'Suck it up': AFL great's swipe at frustrated Dustin Martin

Dustin Martin has been told to “suck it up” after the Richmond star was left frustrated by Greater Western Sydney’s tactics in Saturday’s loss.

GWS tagger Matt de Boer sat on Martin all game, restricting him to 15 disposals, with the attention clearly not impressing the Richmond midfield ace.

Martin lost his cool at several times during the match and will now miss Richmond’s matches against Port Adelaide and Sydney after being hit with a two-match suspension on Monday afternoon.

Martin struck GWS Giants defender Adam Kennedy in an off-the-ball incident in Saturday’s loss, and the star midfielder could yet receive another penalty for making an unsporting gesture in the same match.

The suspension also means he cannot win the Brownlow Medal, an accolade he won in the Tigers’ 2017 premiership year.

The Tigers will now decide whether they take the charge to the tribunal.

Match Review Officer Michael Christian deemed it as intentional conduct with medium impact to the head, resulting in the two-game ban.

“Taking into account the visual look of the incident, the player reaction, the medical report and the potential to cause a more serious injury … we decided the appropriate grading was medium in this case,” Christian said.

In the wake of tagging tactics that GWS applied to Martin with great affect, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick defended his star player.

Hardiwick challenged umpires to get tougher on teams employing similar tactics in the future.

“Protect the ball-carrier, is what I’m saying. Don’t get me wrong, De Boer did a terrific job, but geez. I’m certainly frustrated,” he said.

“I’d be interested to see what the umpiring fraternity says about it.”

However, St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt argued that it’s merely part of the game and insisted it was up to Martin and the Tigers to learn how to deal with it.

He claims de Boer was playing well within the rules by employing the stifling tactics on Martin.

“We’ve all been there as players who would’ve been tagged every week as key forwards, so the mids can probably suck it up a little bit and understand what it’s like to get tagged every week,” Riewoldt said.

“De Boer didn’t, I think, overstep the mark in terms of unnecessary niggle, punches behind play, hits in the back — I didn’t think there was anything over the top.”

Martin is in double trouble from the AFL after the volatile loss to the Giants.

He will come under video scrutiny for a hit well off the ball in the second term of Saturday’s clash that cost the Tigers a free kick and a goal.

Separately, the AFL could ask Martin to explain a couple of incidents where he flipped the bird to an opponent and also imitated snorting drugs.

The speculation is that the drugs sledge was directed at Shane Mumford, who was suspended for the opening two games this season after a video emerged of him snorting white powder.

At worst, Martin could be suspended for the off-the-ball hit and also fined for the gestures.

It’s a worrying period for the Tigers, who have lost their last two games and could be without their Big Four for next Saturday’s away game against Port Adelaide.

They have already lost Alex Rance for the rest of the season with a knee reconstruction, while Jack Riewoldt has a wrist injury.

Captain Trent Cotchin also hurt his hamstring in the GWS loss and now Martin might also be sitting out the Power clash.

With AAP