Dustin Martin’s manager Ralph Carr confirms meeting with Fox Sports officials

Dustin Martin’s manager Ralph Carr has confirmed the 302-game AFL superstar has met with Fox Sports bosses.

The rumour mill was set alight on Tuesday when a photo emerged that showed Martin and Carr sitting down with Foxtel Group CEO Patrick Delaney, Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley, and Fox Footy commentator Jack Riewoldt, who won three flags alongside Martin at Richmond.

On Wednesday, Carr issued a statement admitting to the meeting’s occurrence, but stopped short of sharing any details about what was discussed.

“I can confirm that Dustin Martin and myself had a meeting with Patrick Delaney, Steve Crawley and Jack Riewoldt from Fox Footy,” Carr said.

“At this point I am not going to go into specifics as it was a private discussion, but hopefully we will have some news to share when the time is right.”

A move into the media for the famously camera-shy Martin, who notoriously shunned attention as much as humanly possible for a player of his gravity during his 15-year career, would be a shock to say the least.

It would also put a final full-stop on speculation that the 33-year-old will come out of retirement to link up with former coach Damien Hardwick at the Gold Coast Suns.

Martin announced his immediate retirement in a snap media release in August, bringing an end to his glittering career that included a Brownlow and an unprecedented three North Smith medals.

He had already been linked to a move to the Suns before his retirement, and the speculation was reignited in September when he reached out to key Gold Coast officials.

But those talks soon appeared dead and buried.

Martin was asked point-blank if he would be continuing his career at the Suns when he arrived at the Tigers best and fairest on Tuesday.

“Happily retired,” he told Channel 9 in October.

Despite the constant media speculation, former teammate Trent Cotchin always doubted a move would happen.

“I’ve moved even closer to the zero per cent. I’m going to say not even 0.1 per cent of a chance,” he said on Talking Footy in September.

Arguably the biggest of big-game players, Martin won the Norm Smith Medal in all three premierships during the Tigers’ era of dominance from 2017-20.

He played 278 of his 302 games at Richmond under Hardwick, who has just completed his first season in charge at the Suns.

Martin endured an injury-plagued end to his career at Richmond.

After an emotional 300th game against Hawthorn, Martin was subbed out in his next match against Carlton.

He missed a month of football before returning for one final game against North Melbourne in Round 21.

The Tigers lost that match and then, two days later, Martin announced his immediate retirement.

He returned to the MCG for the Tigers’ final match of the season to officially bid farewell to fans.

The media-shy superstar never spoke publicly after his retirement announcement, but fought back tears when chatting to former teammate Jack Riewoldt as he expressed his love to the fans.

“Pretty emotional and it’s pretty surreal. It feels a little bit weird,” he said.

“I think after today it will really sink in. As everyone knows, I love the club, I love you all so much. I’m going to miss the place so much, just so grateful to be a Tiger.”

“As I said, I love you all so much, I’ve been so loved and supported. Thank you for everything,” he added.