A Richmond Football Club life member has been revealed as the linchpin who brought arguably his club\u2019s greatest ever player to a tiny town in Far North Queensland. <\/p>\n
The Port Douglas Crocs announced on Tuesday evening that three-time Norm Smith medallist Dustin Martin will suit up for them on May 2 of this year in an AFL Cairns senior game. <\/p>\n
It will be the first time Martin has pulled on the boots since his retirement from the AFL in 2024. <\/p>\n
Former Tigers match day board man Tony Singarella was one of the key drivers of the move. <\/p>\n
His said his 21 years of involvement with the Tigers, helped him build a solid relationship with Martin over the course of his 302-game career. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had heard he may have been interested in playing footy again and had been training and got really fit,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI reached out and he knew my connection with Port Douglas and was comfortable with me and the club. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that his good friend and captain Trent Cotchin had played at the Crocs two seasons ago and had enjoyed it and was well looked after was a factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singarella has spent much of the last 10 years of his life in Port Douglas for both work and leisure, and it was through his connection with local businessman Craig Reynolds – who is on the committee at the Crocs – that his link to the club developed. <\/p>\n
Port Douglas president Matt Laskey said it was undeniable that without those two men the club would never have scored an all-time local football coup. <\/p>\n
\u201cWithout those two guys getting the conversation started and working alongside me, this wouldn\u2019t have happened,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
With this being Martin\u2019s first time playing football since his final game with Richmond, Laskey said ensuring the club \u201cabsolutely nailed\u201d everything about the event was crucial. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make sure we respect the way he goes about the game,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly hope everyone else that comes to warch the game and especially all the media just respect the way Dustin goes about it as well.\u201d <\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s time with the Crocs will start on the Thursday prior to their clash with the South Cairns Cutters on May 2. <\/p>\n
He is set to attend the club\u2019s junior training session before training with the senior men\u2019s side on that evening. <\/p>\n
After the game on Saturday he will be the drawcard for the traditional sportsman\u2019s night to be held at the club.<\/p>\n
DUSTY LOCKED IN FOR RETURN<\/p>\n
Richmond legend Dustin Martin is set to end his retirement with an appearance for a community footy club in Queensland.<\/p>\n
The Port Douglas Crocs, who play in AFL Cairns, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday evening that Martin will play in their May 2 clash with the South Cairns Cutters. <\/p>\n
Martin is widely regarded as one of the game\u2019s greatest players of all time, winning three premierships, three Norm Smith medals and a Brownlow Medal across a glittering 302-game career. <\/p>\n
In the statement, Port Douglas club president Matt Laskey said it would be a \u201ctruly special\u201d moment for the Crocs. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will bring the community together and showcase our local football on a big stage,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Martin, who retired in 2024, will join the likes of Dane Swan and Gary Ablett Jr in suiting up for a one-off match in Cairns over the last few years.<\/p>\n
Ablett, who played for Centrals Trinity Beach Bulldogs in 2023, wound back the clock in front of thousands of spectators, kicking a trademark goal within the first minute of the Wayne Jackson Memorial clash with North Cairns.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Martin will also be the third Richmond premiership player to feature in the AFL Cairns competition in the past few years, after Trent Cotchin played for Port Douglas in 2024 and Brandon Ellis suited up for the Cutters for five games in 2025. <\/p>\n
Former Port Adelaide forward Charlie Dixon also returned to his home city in 2025 to play for Saints.<\/p>\n
The Crocs secured the services of former Adelaide player Jared Petrenko for the upcoming season late last year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Richmond Football Club life member has been revealed as the linchpin who brought arguably his club\u2019s greatest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-561408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}