AFL Daily: Marlion Pickett to live with Dustin Martin, rolling footy news for Thursday, May 30, 2019

Richmond recruits sometimes start their AFL journeys living with the coach at the Hardwick household, but mid-season draftee Marlion Pickett is going to get a very different introduction to AFL life thanks to superstar Dustin Martin. 

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Richmond recruits sometimes start their AFL journeys living with the coach at the Hardwick household.

But new Tiger Marlion Pickett has taken the surprising route, he’s landed at “the Dusty palace”.

Pickett was picked up by the Tigers on Monday at the mid-season draft and will be eased into the Melbourne lifestyle by Brownlow Medal-winning midfielder Dustin Martin.

“I’m probably tipping the Dusty palace is a little bit better than the Hardwick palace,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick joked on Thursday morning.

“It’s great from Dustin, he put his hand up and wanted to have him for a week perhaps, I’m not exactly sure, but I’m sure when Marlion’s four kids come over he’ll be soon to get rid of him.”

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Hardwick said Martin had become a real leader at Tigerland.

“He’s incredible really. The way he’s grown … we naturally expect players to mature but the person he’s become; it’s been a journey,” he said.

“For him to become a leader of our club is incredible. It’s something we probably expected — not many other people did — but we see what he does internally and we’ve always valued that really highly.”

Pickett’s AFL ambitions are on hold for 8-10 weeks with a broken finger but even a lengthy layoff couldn’t dour Hardwick’s excitement.

Dustin Martin

The 27-year-old’s athleticism, size for a midfielder and natural ability makes him a tantalising prospect.

“Have you seen his tape?” Hardwick laughed.

“I would’ve picked him this week if he didn’t break his finger. A few nervous boys when we walked into selection when we showed his highlights this morning.

“I think he’s capable (of playing AFL this year), there’s no doubt. Learning the system will take some time, absolutely, but the reality is good players are good players. From what I’ve seen and what I can gather, he’s very highly regarded in the WAFL league with his ability to play the game and I got no doubt it’ll transfer.”

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Pickett’s path from jail time to WAFL star has been well documented since realising his AFL dream and is another reason Hardwick is thrilled to have him at the Tigers.

“The thing I love about our club is we embrace those challenges. It adds to the person’s story and adds to our club story along the way,” Hardwick said.

“The one thing I will say about footy clubs is they are fantastic at wrapping their arms around and giving people a chance. That’s a great thing about sport in general, it allows people to grow and thrive and get better as a result.

“I commend the AFL for giving us a mid-season draft because the reality is if we didn’t have this (mid-season draft), Marlion doesn’t get a chance.”

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Originally published as AFL Daily: Marlion Pickett to live with Dustin Martin, rolling footy news for Thursday, May 30, 2019