There will likely be some fresh ink involved – but Richmond superstar Dustin Martin has revealed tennis legend Serena Williams won’t feature in his party plans this time around.
The 29-year-old kicked four superb goals to mastermind the Tigers’ 31-point comeback victory over Geelong in the first-ever AFL grand-final at the Gabba.
He became the first player in AFL history to win three Norm Smith Medals and is now a three-time premiership-winning player.
“We’ll enjoy it together as a club back at the resort that we’re at and then I might stick around here for a little bit, see what happens,” Martin said when quizzed on his party plans post-match.
MORE: Martin wins unprecedented third Norm Smith Medal
The heavily tattooed midfielder confirmed he’ll likely acquire some new ink to celebrate the Tigers’ latest success.
Martin made a cameo appearance in a video posted by Williams on Instagram from a luxury resort last off-season.
But asked if he has plans to party with 23-time grand-slam winner Williams after this year’s triumph, he replied: “No not this year.”
Meanwhile, Martin was sheepish when asked the significance of winning his third Norm Smith Medal.
“I don’t know what it means to me at the moment, there’s no way I would have been able to do it without my team-mates,” he said.
“We’re an unbelievable team, it’s not a one-man job, we all do our part and I’m just incredibly grateful to be a member on the team.”
Reminded he is now a three-time premiership player, Martin was more forthcoming: “Yeah that’s the cool one right there.
“As Dimma (coach Damien Hardwick) said the adversity that we faced this year, I still can’t believe it, it’s very special at a very special club.”
Hardwick, who was seen standing and applauding Martin in the coach’s box, lauded the star midfielder's performance post-match.
“The significance of his goals were really important, he kicked some really good goals on the biggest stage and then we just looked at the quality of work that he put in throughout the game and you sort of probably knew his third Norm Smith was not too far away,” Hardwick said.
He added of Martin’s pivotal goal late in the second quarter: “Yeah it was an important goal, Geelong held sway for the vast majority of that second quarter and we just needed a goal, we couldn’t buy one.
“Once again that’s what great players do, they take their opportunities and they get the job done and that’s why he sits there with his third Norm Smith really.”
