AFL Grand Final: Dustin Martin of the Richmond Tigers puts his third Norm Smith medal down to luck

After Dustin Martin created history, the champion Tiger was asked what made him different.

Shortly after Dustin Martin created history by becoming the first man to claim three Norm Smith medals, the Tiger was asked what separates this Tiger from the rest.

“I was just lucky enough to be in the right spot,” he said.

If that is the case, never has a player been more favoured by Lady Luck. And at the risk of copping a “don’t argue” from Martin, which is a frightening thought, it is simply not true.

Ask the vanquished superstar Patrick Dangerfield, who described him as an all-time champion of the game.

Or Geelong captain Joel Selwood, who said “he is a hell of player” who is “maybe” impossible to stop.

Cats coach Chris Scott said no coach or competitor ever wanted to believe a rival player or team was unstoppable.

But he conceded it might just be the case with the 29-year-old when he was captured by the moment or in a mood to dominate.

In another astonishing grand-final performance, his third on football’s biggest stage in four years, Martin kicked four critical goals as Richmond overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat Geelong by 31 points.

Dustin Martin kicks a third-quarter goal. Picture: Michael Klein

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, who was on his feet applauding by the end of the match, said he was in awe of the performance produced by the 2017 Brownlow Medallist, who has now surpassed dual-medallist Luke Hodge, Andrew McLeod and Gary Ayres.

“The significance of his goals was really important,” he said.

Martin’s first goal defied the trend of the game and also gravity. The Tigers were 21 points in arrears deep in the second term and without a goal since midway through the first quarter.

Off-balance and with his weight falling towards the centre of the ground instead of the goal face, he somehow managed to get enough force on a right-foot snap in a critical moment.

As Hardwick noted later, it gave the Tigers a feeling they might just have reclaimed the momentum at half-time in the grand final, despite the 15-point deficit.

His second goal was effectively a checkside about 30m out at the 16-minute mark of the third term. It almost flicked the post. But Martin is a master of precision. It put the Tigers in front for the first time since deep in the first quarter.

His third was a flat punt that cleared the pack at the 13-minute mark of the final term. It almost broke the football, so hard was it kicked, and certainly broke the hearts of the Cats.

Martin’s fourth, in which he shrugged off Dangerfield on the boundary to snap a superb goal at the 33-minute mark of the final term, was the last of a historic night.

Effectively, Martin kicked the goal that gave Richmond belief, the goal that put their noses ahead, the goal that sealed the premiership and the goal that started the party.

In all, the Richmond dynamo gathered 21 possessions, 10 of them won in contested fashion, and had nine score assists to go with the four goals he kicked.

Martin is clearly outstanding in terms of his individual contribution.

But as Hardwick noted, he also possesses the highly-valued ability to bring his teammates into the match with his creativity and enhance their performances.

By virtue of his brilliance, the four-time All Australian is also the proud owner of three premiership medallions. It is those medals, rather than the Norm Smith medals, that matter the most to him.

“It is not a one-man job. We all did our part. It is a very special, a very special club,” he said.