Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has refuted suggestions that star Tiger midfielder Dustin Martin’s form has tapered off slightly because he’s still nursing a groin injury.
Martin was in dominant form throughout the opening four rounds of the season, but hasn’t been quite as influential since it was revealed he had a minor groin complaint leading into the Round 5 Anzac Day Eve clash with Melbourne.
Hardwick, however, believes Martin is ready to rebound strongly in this Saturday night’s encounter with Western Bulldogs under the Etihad Stadium roof.
“That groin was probably a one-week thing,” Hardwick said.
“We’ve got incredibly high standards of Dustin . . .
“I think if we look at his game (v Adelaide last Sunday), if that was someone else, it’d still be a pretty good game,” Hardwick said.
“Was he as vibrant as he could have been? Probably not . . . off a six-day break (playing) interstate.
“His standards are so high and our level of expectation as a footy club and from a media perspective, are very high as well.
“He’s probably been a little bit off his best, but he’s still contributed, there’s no doubt about that . . .
“He prepares really well, and we’re really confident he’ll have a great game this week.”
Meanwhile, Hardwick also has backed the Tigers’ mature-age recruit, Josh Caddy, to have a greater impact within the line-up in coming weeks.
“He’s been okay, but he can play better,” Hardwick said.
“We think he can be a really valuable contributor for us.
“His flexibility is what we like.
“We probably haven’t settled him in a position as such. And we’re probably asking him to play a role that’s a little bit outside the scope that we got him here for – a little bit more up forward to provide a contest there.
“He hasn’t played as much centre bounce as he, or I, would like. That’s because we’ve needed him in other positions.
“What he has got, Josh, is he makes players around him better through his ability to play multiple positions.
“I think once we settle him down in a bona fide position, at some stage, he’ll be a lot more influential in and around the contest.”
