Dustin Martin is keen to play at the Suns next year. And the Suns are keen to have him. But both are still asking themselves questions.

The conversation has now largely shifted from whether Dustin Martin wants to play next year at Gold Coast to how much Gold Coast want to Dusty to play for the Suns. Or rather, what version of Dusty would they be getting?

Dustin Martin farewelled the Richmond faithful at the MCG earlier this year.Credit: AFL Photos

This has been a movable feast for 18 months, but all things being equal at the moment, the ball is slightly more in the Suns’ court. And it appears highly likely to happen, with the sun not having set on Martin’s career.

Once, teams asking themselves if they wanted Dustin Martin would have been a rhetorical question. It is not now. Anyone who saw Martin play this year would know there is a serious risk of hiring a name, not a player.

The most over-riding question for the Suns is how much of how Martin played this year was the physical wearing on the body of a 33-year-old former champion and how much of it was mental? Certainly, he was slower, looked to struggle with his back and getting ground balls and lacked power in his game, which is to be expected when an elite footballer is on the wrong side of 30.

Clearly he is a physically different and reduced player to what he was, but how much of his decline over the last couple........

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