Richmond’s Dusty Martin will be back to play Geelong

Richmond remain confident their durable Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin will play against Geelong on Sunday week.

Richmond’s Dustin Martin will miss tonight’s game against Port Adelaide

Richmond remain confident their durable Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin will play against Geelong at the MCG on Sunday week after he was ruled out against Port Adelaide tonight.

Martin will miss the clash with the Power at Adelaide Oval with calf soreness, a problem Tigers general manager of football operations Neil Balme told The Australian he had been “carrying” for a couple of weeks, but without too much discomfort.

“He pulled up sore and a bit worse after the win over Essendon last weekend, so he will have the weekend off,” Balme said. “We’re reasonably confident he will be OK for Geelong, we’re not that worried about it. But if there is any doubt, we won’t risk him because we’ve got the bye the following weekend.”

Martin instead will spend up to four days in New Zealand visiting his father Shane, a break sanctioned by the Tigers.

“He’ll have a couple of days off, which he was going to have to have anyway to let his calf settle,” Balme told Macquarie Sports Radio. “So he gets a chance to go and see his father … it’s a great opportunity for him to do that.”

Martin’s absence will end a run of 83 consecutive games, as he had not missed a match since round 22, 2014 when he didn’t play because of hamstring soreness.

After making his debut in the opening round of 2010, Martin has played a remarkable 189 of a possible 193 games, having missed twice with injuries and twice because of an internal suspension.

Martin, with 36 possessions and a goal, polled maximum Brownlow Medal votes when the Tigers defeated Port in round 15 last year by 13 points in Adelaide.

After being told of Martin’s shock withdrawal, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said: “It’s a good headache not to have, I have got to say. He’s the best player in the competition.

“But you watch Richmond, you know how well they are playing at the moment. They’re not competing just as Dustin or Trent (Cotchin) or (Alex) Rance or (Jack) Riewoldt, the names that regularly get mentioned, the names that get missed are the names that are making significant impact in that side. It’s the whole lot of them, they’re putting an enormous amount of pressure on.

“You admire the way they play consistently now for a long period of time. It’s a real challenge to stay in that space. Every side is trying to do it and Richmond seem to be able to have mastered it week in, week out at the moment.”

The Tigers made two changes, recalling Anthony Miles for his first game of the season and Jason Castagna, back from a knee problem. Jack Graham was omitted. Miles had 43 possessions and kicked three goals in the VFL last weekend. But Richmond, who flew 23 players to Adelaide yesterday, warned of a late change should the forecast of wet conditions eventuate. Balme said Daniel Rioli was getting closer to his 2018 debut after fracturing his foot in last year’s grand final. Rioli is scheduled to play his first full game in the VFL this weekend after several games back at the lower level on restricted match time. Dion Prestia and Bachar Houli are expected to be available from injuries after the Tigers’ bye.

Port recalled Jasper Pittard at the expense of Jack Hombsch. Pittard has not played since being dumped to the SANFL after round seven.

Hinkley acknowledged his key forward Charlie Dixon was struggling to have an impact this year, having kicked just seven goals this season after a breakout season last year when he kicked 49 goals and was runner up to Paddy Ryder in the club’s best-and-fairest award.

“He’s not in his best form, he wouldn’t hide away from that,” Hinkley said. “What he needs to do is, it’s not about kicking goals, it’s not about taking marks — don’t get me wrong, we love all those things — but compete first and foremost, bring the ball to ground and make sure we can put on a really significant contest in our forward 50, and that will help the team. And with the prediction of the (wet) weather tomorrow night, that’s what we should expect from our bigger players.”