“Me back to my best? Yep, no worries!” Dustin Martin post-game on Tuesday night at Metricon Stadium. Photo: AFL MEDIA.
AFL footballers aren’t the first travellers to feel the Gold Coast sand beneath their toes, and they won’t be the last.
It’s usually the fine grains on the water’s edge at Surfers Paradise that local tourism bodies are spruiking to visiting Victorians, rather than the gritty yellow stuff on centre wing at Metricon Stadium.
But that Carrara cow paddock right now presents the AFL with one of very few lands of opportunity as it attempts to complete its 153-game season (plus finals).
The significant wear and tear means Metricon Stadium is starting to resemble Docklands at its Colonial Stadium/Telstra Dome worst. Well, almost.
The Gold Coast venue has hosted an unprecedented amount of games this season – up to 19 and counting in just over six weeks since the restart – and is in dire need of a spell that the AFL can’t afford to give it.
It begs an obvious question: Is the surface safe?
Unlike Docklands, where new turf has repeatedly struggled to take hold, the surface isn’t shifting. It’s simply worn out in patches, and, as far as we know, clubs haven’t raised any serious issues with it just yet.
But there’s a tight watch on Metricon Stadium as it hosts another two games this round and six over the next 11 days. Players might soon have to trade in their flashy fluorescent footwear for pairs of work boots.
The damaged deck didn’t seem to bother Dustin Martin on Tuesday night as he put to bed any doubt about who the best player in the game is right now.
“Christian Pe-who?” the Brownlow and dual Norm Smith medallist might have whispered on his way to 24 disposals, 10 score involvements and three goal assists.
Richmond is into second in premiership betting (behind West Coast) after executing perfectly against a wayward Brisbane side that would be kicking itself in the backside if it could hit the target.
The result was a 15th straight victory for Damien Hardwick’s men against the Lions in what is the longest active winning streak held by any AFL club against an opponent.
Dusty’s sublime field-kicking, Jack Riewoldt’s return to form, Shai Bolton’s long bomb from the centre square and Marlion Pickett’s blind turn deep in the back pocket were just a few reminders that the “Tiger Train” isn’t ready to run off the tracks just yet.
Riewoldt’s combination with Tom Lynch saw the key forward pair combine for seven goals. It was a feat they have only achieved in one previous match – the 2019 grand final.
Noah Balta is a star on the rise and Richmond still has premiership heroes David Astbury, Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy, Bachar Houli and, possibly, Shane Edwards to return before the finals.
More than 10 months on from its grand final belting of Greater Western Sydney, Hardwick can finally declare Richmond looks like Richmond again.
That brings us to a new footy cliche. It’s one you’ll no doubt see again in the coming days if you tune into a post-match press conference. The coach of a team that plays poorly says, “It didn’t look like us”.
The problem is, if you produce that sort of performance more often than not, then that’s exactly what you look like to everyone else.
Matthew Nicks has already gone down that path. Adelaide hasn’t won in more than 12 months and the first-year coach is on the verge of becoming the first coach in history to start his career 0-10.
The Crows are in all sorts of trouble, much like the Carrara sandpit. But they’re both still in better nick than some of the haircuts getting around this season.
Forget the proverbial Melbourne Cup field, we’re seeing a number much closer to the initial list of nominations for the race that stops the nation.
The only logical conclusion we can land on is that players in hubs are extremely bored – but at least they’re not visiting day spas and theme parks.
