AFL 2022: Richmond coach Damien Hardwick declares Dustin Martin will be a Tiger in 2023

Amid fears a leaked video could tip Richmond superstar Dustin Martin into retirement, his coach has declared where his future lies.

Dustin Martin isn’t going anywhere, his coach says. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is adamant Dustin Martin will be a Tiger in 2023 and beyond and the two-point loss to Brisbane on Thursday night won’t be his last game in the yellow and black.

Martin played his first game for eight weeks after a leaked video from 2015 emerged in the lead-up allegedly showing the Richmond superstar groping a woman’s breast. The AFL is investigating.

Amid concerns the furore surrounding the video, which AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said was “not a good look”, could force Martin into retirement, Hardwick was confident his triple Norm Smith medallist would be at Punt Road in 2023.

“He’s got two years of his contract to run, so as far as I’m concerned all the speculation comes from the people sitting over that side of the table (media). If you guys keep talking about it, it creates speculation,’’ he said.

“The reality is I’m telling you that he’s got two more years of his contract. He’s not going anywhere.’’

There is speculation over Dustin Martin’s future. Picture: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Martin went into the sudden-death final at 80 per cent fitness and his role was compromised when Dion Prestia left the field with a hamstring injury just before halftime that forced Martin into the midfield for more minutes than planned.

Hardwick said Martin’s performance was “as expected” and hadn’t been impacted by the extra spotlight on him in the lead-up to the match after the video’s release.

“We worry about the welfare of our players, but he manages to control that and gets on with it,’’ he said.

“It‘s something I can’t really comment on because there is an investigation going on. We’ll work our way through that over the next week.”

Martin had 15 disposals, eight contested possessions, one goal and three inside 50s in his comeback match after eight weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Originally published as AFL 2022: Richmond coach Damien Hardwick declares Dustin Martin will be a Tiger in 2023