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The Richmond Tigers must heed the advice of Kevin Bartlett and come down hard on Dustin Martin after his abhorrent behaviour on Saturday night, or they are, in effect, saying it’s okay to intimidate and make threats towards women.
Martin has apologised after he allegedly became aggressive towards a female patron of the Mr Miyagi restaurant, threatening to stab her with a chopstick, before slamming his hand next to her head after she said she would be informing the club of his behaviour.
One can only imagine how scary that would have been for the woman – referred to as ‘Tracey’ – with Martin’s frame allegedly standing over her.
Already on social media I’ve seen this incident made fun of by males, who also managed to put the blame back on Tracey, indicating she should have alerted the restaurant manager of Martin’s loudmouth antics, rather than take matters into her own hands.
It appears Martin was too drunk to remember the incident, so I’m more willing to believe Tracey. She says she simply asked if he could quieten down; a request that sent the Richmond player into a rage.
Martin admitted he was intoxicated, and was reportedly at the Stereosonic festival before making it out to the restaurant.
Of course, Stereosonic gets a bad rap in the media already, but that’s mainly for the drug culture. Most festival goers can take legal and illegal substances and still get through the day without making a physical threat of violence.
People like Martin, who can’t seem to control their actions while on the booze, should not drink and should accept they have a problem with alcohol.
The Tigers need to show that intoxication is no excuse for verbal abuse or threatening anyone, particularly a woman in public. If the Tigers don’t hand out a suitable punishment, then the AFL needs to step in and do more than they’ve done in the past (in 2009 Nathan Bock only missed a week of football after drunkenly assaulting his girlfriend).
The AFL, like most sporting organisations, has held its fair share of events to promote White Ribbon Day. While the organisation can’t control the actions of every player in the league, a strong stance needs to be taken or this incident becomes a precedent.
Richmond must step up as a club with a sizeable punishment, like the 12-month ban Bartlett suggests. Dustin Martin may be embarrassed that this has made the news, but at least he’s not traumatised like Tracey from the restaurant.
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