Mark Robinson on the truth, lies and future reality for AFL superstars Dustin Martin and Tom Hawkins
Dustin Martin and Tom Hawkins have enjoyed unrivalled careers – for different reasons. Now, both are facing similar questions. MARK ROBINSON looks at what’s true, what isn’t and what could be next.
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With Dustin Martin, there is speculation and there are facts.
The fact is, Martin has spoken to Gold Coast, but a decision about whether he joins them next year, as far as the Suns know, has not been made.
The speculation, however, is rampant. If a gypsy woman was reading the tea leaves, she’d presume he was gone.
With Tom Hawkins, there is the reality.
Hawkins’ incredible career is nearing its end. He is 36 in July. He’s injured. And his form had wavered to levels not seen since we wondered if the kid once likened to Tony Lockett would ever become a towering figure.
He kicked 107 goals in his first 79 games and 689 goals across his next 280.
He sits at the top of the list of most games played at Geelong – 359 – and is equal 14th on the list of most games played by a VFL/AFL player.
It’s an incredible feat because the 13 names above him are either midfielders or rangy, athletic talls such as Dustin Fletcher, Simon Madden and Bernie Quinlan.
Most of the rest of them were freaky runners.
Hawkins is 100-plus kilograms and 198cm.
And he is keen to lug that body around again before year’s end. He knows that father time has never lost a one-on-one battle, but he’s not quite ready to surrender to him yet.
Hawkins will make a decision on his future soon enough. In the meantime, he will remain the professional footballer he’s been for 18 seasons. That’s to do the rehab on his injured ankle and try to make himself available for selection in another six or so weeks.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Whether it’s this year or next year, you don’t want to look back on your career and have regrets. Partly, some of my regrets, maybe, have been wonderful lessons I’ve learnt along the way with injury and form and personal adversity, and I’d love the death of mum back, but you learn so much. I don’t want to be one of those players who, when they decide to leave the game, they’re leaving with any regrets.
“My sole focus is get back to be available to play so I can help the team.”
A player of tremendous positive thinking, which is part of the reason he is one of the best teammates, Hawkins tries to not be agitated by external voices pointing to retirement.
“I still think I can contribute and certainly have a presence in our teams, which I think gets underestimated a little bit,” he said. “I don’t particularly love the speculation of people questioning your worth in the game.”
THE DUSTY DECISION
We won’t get a peep out of Martin until a decision is made – Stay at Richmond; go to the Suns; or retire.
He and/or his management have spoken to the Suns, well beyond the much-publicised September 2023 meeting between Martin and Suns coach Damien Hardwick.
That time, it was with a quiet beer in a public space and laughed off as a holiday catch-up between a player and his old coach.
It was the perfect camouflage. If Hardwick was trying to woo Martin, it could be argued, why would he do it so the whole world would know?
The fact is, that at the end of last year there were discussions about Martin joining Gold Coast. But there were complications. He was contracted to Richmond. He was on a $1.4 million salary. Working out a possible trade deal with the Tigers was going to be an issue. And the Suns needed their draft selections to take three academy picks, anyhow.
No, it was put on the backburner.
As Richmond’s 2024 season has spiralled into ordinariness, speculation about Martin and the Suns permeated, as did speculation he would retire. It was said Dusty would walk away from the game about Round 6 – for good. That was incorrect. And that he was supposed to have retired after his 300th game – at the MCG against the Hawks – which was also incorrect.
This week, former Melbourne great David Schwarz lit the Martin blaze when he declared that he was “100 per cent’’ certain Martin would be at Gold Cast next year – and on a two-year deal. The “Ox” was a failed punter, but he is good with numbers.
In June, 2011, he boldly declared he was “98 per cent” confident Melbourne’s No.1 draft pick, Tom Scully, was leaving the club for Greater Western Sydney. That, too, made headlines – and Schwarz was on the money – he says he is even more confident this time around.
“I was confident about Tom,’’ he said. “Even when the president at the time, Jim Stynes, said I had no idea about the conversations he was having with Tom, I just knew.
“With Dusty, I know a couple of people at Richmond and they tell me it’s done … I think Richmond knows he’s gone.”
He reckoned it would be a win-win for everyone.
“There’s no losers about Dusty going to the Gold Coast,’’ Schwarz said.
“Richmond got every last drop out of him – every player he played with is better for it. Richmond might get something for him, and the Suns gets him for two years.”
And what if you’re wrong?
“I trust the people telling me, and if I’m being told a boba, that’s bad luck,” he said, playfully explaining that ‘boba’ was another word for a lie.
If Martin’s manager Ralph Carr knows what his player has planned, he’s not telling.
“I don’t know, that’s the truth,’’ Carr said. “It will be Dustin’s decision.”
Carr has constantly maintained the decision would be made at the end of the season, that several clubs have inquired about Martin, and that he believes Martin could play senior footy for at least another two years. It’s an unsurprising positive assessment.
Others aren’t as enthused.
Martin is 33 and before his latest back injury, he looked like a bloke who’d had enough of footy. It’s true his appreciation of the crowd and the entire footy world after his 300th game was seen as more than just a thank you. Maybe it was an unofficial goodbye?
If his career was to continue, he would need to lose several kilograms and work on his power and speed to be a good investment for the Suns. Even before then, mentally he’d have to be truthful with himself before he could be truthful with the Suns.
The open question is – has Martin had enough of footy, or has he had enough of the Tigers?
The clear indication from the Suns is that if Martin wants to play at Gold Coast, it will happen.
“He’s a really, really good player, there’s no doubt about that, and every single club would be crazy if they didn’t sit there and at some stage make an assessment,” Hardwick said this week.
“Like 17 other clubs, we’re always looking for good players. Gold Coast is no different. (But) those list management calls will get made at the back-end of the year.’’
THE COST
AFL great Leigh Matthews doubts if Martin is worth the investment.
“It surprises me a little bit that Gold Coast would be investing in Dustin Martin at this point,’’ Matthews said on 3AW. “Another year under his belt … where is Dustin Martin going to be as a player to really help the Suns? Maybe yes, maybe no.’’
Matthews said what others are thinking: He is a risk.
And at what cost? The Suns would get him for nothing because he would be a free agent and his salary, one rival club figure said, would be between $500,000-$600,000.
That’s much, much more than what Hawkins and Martin’s former teammate Jack Riewoldt, for example, signed-on for in their twilight of the playing careers.
The marketing advantages of having Dusty at the AFL-run Suns in a growth market cannot be ignored. But they only work if Dusty gets a kick. If he performs like he has this year – 12 games, 10 goals, 11 clearances – he’d be lucky to get a game.
Maybe motivation is the issue.
Whenever the decision is made, it will be the fourth significant decision of Martin’s career. Previously, he rejected potential moves to Greater Western Sydney and to North Melbourne, and we can reveal today, he also almost became a Bomber.
A dinner at Port Melbourne’s Cafe 101 with then-Essendon coach Mark Thompson – about the same time Martin toured the Giants’ half-built stadium in September 2013, had the Martins captivated.
At the dinner were Martin, his father Shane, Carr, Thompson, then-Bombers assistant coach Simon Goodwin and the Bombers’ recruiting guru Adrian Dodoro.
“It was a memorable dinner,” Carr said. “Bomber (Thompson) said, ‘We’ll take him at Essendon, I love the guy’.
“I just loved that Bomber was representing Essendon. He said, ‘I’ve got no doubt he will be a superstar in the game and that Dustin reminded him of someone else’. I said who? He said ‘Gary Ablett when Gary first arrived at Geelong’. I can still remember it. He said the penny eventually dropped with Gary and the same would happen with Dustin. And he was right.
“I walked away from that thinking no wonder Bomber (Thompson) had won flags. Some coaches just have a way of winning over people and he won me over.
“And Shane (Martin) was very interested in exploring Essendon.’’
Despite Essendon’s best pitch, the move didn’t eventuate. The drugs saga had gripped the club – coach James Hid was suspended for 12 months a month before the dinner – and the upheaval and uncertainty was too great to deal with.
While Carr and Shane Martin were sounding boards, if not major influences on Martin’s decision to reject North Melbourne’s millions on the eve of the 2017 finals series, the 2024 decision will be Martin’s alone.
“I won’t be having a say in it, I think it has to come from him, and what he wants to do with his life,” Carr said. “He will make the right decision when he’s ready. I’m sure if Shane was around, he would say, ‘son, you’ve got to make the decision’.
“Shane was brilliant for Dustin and for me. He was a good man.”
‘LETTING GO’?
If Hawkins knows what his future is, he’s not telling anyone either.
He has two options – retire, or try for a 19th season at Geelong.
Although the second option might not entirely be his decision.
“I haven’t made a decision yet,” Hawkins said.
“I planned to, towards the end of the season, but the foot issue came up, so there’s still a couple of things I want to tick off before I go out.
“Although our form has been up and down, I still think if we can get it right, we can challenge (for the premiership) and I’m always optimistic about that.’’
Hawkins, Todd Goldstein and Travis Boak are still playing from the 2006 national draft.
From the 2005 national draft, there’s only Scott Pendlebury.
Hawkins says “letting go” would be tough because he’s still enjoying the environment and is comforted in the knowledge that while he might not perform every week “more often than not I can help the team win”.
“You see more and more players – across sport in general – defy the odds,’’ he said.
It doesn’t preclude Hawkins from pondering life post-footy.
He talks of the pressure valve being released, getting free weekends, and having more time with the family.
“Be more of a father than a footballer,” he said.
“I’ve got a bit of an idea about what the future looks like, but I’m keeping it to myself.
“I haven’t had conversations with anyone to say it’s all over because I’d lose that competitive instinct within me. I’m still busting my arse – like I always do – and trying to get the best out of myself.”
It’s the power of positive thinking. You can only wonder if Martin has the same focus.
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