Richmond star Dustin Martin is out for the rest of the year

Dustin Martin has been ruled out for the rest of the AFL season after scans revealed he has suffered a significant internal injury.

Richmond superstar Dustin Martin has been ruled out for the rest of the 2021 AFL season.

The Tigers released a statement on Saturday confirming scans on Friday night showed he suffered a significant kidney injury during his team’s win over Brisbane on Friday night.

He collapsed to the ground in agony at the time of the collision with Brisbane hard nut Mitch Robinson in the third quarter, and was on all fours again as soon as he made it to the boundary line.

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He did not return to the field.

It emerged earlier on Saturday Martin had remained in hospital on the Gold Coast as his teammates flew back to Melbourne.

Richmond club doctor Greg Hickey said in the club statement Martin is expected to remain in hospital for another 2-3 days.

“Dustin stayed the night in hospital for observation and has been seen by a urologist this morning. He is feeling good and remains stable,” Hickey said.

Dustin Martin did not return.

“Given the delicate nature of the injury and recovery timeline, he will not play football again this season.”

Richmond football boss Tim Livingstone said: “We are incredibly disappointed that Dustin will spend some time on the sidelines but we are focused on his immediate wellbeing right now.

Dustin Martin was visibly distressed.

“Dustin is in great hands with the medical and support staff around him and we will support him however we can throughout his recovery.”

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick had said in his post-match press conference Martin had been sent to hospital for “precautionary reasons”.

“We’re flying home so we want to make sure that he’s available to fly – it would be a tough drive for Dusty,” he said.

“He feels sore ... but straight away he said he’d be fine next week, but we’ll wait and see what the doctor says and what the scans show.”

It is a cruel blow for the Tigers and likely the end of the club’s premiership defence, just one day after their win against the Lions appeared to have got the club back into form.

The Tigers had lost four consecutive games before Friday night’s win to improve their record to 8-9. Their battle to qualify for the AFL Finals Series suddenly got a lot, lot harder.