Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has downplayed links between his club and Richmond star Dustin Martin despite suggestions he could end his career in the red and white.
Speculation surrounding Martin’s future has intensified, particularly after his leave of absence earlier in the season, with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick revealing the 30-year-old had his blessing if he wanted to leave to an interstate club.
The three-time Norm Smith medallist is out of contract at the end of 2024, and with his tendency to spend his spare time in New South Wales, both the Swans and GWS Giants have been linked as potential future homes.
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However, according to Longmire, the prospect of Martin running around in Swans colours is not something the club is currently entertaining.
“We haven’t spoken about him. I’m not sure where that leaves us other than the fact we haven’t spoken about it. It’s not something we’ve discussed,” Longmire said on Wednesday.
“If you look at the history of me commenting on players’ contracts, I don’t [even] comment on players from our club and their contract status. I certainly don’t comment on players from other clubs that are contracted, and don’t read anything into that either. It’s just not something I get involved in or talk about.”
Longmire’s comments came after Richmond’s senior advisor, Neil Balme, echoed Hardwick’s sentiment about respecting Martin’s wishes should he seek a move away.
“Our position is he’s contracted and we’d love him to stay and we hope he does and we think he will,” Balme said on SEN.
“But the truth is if someone like Dusty, who we respect so much as an individual, came to Damien (Hardwick) and said, ‘There’s all of these things happening in my life and I need to go to Sydney’, we certainly would have to listen to him.
“From a pure footy point of view, we’ve done all the things we needed to. 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 happened, which kind of has with the COVID, and his losing his dad and all those sort of things, of course we’d listen to him. Because we respect him. But we don’t think that will happen.”
Martin has performed well in his two matches after a leave of absence, tallying 43 disposals and five goals in two Richmond wins since his comeback.