Bailey Humphrey opens up on Dustin Martin comparisons after disappointing 2024 season
Suns forward Bailey Humphrey has vowed to ‘pave my own path in the AFL’ after a disappointing 2024 season, in part thanks to comparisons to a famous football name.
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Gold Coast Suns forward Bailey Humphrey has vowed to “pave my own path in the AFL” after letting comparisons to Dustin Martin get to his head last season.
A candid Humphrey, 20, told this masthead he “let myself and probably let the team down” after failing to hit the high benchmarks he set for himself following a stellar debut campaign.
The 186cm medium-forward exploded onto the scene in 2023, filling highlight reels and showing glimpses of game breaking potential.
In one five-game stretch he averaged 19 disposals and 1.2 goals per game, leading the Suns to place a four-year extension in front of him after only 10 senior appearances.
Expectations were already high entering his second year and that only grew after his new coach Damien Hardwick – who coached Martin to three premierships at Richmond – compared Humphrey to the triple-Norm Smith Medallist.
Hardwick’s intention was likely to fill Humphrey with confidence in his own abilities but, reflecting on it now, the young Sun says he struggled with living up to the comparison.
“When you get compared to someone like that, it’s pretty tough. For me my mindset was, ‘I have to be him (Martin) now’,” Humphrey said.
“Obviously if I could be half the footballer he was, that would be incredible. So yeah, it took a bit of a toll on me mentally. I felt like I had to be him, having 30 (disposals) and three (goals) every game and when I didn’t do that, I felt like I was letting people down.
“After my first year I had high expectations and I didn’t really reach those.
“It was a massive learning year for me – that’s what I took out of it the most, was learning how to deal with the mental rigours of footy.”
Humphrey says he slowly learned how to forgive himself for not being perfect as the season progressed and feels by the end of 2024 he was in the right headspace to be a strong contributor.
Humphrey’s Martin comparison comes as Richmond’s number one draft pick, Sam Lalor, has also been dubbed a Dusty clone and is set to face similar expectations across his career.
In the off-season Humphrey joined Will Graham, Ethan Read, Ned Moyle and Sam Clohesy on a two-week trip to Phoenix, Arizona where they trained at the world-renowned Exos Sports Performance centre.
One of Humphrey’s great weapons is his burst from stoppage and ability to create space for himself at a contest and inside 50 with his speed and power.
It was with that in mind he sought to work with the experts at Exos, who have helped NFL, NBA and a host of other professional athletes improve their performance.
“It was all speed and power based,” he said.
“It was a lot of different technique stuff, trying to work on bringing out our speed and power in different ways.
“We used bands, sleds, curve treadmills … it was all about finding ways to bring out your speed when you don’t think you can.
“Last year I felt like I couldn’t find my speed and power toward the start of the season, but I was able to get going toward the back end of the season. So I’m trying to get on the front foot now so that I can head into the start of the season and not have that affect my footy.”
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Originally published as Bailey Humphrey opens up on Dustin Martin comparisons after disappointing 2024 season
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