Dustin Martin added another Richmond trophy to his cabinet this week which interim coach Andrew McQualter said was evidence of how “invested” the superstar is at Punt Road amid talk of a potential reunion with Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast.
Martin took out the club‘s annual golf tournament, despite being ”pretty horrible at golf” and McQualter was adamant the triple-premiership winner had given zero indication of a desire to leave Punt Road.
Amid the club-wide “shock” of seeing premiership coach Hardwick unveiled by the Suns this week in a red polo after 13 seasons in yellow and black came reports Martin, 32, could possibly look to finish his career on the glitter strip.
The exits of premiership teammates Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin, who have both retired, fulled that talk, although Martin is contracted for two more seasons at Richmond.
McQualter, who confirmed he would be interviewed for the full-time coaching job as soon as next week. said Martin, who was best on ground in last week’s win over North Melbourne, was still completely committed to Tigerland. .
“He can’t perform the way he does without being incredibly invested. He’s in a great space,” McQualter said.
“He won our annual golf tournament yesterday. He’s pretty pleased with himself because he’s pretty hopeless a golf. That’s the beauty of handicaps.
“But he’s in a great spot.”
McQualter, who took over when Hardwick quit early in the season, conceded it was “unusual” to see his old boss in a red polo.
“I don’t know if the red suited him. It was a bit strange to be honest because I have seen him in these colours for so long. Ultimately I’m really happy for him,” he said.
“There would be no person at the Richmond football club who wouldn’t be pleased for him.”
The stand-in coach said he would turn his attention to preparing for his interview with club officials after this week’s season-ending clash with Port Adelaide.
McQualter is one of a small pool of candidates including Melbourne assistant coach Adem Yze, and former Richmond captain Chris Newman, for the coaching role.
He said the final round performance would have no bearing on his chances.
“It’s important for the team, but it’s not important for me, at all,” he said
“I’ve said this all along. Our job here is to coach players to be competitive and win games of football. The group is driven .. .to bring the energy.”
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