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AFL 2022: Dustin Martin still two weeks away as Tigers boss labels Shai Bolton close to the league’s best player

 NCA NewsWire
Richmond is taking a cautious approach to Dustin Martin. David Crosling
Camera IconRichmond is taking a cautious approach to Dustin Martin. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia

Richmond won’t release superstar Dustin Martin back onto an AFL field until there’s zero risk of him re-injuring his hamstring.

A round 23 return looms as a best possible scenario as the Tigers push for a finals berth.

But Martin’s absence has been offset by the continued rise of Shai Bolton who senior Tigers advisor Neil Balme said was on the verge of becoming the “best player in the competition”.

Bolton was brilliant in Richmond’s stunning second-half resurgence and ultimately victory over Brisbane on Sunday that lifted the Tigers to just two points outside the top eight with three rounds remaining.

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Balme said should the 23-year-old find the consistency that is the mark of the truly great players he could be “hard to stop”.

“I say, to myself, if he actually played consistently, he’s nearly the best player in the comp,” Balme said on Tuesday.

“He does play reasonable consistently, but so much of it is that natural brilliance. Part of the challenge of being a great player is doing it consistently and that’s still his test.

“Can you imagine if he did play at his absolute maximum all the time, he’d be hard to stop.”

The Tigers also want Martin, who hasn’t played since round 16 in an interrupted 2022, to be at his best when he returns. Balme said the club was being ultra cautious with the 31-year-old triple Norm Smith medallist.

“We‘re not taking any risks with Dusty, he’s probably going to miss another one or two (weeks),” Balme told RSN.

“So we just make sure we get enough work into him so that if we do have the opportunity to really challenge, we‘ve got to make that sure we don’t lose him to a tertiary hamstring.

“So we‘re being a little bit careful with him. but we’re pretty confident he’ll be OK.

Richmond’s renewed finals push has come after a draw against Fremantle and loss to last-placed North Melbourne that demands victories in the final three matches, starting this week against Port Adelaide, to finish in the top eight.

But Balme, a key figure in three Tigers premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020, said should Richmond get to the finals, their best was good enough to challenge anyone.

“We think we can challenge everyone if we are given the opportunity,” he said.

“It is a bit unpredictable but our best is very strong … if we give ourselves a chance to be in finals, we’ll have a good showing.”

Originally published as AFL 2022: Dustin Martin still two weeks away as Tigers boss labels Shai Bolton close to the league’s best player

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