Dustin Martin's manager Ralph Carr has revealed just how close the Richmond superstar came to joining the GWS Giants back in 2013.
Not long after Richmond's season came to end following an elimination finals loss to Carlton, Martin and his manager had begun their pursuit of a new a club.
Only eight days after the loss the club had released a statement acknowledging that Martin, who was 22 at the time, was set to "pursue other opportunities" after a three-year deal reportedly worth $600 per-season wasn't secured.
The now three-time premiership player would end up publicly touring the Giants' facilities with a five-year deal worth in the ballpark of $700,000 a year put on the table.
And according to Carr, he and Stephen Silvagni, who was the Giants' list manager at the time, were both certain a deal was done to send Martin to Greater Western Sydney before it unexpectedly got pulled.
"We thought the deal was done," Carr told AFL Trade Radio.
"Between Dustin, myself and SOS (Stephen Silvagni), we thought he was a GWS player at that point.
"We'd been up there, Dustin was going to reunite with his father in Sydney because he'd had personal issues about not being closer to his father and we thought the deal was done.
"The next thing I heard, it got pulled from above. I don't think even SOS knows where it got pulled from."
Despite being the list manager at the club, Silvagni was adamant he had no idea who caused the move to fall through.
"I actually don't know [who pulled the deal]," Silvagni said.
Carr added: "We thought it was done and then the next time I spoke to SOS, we just didn't know.
"We knew it came from above. Maybe it was the CEO, maybe it was someone at the AFL, I'm not too sure."
"You put Dustin Martin in that GWS team, which they were assembling then, wow … I dare say they would have won a couple of flags."
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