AFL trade news 2022: Keep up to date with all the latest contract, signings

If Dustin Martin were to leave Richmond for a lifestyle change he would have teammate Jack Riewoldt’s full blessing but the Tiger forward says Martin is completely invested at Punt Road right now.

Richmond veteran Jack Riewoldt says teammate Dustin Martin is fully invested at the Tigers this season but the club will not hold it against him if he seeks a move to Sydney at the end of the year.

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Riewoldt said Richmond would seek to do what was best by any player – including Martin – if a change of circumstances meant a move of club would be better option for them.

Martin still has two years to run on a seven-year mega contract, but spend time away from the game earlier this year in Sydney as he mourned the passing of his father Shane.

Riewoldt said letting players break contracts in difficult circumstances was “the reality of football going forward”.

“It grabs headlines to a supersonic level because Dustin’s involved, but let’s say any player at the Richmond Football Club comes to the club and says, ‘My family circumstances have changed, my mental health I feel would be better in a different state and in a different journey’,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy’s AFL360 Extra.

Jack Riewoldt has given his blessing for a Dustin Martin move but says he doesn’t look like someone who wants to leave Richmond at the moment. Photo by Michael Klein

“Why would a club stand in the way of doing that? Don’t get me wrong, Dustin Martin with two years to go on a contract, arguably the best player to ever play for the Richmond Football Club, of course we want him to see out his contract and we want him to be a Richmond man. But these things happen and people’s happiness takes them on a different journey.”

While Riewoldt said he would support a trade if it were requested, he added that Martin was not showing any signs around the club that he was interested in one.

“The Dustin that we’re seeing around the football club at the moment and the investment to not only play but just the conversations that he has with senior staff members about where the club’s going and the direction, he doesn’t come across as someone who’s looking for a change of club,” Riewoldt said.

Rival clubs’ shock verdict on Dusty’s trade value

Sydney would need to hand over Tom Papley and a first-round draft pick to prise Dustin Martin out of Richmond and lure him north to end his career, according to a retired list expert.

The Brownlow medallist is contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2024 but speculation continues over his future because of his fondness for the less intrusive Sydney lifestyle.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick shocked the football world on Tuesday when he said he would not hold Martin to his seven-year mega contract.

“Whatever Dustin’s decision is moving forward is up to Dustin and to be honest he has my blessing,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said on Tuesday.

Could Isaac Heeney and Dustin Martin finish their careers as teammates?

“What he’s given me, us, our fans, he has been incredible and whatever we get from here on in is a bonus.”

Martin spent time in Sydney earlier this year while on personal leave from Richmond as he mourned the death of his father Shane.

Any move to the Harbour City would likely see Martin end up at the Swans.

Sydney insiders have been tight-lipped on a move, one telling News Corp only that Martin is a “bloody good player”.

It is understood cross-town rival Greater Western Sydney would be unlikely to enter the race for Martin’s services because of a tight salary cap situation and a list build that is in a different position to the Swans.

Former Collingwood recruiter Matthew Rendell said Martin would command a heavy price tag at the trade table, with the Tigers ultimately holding the upper hand.

“The first-round pick of Sydney might not be that great. It might be pick 10 at best,” Rendell said.

“That’s why you’d have to throw a really good player in.

“If it was going to come to fruition and I was Richmond, my first port of call would be, ‘We’re taking your first-rounder and Papley’.”

Richmond might have to fend off interest in Dustin Martin from the two Sydney clubs.

A livewire small forward, Papley is contracted with Sydney until the end of next season but is a Victorian who has long been linked to a move home.

Rival club recruiting bosses surveyed by News Corp said a top-10 pick in exchange for Martin could get the job done on its own given his age, without the need to add a player like Papley to the mix.

Such a deal would give Richmond a third top 20 pick in this year’s draft.

While he has been incredibly durable across his career, Martin turns 31 next month.

With Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin’s career coming towards an end, Sydney is believed to be desperate for another marquee player like Martin to fill his spot.

“I’ve been up in Sydney and sat in the crowd and the majority of that crowd goes to watch Buddy,” Rendell said.

“Dusty would be a massive draw card. I think Buddy will go one more year but he’d be on a lot lower money and they could certainly backend Dusty’s contract, there’s no doubt about that.

“They might think we’re a chance to win a flag with Dusty. He’s got a habit of it. So they’d have a crack and they know they need a high-profile player year-in, year-out to draw members, sponsors and people through the gate.”

On the current ladder order, Richmond already holds two top-20 picks in this year’s draft.

The Tigers have their own first-round selection (currently pick 11) as well as North Melbourne’s second-round selection (currently pick 20) which they secured as part of the Callum Coleman-Jones trade last year.

The fifth-placed Swans currently have picks 14 and 18, holding Melbourne’s first-round pick as part of the Jordan Dawson trade last year.

STAND-IN HAWKS SKIPPER SPURNS FREE AGENCY

Glenn McFarlane

Hawthorn captain-in-waiting James Sicily has spurned free agency to recommit to the club for the next five seasons, saying he wants to be a Hawk for life.

In a massive coup for the club, Sicily said “a sense of belonging” and a belief that the Hawks can chase more silverware during the course of his deal meant he never seriously considered leaving.

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The 27-year-old stand-in skipper has turned his back on significant interest from a handful of clubs, believed to include Collingwood, to sign a lucrative new deal that locks him into Hawthorn until the end of 2027.

“I have got a strong sense of belonging to Hawthorn, I’ve felt this way for the last four or five years and I can’t really see myself (playing) anywhere else,” Sicily told the Herald Sun.

“I am quite an ambitious person, so I would like to think we can build something where we can contend for silverware in that time and create some great moments and memories.

“I was at the club in 2013, ‘14 and ‘15, playing at Box Hill, as it was pretty hard to crack into that side. To see them win those flags, I was incredibly envious. I want to be a part of that.”

Hawthorn star James Sicily wants to create his own history at the famous club. Picture: Michael Klein

Sicily has been buoyed by the Hawks’ early start to life under new coach Sam Mitchell, believing the blend of young and experienced players can lead a march back to the finals in the future, despite a winless past month.

He said the form of a number of youngsters including Jai Newcombe and some of the club’s 2021 draftees had given him a great belief in the club’s future.

“I am fully invested in Sam’s vision and in the players we have at the moment,” he said.

“I am optimistic Sam is going to be a bloody good coach and he is one of the smartest young coaches in the game at the moment.”

The star defender has played every game for the Hawks this season in a seamless comeback following a late 2020 knee reconstruction.

He said his contract situation weighed on him a little in the early part of the season, as he was a player who always preferred to think about the team more than himself.

He is relieved it is over, revealing he never spoke to any other club and only negotiated with Hawthorn during the process.

“I am rapt that it is out of the way,” he said. “I like to see myself as a team-orientated person and always want to do the best for my teammates, so the whole process was a bit uncomfortable.

James Sicily has recommit to the club for the next five seasons. Picture: Michael Klein

“There was reported interest, but I never … met with clubs or even picked up phone calls.”

Sicily, who is considered the next Hawthorn captain, has thrived on the extra leadership responsibilities thrust on him this year in Ben McEvoy’s injury absence.

He has learnt so much from McEvoy, Jaeger O’Meara and Sam Mitchell about the role, who encouraged him to continue being himself and to never be afraid to delegate.

“I have enjoyed the challenge,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I have changed the way I play, I think I have naturally progressed.

“When you are starting out, it is all about trying to get a game and playing well and getting in the side each week.

“There comes a point in your career when it becomes about ‘we’ and that comes after you have played 60 or 70 games. I sort of transitioned into that mindset about three or four years ago. I just feel I am just able to be myself and play the way I need to play.

“I don’t have to do anything extra. All I have to do is talk a bit more with the boys. I haven’t tried to change as a person.”

Sicily has played 102 games for the Hawks since his 2015 debut and he will be 32 when his new deal runs out.