Richmond star Dustin Martin ruled out of West Coast clash

The Tigers have confirmed that star midfielder Dustin Martin will not feature in Friday’s game against the West Coast Eagles.

Dustin Martin of the Tigers. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Tigers have confirmed that star midfielder Dustin Martin will not feature in Friday’s game against the West Coast Eagles despite returning to training this week.

Martin featured in Richmond’s Round 1 loss to Carlton before stepping away from the game on personal leave so he could grieve the loss of his father Shane, who passed away in December aged 54.

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The three-time Norm Smith Medal recipient returned to Punt Road on Saturday, with the 30-year-old taking part in a light training session that included jogging and a gym workout.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Richmond’s general manager of football performance Tim Livingstone revealed that Martin would not fly to Perth for the Round 7 clash due to his limited preparation.

“It is great to see Dustin back at training,” Livingstone said in a statement.

“The boys are excited to have him back. He has got a couple of good football sessions in this week and is looking fit and strong.

“It has been a five-week break — so that is not the best preparation coming into this round.

“We will have a look again next week and see how he is progressing.”

Richmond will also be without veterans Trent Cotchin and Robbie Tarrant for the Eagles clash, with the club’s 22 to be confirmed on Thursday.

Dustin Martin of the Tigers. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, former Hawthorn star Jordan Lewis argued that Richmond should have rolled the dice and played Martin as a forward this weekend.

“If I was the coach, I’d really consider playing him,” he said on Wednesday evening.

“The parameters need to be really clear – just stay in the 50.

“Imagine coming up against the Eagles this week and all of a sudden you’ve got to deal with Dusty staying deep – he’d probably get (Jeremy) McGovern or (Tom) Barrass or some type of key defender because of his power in the air and his power one-on-one.

“Then that takes them out of a position where they can impact in the air – it’s so dangerous.

“They don’t have the luxury of winning early games so you can start to rest players like they have this week.

“This is an important three weeks for them.

“I know they’ve said it’s a five-day break and he hasn’t done enough training – but they would have had some conversations within that club and half on one side saying, ‘Why can’t we play him?’.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said it was “nice” to see Martin back at the club and the playing group got a boost from his impromptu visit.

“We’ll try to get him through training and see how he goes,” he said.

“He just didn’t quite feel comfortable enough, and didn’t look comfortable enough, last week and he had a block of training, I think he’ll have a run-around tomorrow and try and prove his fitness.

“We’ve got a very short session planned so we’ve got to make a call one way or the other pretty early.”