Dustin Martin is primed to add to his spectacular highlight reel when he becomes the fastest Richmond player to bring up 200 AFL games.
Thursday night's qualifying final against Hawthorn will make Martin the 29th Tiger to hit the 200-game mark, reaching the milestone in eight years and five months to overtake former vice-captain Brett Deledio (nine years, two months).
For everything that has been said about the taciturn superstar, who delivered a season for the ages last year to sweep up the Brownlow, Norm Smith and premiership medals, Martin's durability has gone somewhat under the radar.
The 27-year-old has missed just five games since making his debut in round one, 2010, including a two-game club suspension in 2013.
Coach Damien Hardwick marvels at everything Martin has achieved but also the maturity and leadership he has quietly developed in recent years.
"We had his highlights tape which went for 35 minutes, which is probably a little bit longer than most," Hardwick joked.
"He's been a marvel. You look at his tapes and the things he's achieved but it's more about the things that he's brought to our footy club, the way he plays the game.
"His love of his family is really strong ... that's something that he's brought to our footy club and that's one thing we're incredibly proud of, the man he is today.
"We've learned a lot from him."
The Tigers took Martin with their top pick in the 2009 draft and Hardwick said then-recruiting chief Francis Jackson had seen something in the Castlemaine native.
"He was always very confident this kid was going to be a star of the competition," Hardwick said.
"Has it taken us a little bit by storm? Well you probably would say so but I'm very lucky, I get to see it in action most days.
"He also works incredibly hard at his craft. He's always looking to improve an area of his game and that's what makes him one of the great players of the competition."
Martin has struggled at times to replicate his incredible 2017 but the Hawks would be well aware his form has gone to another level in recent weeks.
"The season he had last year - I've never seen a better season," Hardwick said.
"Can you live up to that? Well, it's going to be tough.
"But once again he's playing the consistent brand of footy we know and love and he's incredibly damaging because of it."
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