AFL’s great Kane Cornes has shattered Richmond superstar Dustin Martin over a journalist’s “petulant” resentment.
Martin injured his hamstrings while playing against the West Coast over the weekend, and on Monday went on to do explorations of the injury.
A TV reporter approached him and asked him to comment on the injury, but the 2017 Brownlow medalist completely ignored the interrogation and left.
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Martin is one of the two most recognized players in the AFL, alongside Lance Franklin of Sydney. He is in the argument for the best the game has ever played, with three prime ministers to his name and three Norm Smith medals for best field in these grand finals.
And at 31, Cornes believes Martin should know how to handle the media better than he did this week.
Dustin Martin of the Tigers. (AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“It’s pretty petulant, don’t you think? I thought it was Dustin Martin’s petulant,” Cornes told SEN radio.
“You have the biggest star in the game who basically refuses to talk to Channel 7’s No. 1 journalist, the presenter, and looks at him with genuine contempt and completely ignoring him.
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“There’s a level of respect about how you treat people. A lot of football fans don’t value the media and a lot of players don’t either, but I think it’s more about how you treat people and if you’re you will accept a 1.2 check million dollars a year basically from media rights, I think there’s a real arrogance about it, and some people would say it’s exaggerating, but then he refuses to do interviews on the ground.
“You’re the biggest star in the game. I don’t think it’s hard to just say, ‘Hey, Mitch, I’m not sure mate, we’ll know later this week.’ That’s all you have to say.
“You’re also talking to fans. You may hate the media, but you’re talking to the 100,000 Richmond members who never listen to you.”
Martin is notoriously shy about the media despite being the best and most prominent player in the game.
After hamstring scans, the Tigers announced that the superstar will miss this week’s game against the Gold Coast.
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