Dustin Martin had settled on his decision to retire at least two months before his final AFL game.
The future Hall of Fame Legend ended months of speculation on August 6 when he announced his retirement, effective immediately, after 302 games for Richmond.
The 33-year-old had kept everyone in the dark about his plans beyond 2024 for most of the year until, in typical Dustin Martin fashion, he bowed out of the game with nothing but a quiet statement via the club’s website after the Tigers’ Round 21 loss to North Melbourne.
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Only a select group of teammates were told that this would be his last year, but even they didn’t know exactly when he would pull the trigger.
“I didn’t know it was going to be the last game,” Richmond forward Tom Lynch said on Triple M.
“I knew that he was going to finish up at some stage this year; he told a group of us probably six or eight weeks prior to that, that he’s going to finish up (and) he’s not sure how many more games he’ll play.”
For some time, many were certain that he would link up with former coach Damien Hardwick at the Suns for the twilight of his glittering career.
But Lynch knew that was never any real chance.
“I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to Gold Coast — I was certain of that,” he said.
“I knew that he would finish up at Richmond when he let us know that.
“Clearly his 300th game out here (at the MCG) was a great game to celebrate him and (it was) a massive turnout by the Tiger army.
“He’s had a massive impact on my career and the whole Richmond footy club. He’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had.”
Martin will do one final lap of the MCG this weekend to wave his last goodbyes to the Tigers faithful before his now former side plays against — as fate would have it — Hardwick’s Suns.
The 2017 Brownlow medallist and three-time Norm Smith medallist is irreplaceable and will leave a gaping hole at Punt Road.
It’s a hole that coach Adem Yze says will not be compounded by the departures of contracted duo Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli, admitting speculation around the stars’ futures has been frustrating as the Tigers attempt to grind out a brutal season.
The last-placed Tigers face crunch list management decisions around their premiership-winning stars.
Liam Baker is expected to join West Coast or Fremantle and the Eagles are also chasing free agent Jack Graham — with Yze understanding their situations, given they are out of contract.
He is less happy with talk around Bolton, who is contracted until 2028 but has been linked to a return to Western Australia, and Rioli, who is in Gold Coast’s sights despite being signed until the end of 2027.
“As I’ve said all along, he’s (Bolton) a contracted player. He’s one of our best players, and right now he’s got a long-term deal with our footy club, so until that changes, yeah, he’s a required player,” Yze said after Sunday’s 63-point thrashing by Hawthorn at the MCG.
“When we’re talking about guys out of contract, like Liam Baker and Jack Graham, I get it, but when we’re talking about players that have got long-term deals that are contracted to our footy club, that does get a little bit frustrating.
“Liam will make that decision. Jack Graham’s got that decision. He’s got a contract in front of him, they both have. They’ll make that decision in due course.
“And like I said, the other two (Bolton and Rioli) are contracted and required players at our footy club. So it is what it is.”
Despite the scrutiny, Bolton was among Richmond’s more influential players on Sunday, with Yze hailing his “pressure and defence”.
Yze admitted his first season had felt “a little bit tight” and a longer year given what the injury-riddled Tigers had been through.
Richmond close their season against Gold Coast at the MCG next Saturday while fighting an unlikely battle to avoid their first wooden spoon since 2007. They are four points and percentage below second-bottom North Melbourne, who play the rampaging Hawthorn.
Yze said it will be important to pay tribute to Martin this weekend, and to finish the season off on the right note.
“It is going to be around that, celebrating obviously one of our best,” Yze said.
“It’s our last home game. We want to finish off the right way, all those sorts of things.
“But at the same time, our team’s going to be different next year, whether it is those players that you’re talking about, or the fact that we’ve got guys retiring and we’ve got to make some decisions on our list anyway.
“You want to do your supporters and our Tiger army proud but at the same time we’re going to have different players wearing the jumper the following season.
“So we want to finish off strongly and put on a really good performance for our supporters.”
– With AAP