The Richmond great who handed the “idol of the Tiger Army baton” to Dustin Martin, has paid a glowing tribute to the triple Norm Smith Medal-winning superstar.

Before Dusty’s arrival at Tigerland, it was Matthew Richardson that captured the imagination of Yellow and Black barrackers with his exciting on-field exploits.

The vast majority of young Richmond supporters throughout Richo’s illustrious playing career at Punt Road proudly wore his No. 12 on the backs of their Tiger jumpers.

Richo retired in 2009, the same year the Tigers secured Dusty with their first pick (No. 3 overall) in the AFL national draft.

And, before long, Dusty’s No. 4 was being replicated on the Richmond jumpers of numerous young Tiger followers.

Richo also quickly became a big Dusty fan.

“Even his first pre-season, I’d just retired, and I remember talking to people at the Club and they go, oh gee, this guy Dustin Martin is going to be a player . . . just the stuff he was doing at training in that first pre-season.  And then you saw him come out in that first game (Round 1, 2010 v Carlton, MCG) and you went, oh yeah, this is a player,” Richo said on this week’s episode of the Club’s Talking Tigers podcast.

As the seasons rolled on, and Dusty’s football feats became more incredible and impactful, Richo, like all Tiger supporters, was in awe of him.

“He’s the best Richmond player that I have seen, there’s no doubt about that,” Richo said.

“The first thing I thought about when the news came through (of Dusty’s retirement), was joy and happiness, because that’s what he’s brought.

“All of my friends that are Richmond supporters, we’ve become closer mates through this era at Richmond, over the last 14 or 15 years, because of the success that the Club’s had.

“You get together and what do you end up talking about when you’re with your mates? Footy, and then invariably Dusty’s name would come up because he was at the forefront of all of it . . .

“The best moments man – that’s what I like to call him. When you needed something from Dusty, he produced it . . .

“My first memory this morning (when he heard the news of Dusty’s retirement) was the 2020 Grand Final . . . When you were back here in Melbourne, at the peak of Covid, sitting at home on your own watching that Grand Final, the four goals (he kicked).

“I will never forget those four goals. Each of them came at precisely the right time . . .

“The one before half-time, you watch (Geelong captain) Joel Selwood. His head drops down when Dusty kicks it because he knew. He’s like, we should have been further in front. And when he kicked it, you knew we had a sniff then at half-time.”

Richo also cited Dusty’s rare ability to lift crowds in big games at the MCG to fever pitch in anticipation of what he was about to do.

“There’s only one other player I can remember experiencing that with on a ground, and that was Gary Ablett senior. That’s good company,” Richo said.

“When the ball went near Dusty, the noise in the crowd just lifted, the atmosphere changed.”