Sydney Swans coach John Longmeyer has cut ties between his club and Richmond star Dustin Martin although it has been suggested he could end his career in red and white.
Speculation about Martin’s future has intensified, especially after his absence at the start of the season, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick revealed that the 30-year-old was blessed if he wanted to move to an interstate club.
The three-time Norm Smith medalist is out of contract by the end of 2024, and with the trend of spending his leisure time in New South Wales, both Swann and the GWS giant have been added as potential future home.
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However, according to Longmeyer, the club’s chances of running in Martin’s swan color are not something entertaining at the moment.
“We didn’t talk about it. I’m not sure we talked about it except where it left us. It’s not something we discussed,” Longmayer said Wednesday.
“If you look at my history of commenting on players’ contracts, I don’t [even] Comment on our club players and their contract status. I certainly don’t comment on players from other contracted clubs, and I don’t read anything about it. It’s not something I’m involved in or talking about. “
Longmeyer’s comments came after Richmond’s senior adviser, Neil Balme, echoed Hardwick’s feelings about respecting Martin’s wishes if he wanted to step down.
“Our position is that he is contracted and we would love to have him and we hope he will and we think he will,” said Balme Sene.
“But the truth is if someone like Dusty, whom we hold in high esteem as a person, comes to Damien (Hardwick) and says, ‘All these things are happening in my life and I have to go to Sydney’, we must do it. We must listen to him.” .
“From a pure footy perspective, we’ve done everything we need to do. We’ve contracted him, he’s committed to us, we’re committed to him. We want him to stay. We don’t want him to go anywhere.
“If something really weird happens, there’s some kind of coward, and he’s lost his dad, and these kinds of things, of course we would listen to him. Because we respect him. But we don’t think it will happen.”
Martin has performed brilliantly in his two games since his return, averaging 43 settlements and five goal counts in Richmond’s two wins.
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