When a young talented player is chosen early in the national draft, AFL player managers swarm around them and their families like bees around a honey pot.
They know a good thing when they see one and realise that if they can nab this talented player, who an AFL Club has chosen as their first pick and is in the top five or ten overall, he will be a handy addition to their stable as the years go on.
If these youngsters reach the heights they were chosen for, both the player and his manager will be well looked after financially.
But there are examples of some players and their managers asking for overs, causing a standoff between the footballer and his team.
One such case is the brilliant midfielder, Dustin Martin. The explosive onballer has played 86 games in four years and has proven to be a match-winner at times and has also shown he could become one of the greats of the game.
However, after months of negotiations, he has rejected Richmond’s latest offer for a new contract and he and his manager, Ralph Carr are now considering other options.
He doesn’t seem completely lost to the Tigers just yet, but understandably, Richmond is disappointed, considering how talented Martin is.
Richmond gave him his chance and have also assisted in a number of off field challenges and issues, which have threatened to derail his career.
The Tigers have a particular player payment structure in place and most of their talented young players have committed to the short and medium term as this club tries to develop an era of success after making the finals for the first time this season since 2001.
Martin’s manager is the maverick, Ralph Carr, better known for dealing with musicians.
He was involved with Travis Cloke and his father David last year when they were dealing with Collingwood in search of a new and lucrative contract, which was eventually signed-off on.
However, there were times when both parties walked away from discussions and Cloke, who is one of if not the best key forward in the competition was a good chance of playing elsewhere.
Now, I am not casting aspersions towards Carr, but the music and footy industries are different beasts and for the second year in a row, he is involved in an AFL player contract, which has got more complicated than it needed to.
Young Dustin could do with a more footy-savvy manager, of which there are many of them.
Martin as we know was suspended by the club for missing a training session last year for taking a sleeping tablet, for which the same act cost his close friend and former team-mate his career at Richmond.
The Tigers were criticised for applying one rule to one and a different rule to another and although they have been happy with his commitment since that mishap, Martin has had issues getting the right balance when away from the club and footy.
He is still in the early days of his career and the Tigers by all accounts are offering him an excellent deal, which if managed properly will set him up for life, but the advice he’s receiving is pushing for much more.
Other clubs would love him, but as mentioned it’s a massive risk to pay overs for a player still proving himself and who is still adjusting to life in a fishbowl as an AFL player and potentially a future star.
There’s an old saying in this game. There’s no loyality in footy and it’s true to some extent, but the Tigers stuck by this young man in difficult times last year and he needs to repay that faith.
I understand he has every right to consider his options, but will other clubs think the asking price despite his obvious talent will be too much of a risk and wouldn’t be embarrassing if Martin went back to Punt Road with cap in hand?
That could still happen yet and the Tigers might have to have a wet towel waiting at the door to wipe the egg off his face!
Let’s hope he comes to his senses and stays at Tigerland. It would be good for footy!
George Max Baer
Guest
Dustin Martin is the same person he always was. But people, as they go, time teaches. So, you learn as you go. He's doing his best. It's been a real rollercoaster ride for him and Richmond. I've heard that no club seems to want him at the moment. And now he has to go back to Richmond where they will offer him less money. So there is a lesson to be learnt from that. Don't be too greedy.
gavin
Guest
I believe there is more to being an AFL player than chasing the dollars. Yes, I know where some posters are coming from regarding short careers and clubs delisting players when their time is up. However, to me a true AFL player stays at a club who have bent over backwards to look after their wellbeing, developed him as a player and a person and also takes the opportunity to be apart of a great culture who could potentially win a premiership. I feel a lot of players are going the NBA route and following the cash. Just as Lebron James was criticised (I am not putting Martin in James' category!!!) . He does not have the character to be a real star, or the grit,
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
If the sentiment expressed on Richmond Facebook is anything to go by, he's 'gone' even if, by some miracle, he ends up staying. I've heard kinder, warmer, more endearing comments made about Robert Mugabe in the past, than I read about DM on that site today.
michael roach
Guest
i tell u what , the bloody media should be the ones that supplement the bulls pay packet with the amount they have made out of this kid, every year it continues. and after all remember the club that you are dealing with here, i was 15 when we won the flag in 1980 and old enough to still still remember how that felt, unfortunately i was not old enough to understand the politics of footy when we sank to the depths, i still dont believe that we have fully recovered, it will take us a lot of work yet even to be considered a flag contender, call me crazy and sentimental about what im about to say but this is fact, in the past 4 years there has been a lot that we have done right, but the ommission of foley instead of petterd for the elimination will stick with me forever until i hear an official explanation which is highly unlikely now that there are so many other bigger stories in footy, there is a lot of things that im not liking about richmond at the moment and that is the main one, secondly we should not have released any info to yhe media about the fact that martin wanted another week to consider , i dont think he was asking for too much in terms of time, but we are after all richmond, how must foley be feeling???? that could be the beginning of the rot, discusting decision
Cat
Roar Guru
Then perhaps he should start acting like one and not needing a full time babysitter.
Australian Rules
Guest
I know. Ridiculous isn't it?
Popsy
Guest
Dusty needs to earn as much as he can now, due to him being unemployable once he is done. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Radelaide
Guest
I mean Tippett
BigAl
Guest
but Dustin Martin is a full growed man !
polly
Guest
He doesn't need to build the next space shuttle mate, just play footy. He's already earning more in a year than any university educated 22 yr old could hope to make, regardless of their field, so I suppose he's making the most of what life has handed him. The fact that his chosen profession has a habit of spitting previously fit young men out the back door ,once their bodies break down ,may be playing on his mind. I'm sure pro footy players have income protection insurance against injuries etc, but I don't think anyone is going to insure him against not winning a flag, with Richmond or any other club.
Radelaide
Guest
You could complain about the situation but the crows bent over backwards and broke the rules for him for which they are still feeling the punishment and he still shafted them, it just happens and if the tigers do lose him they just have to move on after all no player is bigger than the club (except Buckley).
hawker
Guest
GWS could take him in PS draft for nothing no way they are trading pick 1 in national draft. Richmond won't get what they paid for him.
polly
Guest
Maybe he feels Richmond can't offer him the opportunity of both success & wealth. The wealth is a given, no matter which club he plays for, so that leaves success. If he is serious about leaving then he must doubt Richmond's ability to win a flag in the span of his career. Me thinks his agent has played this game before, doesn't need to know anything about football to know that talent demands money & in a market short on talent it's not hard to see who has the leverage. I think he'll re-sign with the Tigers,for more than they've offered thus far, some fans will hold it against him, some won't. Some team-mates won't care, some will be let go to accommodate him, som will hope his presence helps them achieve success they might not have had without him.
steve
Guest
I think it's natural that just about any player out there tests the waters so to speak:).Yes i do agree the Tiges have been great to Dusty I'm not a Tiges supporter by the way:).If he does stay no doubt it will be a fair amount less than what he can get elsewhere but I'm not saying of course the Tiges offer is small by any means:).
Australian Rules
Guest
I disagree. And Dustin Martin has virtually required a chaperone all year, so "best interests" should be at the forefront of any recommendations and advice that his Manager is providing to him.
David Ward
Guest
It may be mystifying to some people but, despite all his alleged issues, Dustin Martin is as beloved at Tigerland as Cotchy is and Richo was. On song, he's as good as his captain and better than the Channel 7 boundary rider - he certainly kicks the ball better than either, which is what wins GFs. I'm not as interested in his "rap sheet" as Caroline Wilson is - she ought to be more concerned about her own, given the scandalously high number of factual errors observed in her work this year - and I expect Dan's expert impressions are little more than recycled rumours. But from what I've read his trangressions don't exactly warrant him being fitted with ankle bracelets or forced to report to the local police station at regular intervals. They're not in the same solar system of severity as allegations faced by Collingwood and St Kilda players at various times, for example, nor those which landed the unwisely-elevated Liam Jurrah in such trouble. Dustin came to Richmond out of the same draft that delivered Scully and Trengove to Melbourne, courtesy of Jordy McMahon's uncharacteristic accuracy in front of goal late in 2009, after the siren. He's on less than half the money Scully gets despite knocking back GWS before the latter was even approached. And he's approximately twice as good - he's barely missed a game in four years, and never through injury or form. The dollar-chasing and handcuff gesture are distasteful and suggest a certain lack of Edith Wharton's "other-regarding" qualities. But he's not the only mercenary in the AFL. To the contrary - he's following the example of his betters, from the CEO down. Pay him the money and hope he matures before his next contract comes up, Tiges.
Samual Johnson
Guest
On the flip side. It could be argued they profited significantly from the demise of Fitzroy. Also, Martin may still be a Tiger's player. He stated last night he was still keen to stay.
BigAl
Guest
A manager's job is to seek opportunities for, and negotiate on behalf of, the guy that he works for within the parameters set by the guy paying him - he is not his guardian which "...best interests..." suggests.
RPollock
Guest
With the money and picks that GWS have its a gold mine for players like Martin. Why not take the cash and put up with winning 2 or 3 games a year. It is starting to be a problem for clubs where one cashed up club, courtesy of AFL $$$, are paying overs for players. Other clubs have to be fiscally responsible but not GWS.
Cat
Roar Guru
Dustbin is a wreck up from the neck up, cut him loose Tigs, set the culture right and you'll get much further then being stuck babysitting this wannabe thug.