AFL 2024: Richmond confident Dustin Martin will stay if he plays on

A senior Richmond figure reveals why he thinks both Dustin Martin and another out-of-contract star will remain at the club.

Veteran Richmond administrator Neil Balme believes both Dustin Martin (left) and Liam Baker will remain at the Tigers next season. Picture: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images

Veteran Richmond administrator Neil Balme says the Tigers remain “pretty confident” Dustin Martin and Liam Baker will stay at Punt Road next season.

Balme said Martin was unlikely to pursue an opportunity at another club if he chose to play on in 2025 and it would be the “wrong” stage of his career for a rival to bring in the three-time Norm Smith medallist.

Martin, 33, has missed five games through injury this season and his availability for Saturday night’s away clash against Port Adelaide is clouded.

He did not train last week as he battles a back issue that the club said first emerged when he was subbed out of the round 16 loss to Carlton with back spasms.

Neil Balme is confident Richmond superstar Dustin Martin will remain at the Tigers if he chooses to play on. Picture: Michael Klein

“Every second week there’s a Dusty story that he’s going somewhere, but I’m very confident that if he plays, he’ll keep playing for us,” Balme told SEN on Tuesday.

“It would also be probably wrong for another club to recruit him because he’s not at the stage where he’s going to be his best and he’s not ever going to be the bloke who stands up and does all the media for you either.

“That’s the challenge of being a strong club – there is a chance you could lose your players at some stage, but we’re pretty confident that won’t happen.”

Balme conceded there was a “big draw” for Baker to return to his home state after previously expressing the desire to settle down in Western Australia following his playing career.

West Australian Liam Baker, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has been linked strongly to West Coast. Picture: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

But the senior Richmond adviser said he still thought the 26-year-old was unlikely to request a trade to West Coast or Fremantle at the season’s end.

“We’re much more aware of the needs of the players than we used to be,” Balme said.

“We used to just say, ‘sit down and shut up, you’re ours, do what we tell you’. But I think we take them into account more, so there’s always more chance of that happening (players leaving).

“I think we’ve got a pretty good environment. It would be pretty unusual for our blokes to leave.

“Obviously, there’s a big draw for (Baker) to go back. We’re pretty confident that he won’t go, but he could well do … if he does, then we’ll just have to deal with it.”