Dustin Martin gives Norm Smith Medal to Will Murray
DUSTIN Martin knows his Norm Smith Medal is in safe hands after giving it to mate Will Murray, who suffered a devastating neck injury in 2016.
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DUSTIN Martin knows his Norm Smith Medal is in safe hands after giving it to his brave mate Will Murray.
The first thing Martin did when he arrived inside the Richmond rooms at the MCG following the Tiger’s epic Grand Final win was to drape the medal around his new friend’s neck and give him a hug.
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Will says that’s the kind of guy his PlayStation and meditating buddy Dusty is — a top bloke and very humble.
“I definitely didn’t expect to have the Norm Smith around my neck, or to still have it,” Will laughed.
“But I feel very privileged.”
The Norm Smith Medal is now in safe keeping, hidden inside the 15-year-old’s bedroom.
The pair’s quiet behind-the-scenes friendship seems to tell a story of the real Dusty off the field.
Tragically, Will, 15, was left a quadriplegic after suffering a devastating neck injury jumping off a pier at Half Moon Bay in 2016.
The Tigers, along with the broader football community, have rallied behind Will with fundraising and support.
Will’s mother Emma Murray, the Richmond Football Club’s mindfulness coach, said the Brownlow medallist started popping over to their Brighton house early last year to start meditating. He and Will fast became buddies and now the weekly visits had become a sort of pre-game tradition.
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Ms Murray said Dusty and Will would first chow down on some freshly baked choc-chip cookies before battling it out on the PlayStation playing FIFA Football, followed by meditating together.
“They have a fierce rivalry on FIFA then head off to Will’s room and do a bit of mediation,” she said.
Shane Martin said from New Zealand that he was proud of his son’s gesture.
“That’s Dustin all over, he thinks of other people first. He considers other people before himself,” he said.
“That’s a beautiful thing to do, it makes Will feel special and it wouldn’t even phase Dustin that he gave away the medal, he’d rather see that he made him happy.
“He’s always thinking about his teammates and the club, not himself or the medals.”
Meanwhile, Will admits being the Norm Smith custodian has earned him some bragging rights with his friends, but he is fiercely protective of it as Dusty continues to celebrate the great win.
“It’s in safe keeping all right, no one will be able to come and snatch it off me,” Murray said. “But I’m not going to keep it, it’s his, he should celebrate it.”
— with Stephen Drill
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