Inside story: What convinced Dustin Martin to reject North Melbourne and stay at Richmond
Dustin Martin had met Brad Scott and Jack Ziebell. And under the cover of darkness he was driving laps of Arden Street Oval with Kangaroo Marley Williams. What stopped the biggest recruiting move of the decade from going through?
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Dustin Martin was notionally a North Melbourne player in 2017 — seven days before re-signing with Richmond.
He’d met North Melbourne coach Brad Scott, captain Jack Ziebell and driven several laps of Arden Street Oval under the cover of darkness with good friend and Kangaroos defender Marley Williams.
The secret drive-by reconnaissance one August night was as much a last inspection for Martin, as a chance for Williams to pinpoint the best places to park and get coffee.
North Melbourne got Williams for nothing essentially (sent pick 105 to Collingwood in 2016) and less than 12 months later the recycled and unwanted Magpie was central to one of the biggest trades in AFL history.
But the Kangaroos could only be hopeful – not confident – of pulling off the mother of trade coups — despite Martin making “all the right noises”.
“The deal is never done until it’s done,” a source with intimate knowledge of the Martin chase said.
“You’re always thinking about that.”
Richmond always had the whip hand – “possession”.
“When you’re at a club … you’re always more likely to stay than go,” the source said
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Even though Richmond was on the brink of losing a franchise talent, astonishingly North Melbourne had the most to lose, as the ghosts of failed poaching raids past weighed heavily in the court of public opinion.
GWS Giants star Josh Kelly had already said ‘thanks, but no’ in 2017 during the Martin courtship, which only intensified the pressure on the Kangaroos to get the deal done.
After all, Martin was exactly what North Melbourne so desperately needed both on and off the field as the 2017 team stared down the barrel of a six-win season.
He won games of football.
He drew crowds.
He sold memberships and merchandise.
Tick. Tick. Double tick!
There is an aura around Martin, a mystique and intrigue about the midfield jet that is seen but seldom heard.
Unlike Giant Kelly, who could jump on the 57 tram with a minimum of fuss, Martin would get spotted gliding over Melbourne in a hot-air balloon.
It made arranging face-to-face meetings a logistic nightmare for the Kangaroos.
“He’s a profile guy,” a source said.
“There’s not too many places you can go (and not be seen).”
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DOLLARS AND SENSE
North Melbourne needed to pay overs to get Martin out of Richmond.
The club’s six-year mega-deal, worth a whopping $1.5m a season reportedly, was the biggest in AFL history at the time, surpassing the Gary Ablett, Lance Franklin, Tom Scully and Tom Boyd transactions.
As Richmond careered towards the top four with talent bulging from its list the Tigers bean-counters at best could only offer an extension worth about $1.1m a year – some $400,000 short of the mark, reportedly.
Any wriggle room? Limited.
The salary cap would soar to $12.6 million in 2018, with more than $1 million in marketing allowances through the additional services agreement.
North Melbourne dangled dreams and lots of dollars in a prolonged high-stakes pursuit.
It worked to a point, too.
Some eight months after Martin’s colourful agent and trusted confidant Ralph Carr declared the Tigers star was putting off re-signing until the end of the season the Kangaroos were the last suitor standing … again.
THE TURNING POINT
Richmond had runs on the board.
It developed and supported Martin, most importantly protected the guarded and fiercely private individual.
Despite the banked up goodwill, the Tigers were on the ropes right up to the 11th hour of the contract saga.
But Trent Cotchin, a big brother-style mentor for Martin, and a last roll of the dice trip to New Zealand by respected premiership whisperer Neil Balme, to visit Martin’s father Shane, turned the tables.
“He’s a very humble, shy kid,” Shane told The Footy Show after Martin’s lucrative made-for-television declaration to remain a Tiger for life.
“The Richmond Football Club’s been amazing for him, especially Trent Cotchin – I can’t thank him enough”
THE CONSPIRACY THEORY
You know the ones about Elvis, the disappearance of Harold Holt, and most recently, the origins of the bat virus.
What about the one about the big jungle cat which broke collective kangaroo hearts?
On face value, Martin’s declaration was linked to loyalty and existing close-knit relationships at Punt Road.
Four weeks after the decision two clues emerged in separate high-profile speeches, indicating potentially how Martin might’ve made up the money lost by re-signing at Richmond.
Martin himself dropped the first hint after winning the Brownlow on Monday night, reading a speech “a friend wrote it for me”.
It started with a joke, then thanked his parents and manager, only then to get into weird territory.
“To everyone at the Richmond Football Club, the coaches, the staff, the sponsors, Jeep and Shaun from Puma — he wanted me to get his name in there.”
Five days later Tigers coach Damien Hardwick delivered the second hint on the premiership dais.
“I'd like to thank the AFL, I’d like to thank our sponsors … and Puma for Dustin,” Hardwick beamed.
Martin was second-only to Lance Franklin (then, now easily No.1) as the AFL’s most marketable player and European apparel juggernaut and long-time Richmond sponsor Puma clearly recognised this.
In February 2018 coincidentally, Martin became the first Australian to sign a multi-year Puma deal, joining the likes of Usain Bolt, Lewis Hamilton and Rihanna.
THE DECISION
Martin finally broke his silence on The Footy Show on August 31, 2017.
Pressed on the process, Martin described the contract talks with North Melbourne like “cheating on my girlfriend”.
“I certainly thought about it (the North offer),” Martin tells co-hosts Eddie McGuire and Sam Newman in the ratings chart-topper sit down interview.
“It’s been a stressful year … in the end Richmond’s home to me.”
In a separate interview, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick added: “Christmas has come early”.
North Melbourne general manager of football Cameron Joyce had the unenviable task the next day of trying to make good of another near-miss.
“We went right down to the wire on this one,” Joyce said.
“We are talking about a potential Brownlow Medallist, a multiple All-Australian, best-and-fairest winner and a superstar of the competition who was seriously considering coming to North Melbourne.
“That is the huge positive in this — he saw something in our club versus others that drew him to come to a decision very, very late in the year which has ultimately seen him stay at Richmond.
“We totally respect that, and wish him all the best as he is a terrific guy.”
By the last Saturday in September, Martin put the icing on one, if not, the greatest individual seasons in the history of football, adding a premiership and Norm Smith Medals to the Leigh Matthews MVP Trophy, All-Australian and every major media award already won.
Based on the body of work — by any measure — nobody would have argued if North Melbourne paid twice what it was prepared to pay Dustin Martin.
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Originally published as Inside story: What convinced Dustin Martin to reject North Melbourne and stay at Richmond
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