydney at the MCG on Sunday.

The Tigers were faced with a myriad of questions coming into the contest in the absence of a strong senior group of players headlined by Dustin Martin, but Sunday’s altered line-up provided enough answers to suggest Richmond will still be a force this season despite losing its opening match to Carlton last week.

Richmond could welcome back a trio of stars for Sunday’s clash against St Kilda, but Damien Hardwick said Martin’s status remained uncertain.

The Tigers were missing as many as six of their best players for Sunday’s clash against GWS Giants but kicked nine goals from stoppages to stun the visitors in the 36-point win.

Hardwick lauded the performance in the midfield and said Jack Riewoldt (thumb) Dylan Grimes (soreness) and Dion Prestia (hamstring) would all push to return this week.

But the senior coach was unclear if Martin would be available after taking some time away from the club last week as he mourns the death of his father Shane.

Hardwick said Martin had contributed enormously to the Tigers over his glittering career and could take his time dealing with a personal issue.

“Dustin Martin is a wonderful player, do we want to see him playing? Yeah,” Hardwick said.

“But also it is what it is. It is a personal issue and we leave it at it.

“Dustin has repaid this club 10 times over.

“We’ve got no clarity (on a return time frame). It is a personal issue and we leave it at that and work our way through it.”

Trent Cotchin responded after criticism for his round 1 performance. Picture: Michael Klein

The Tigers were in danger of falling to their first 0-2 start to a season in a decade but won the clearances by six and the contested possession count by 18.

Hardwick said the Tigers’ returned to their high-pressure brand and hailed the selfless game of Trent Cotchin.

“Our pressure and our step-in mentality was back,” he said.

“We were probably half a step too late last week versus Carlton but we probably rectified that this week, which was a real positive.

“That is Richmond footy. That is what we love. We are not a kick, marks and handballs side, we just want to reward those (team-first) behaviours.

“It’s the identity we speak about and the players should be under no illusions that is when we play our best footy.”

In attack Noah Balta (four goals) and Tom lynch (three) fired in Riewoldt’s absence, while ruck pair Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo were influential.

GWS coach Leon Cameron was unimpressed with his troops’ performance and provided some stern feedback in an extra long post-matching meeting behind closed doors.

“Richmond were fast feet and probably just that little bit tougher and wanted it a little bit more,” he explained.

“In terms of our contested ball … I think it was minus-15. That’s not us.

“It’s how you stand up when that momentum’s not going your way. Unfortunately we didn’t do the jumper proud and we let our supporters down when that momentum came Richmond’s way.”

Noah Balta kicks his fourth goal. Picture: Michael Klein

Hardwick said he faced a tough week at selection trying to work back in some of the returning senior stars.

Youngster Thomson Dow, who racked up five clearances, may be in doubt as he was substituted out with a knee problem for livewire Jake Aarts.

“Dion is a chance (to return), Jack is a chance, Dylan will play and the other guys may be a little bit further away,” he said.

“I was really pleased with the players we had in the side at the moment so there is going to be some hungry players and those boys have got to understand they have played well.

“It is tough to make changes. We will squeeze them in, but there will be some unlucky players along the way.”

Ivan Soldo caused plenty of headaches for the GWS defence. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

The Giants might’ve seen an opportunity for their big-name midfield to take charge without Martin and Dion Prestia to contend with, but the final clearance count (30-24) would have left Tigers coach Damien Hardwick confident of his side’s onball fortunes going forward.

Richmond also had to deal with a backline chasm left by injured co-captain Dylan Grimes, but veteran recruit Robbie Tarrant and first-year interceptor Josh Gibcus quelled any defensive doubts with authority as both Jake Riccardi and the returning Jesse Hogan finished goalless.

But it was the Lynch-Balta forward line pair that had the Tiger army on its feet, combining for six majors for the day and cementing a strong win in the final term after injury-cursed Giants veteran Phil Davis was sidelined by a hamstring complaint.

The loss for Giants means their season starts at a wobbly 0-2 record with barometer Toby Greene sidelined until round 6.

TOBY NEYMAR-KERVIS

The 199cm, 102kg Toby Nankervis isn’t supposed to produce goal of the week contenders.

But the new Richmond co-captain’s skill set was on display with a soccer off the deck midway through the second quarter, stunning fans and players alike with a goal that might’ve made Brazilian striker Neymar Jr proud.

It headlined a period of highlights for the Tigers, who built a 20-point halftime lead through a six-goal-to-three term.

Shai Bolton leaves Nick Haynes of the Giants in his wake. Picture: Michael Klein

BACK-TO-BACK BOLTON

Richmond could be without its Dustin Martin spark for the foreseeable future but Shai Bolton again showed the Tigers’ highlight reels won’t be running short of entertainment anytime soon.

The evasive midfielder-forward bombed home a 50m set-shot early in the second quarter and followed up with a slick snap on the fly only moments later. The emerging star finished with two goals from eight score involvements, seven inside-50s and more than 500m gained.

UGLY START CLAIMS GIANT

Just a goal apiece was scored by quarter-time in a scrappy start to the contest, with Hugo Ralphsmith’s flowing mullet as he streamed into the forward 50m to boot Richmond’s sole major of the term providing a rare piece of eye-catching early play.

But GWS half-forward Daniel Lloyd would soon bear the brunt of the match’s ugly opening, colliding with the bigger-bodied Jake Riccardi when the Giants pair unknowingly flew for the same ball on the broadcast wing.

It came as a result of an untidy inboard chip from young gun Tom Green and meant Lloyd, who injured his forearm, was subbed out for the rest of the match.