In the 18^th of a Bingle Recruitment Zone special series, focusing on 20 highlights from Richmond’s trade/draft history during the off-season, we chart Dustin Martin’s rise to league football stardom.

Going into the 2009 AFL National Draft, Richmond found itself in a similar situation to two years earlier, when Carlton received a priority pick ahead of the Tigers, who ‘won’ the 2007 wooden-spoon.

In ’09, Richmond finished second last, with Melbourne taking out the spoon, but the Demons qualified for a priority pick, which meant they had the first two selections in that year’s draft.

Although this was a clear disadvantage for the Tigers, the end result definitely turned out to their liking.

Melbourne opted to use those top two picks on talented Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Tom Scully and promising Sturt (SANFL) teenager Jack Trengove, leaving the draft door wide open for Richmond to claim the player it had wanted all along – 18-year-old Dustin Martin, who had played in the TAC Cup with Bendigo Pioneers, as well as at senior level for Castlemaine in the Bendigo League.

The Tigers duly pounced, taking Martin with the third pick overall in the ’09 National Draft.

Martin, a powerfully-built midfielder, with prolific ball-winning ability, excellent kicking skills, and an innate goal sense, had been earmarked by Richmond as its No. 1 draft choice for quite some time.

Tiger talent scouts were captivated by Martin’s blend of inside and outside midfield polish, his strength of character, and maturity.

“Dustin has been on our radar since last year.  He is a special talent and we have tracked him closely,” said a delighted Richmond Recruiting Manager Francis Jackson, at the completion of the ’09 National Draft.

“We knew last year that he would go top five in the draft.  He has improved even further over the past year and had a stellar performance at the under-18s national carnival, which culminated in him being named in the All-Australian side (in the centre) . . . 

 “He is unbelievably football focused.

“Despite leaving school early, he has had terrific life experiences and is a very hard worker.

“He is a nice country kid, very humble, but has a fanatical desire to be the best he can . . .”

Former AFL player Jamie Elliott, was the senior coach at Castlemaine in 2008, when a then 16-year-old Dustin Martin came under his guidance.

Elliott, who played 58 games for Fitzroy, Richmond and St Kilda, in a six-year league career, knew straight away that Martin was something special.

Castlemaine struggled throughout the ’08 season, winning only five of 16 games, but it had a real shining light in Martin.

Despite missing the last two games of that season, when he was called up for TAC Cup duties by Bendigo Pioneers, Martin won Castlemaine’s leading goalkicker award, with 22 goals – 11 of them coming in his final two games with the club – against Kyneton, and eventual grand finalist, Golden Square. 

“He’s just a powerful, powerful kid.  I used to do one-on-ones with him as a 16-year-old, and he would just push me off the ball,” Elliott said.

 “I’ve never seen a kid run into a pack of six or seven men, and come out backwards with the ball.  It’s not as though he was running through the pack . . . he would run in like a bull, grab the footy, and run out backwards.

“There’s no doubt he’s the best kid I’ve seen play at that age.  He’s just a phenomenal talent.”

Martin proceeded to produce a stunning debut season at Richmond in 2010.

He finished fourth in the Jack Dyer Medal and, may well have won the AFL’s Rising Star award, if he hadn’t received a Tribunal reprimand for an illegal bump.

Such was the profound, immediate impact Martin had with the Tigers, at the end of his first year he was awarded Club ‘Immortal’ Royce Hart’s famous No. 4 guernsey.

And, Martin has clearly done justice to that great Tiger honor since then . . .

He finished third in the Jack Dyer Medal in 2011, equal 10^th in 2012, runner-up in 2013 and was third again this year.

Early in season 2014, when Richmond was really struggling, it was Martin who stood out like a beacon with his imposing form.

Later on, when the Tigers got their act together, and stormed home to grab a finals berth, Martin had a significant impact deep forward, where his sublime skills in crucial one-on-one contests proved so decisive.

Indeed, a late-season statistical analysis revealed that Martin was far and away the best offensive one-on-one player in the competition. 

He was credited with winning 56% of his one-out battles, which, when you consider the AFL average stood at 26%, is a truly remarkable result.

Martin averaged a career-high 25.4 disposals per match throughout 2014, was ranked second in the competition for total kicks, 12^th for uncontested possessions, kicked 27 goals, and was named in the initial All-Australian 40-player squad, to cap off another first-rate season by him.

With 109 games and 117 goals to his credit after just five seasons, and still only 23 years of age, Dustin Martin clearly has the football world at his talented feet.