Dustin Martin

Dustin Martin
Personal information
Full name	Dustin Martin
Date of birth	26 June 1991 (1991-06-26) (age 20)
Place of birth	Castlemaine, Victoria
Original team	Bendigo Pioneers
Draft	3rd overall, 2009 Richmond
Height/Weight	187 cm / 86 kg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Richmond
Number	4
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2010–	Richmond	43 (44)[1]
1 Playing statistics to end of 2011 season .
Career highlights
All Australian Under 18 Team 2009 Rising Star Nomination (Round 10, 2010)

Dustin Martin (born 26 June 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently signed with Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL). In 2009 he played with the Bendigo Pioneers and the Victoria Country side in the under-18 national championships. He also made the All-Australian team in the centre position.^[2]

Early life

Martin was born in Castlemaine, Victoria to a Maori father from New Zealand and an Australian mother.^[3] He played football for Castlemaine in the Bendigo Football League before he left school in year 9 and moved to Sydney with his father, Shane. In Sydney he played for the Campbelltown Blues under 18's team, playing a senior game at the end of the season. Meanwhile he worked at Shane's transport business and Shane's girlfriend's sports apparel business.

Early football career

At the end of 2007 he moved back to Castlemaine where he played for the Castlemaine senior side. He played the last four games of the 2008 season for the Bendigo Pioneers in the TAC Cup. He returned to the Pioneers side the following year and played exceptionally well, coming runner-up in the best and fairest count. While playing for Bendigo he averaged 24.7 touches (9.7 of them contested) and 115 Supercoach points in 11 games. He also finished 1st in disposals, contested possessions, inside 50's and score assists.

Things got even better from there for Martin. He represented Vic Country in the under 18's championships, averaging 21.4 touches (7.2 contested) and 111 Supercoach points in five games. In one of the best games playing for Vic Country, Martin gathered 28 touches, 5 clearances and 193 Supercoach points against Western Australia in the final match of the under-18 national championships. He was selected in the under 18's All-Australian team.

Professional career

Martin entered the AFL draft camp at the AIS in Canberra, scoring an excellent 14.0 score in the endurance-based beep test and ran the 20 m sprint in 2.89 seconds, the second fastest at the camp.

Martin was drafted to Richmond with the third selection in the 2009 AFL Draft.

He debuted in the opening round of the 2010 season against Carlton. Despite the Tigers losing by 56 points, Martin impressed with 18 touches, four marks and three tackles and scoring 62 in AFL Dream Team

In round 5, 2011 against North Melbourne, Martin had what was described by Richmond coach, Damien Hardwick, as his "coming of age", kicking four goals and gathering 33 possessions.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Richmond Football Club Playerlist". Richmond Football Club. http://www.richmondfc.com.au/Players/tabid/7689/default.aspx. Retrieved 2011-09-06. 
2. ^ Robinson, Mark (7 November 2009) Dustin Martin's born to play AFL; Herald Sun
3. ^ "Dustin Martin's born to play AFL". Herald Sun (Australia). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tiger-tough/story-e6frf9jf-1225795211997. 
4. ^ Buckle, Greg (24 April 2011). "Martin fires Tigers to win over North". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/martin-fires-tigers-to-win-over-north-20110424-1dsxg.html. Retrieved 26 April 2011. 

External links

• Dustin Martin's statistics from AFL Tables
• Dustin Martin's profile on the Official AFL Website of the Richmond Football Club

Persondata
Name	Martin, Dustin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 June 1991
Place of birth	Castlemaine, Australia
Date of death
Place of death