{"id":64450,"date":"2021-04-29T01:10:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=64450"},"modified":"2021-04-29T01:58:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:58:33","slug":"lyon-rubbishes-concerns-over-dustys-nz-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=64450","title":{"rendered":"Lyon rubbishes concerns over Dusty's NZ trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says he has no issue with Richmond superstar Dustin Martin flying to New Zealand to visit his dad during his 12-day concussion lay-off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact Lyon even joked that he'd "row him there" and that "he could go to the moon", despite not only his concussion but the risks thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The AFL's new 12-day protocol means Martin, who was concussed by a stray arm in Richmond's loss to Melbourne on Saturday<\/a>, won't be available for the Tigers' clash with the Western Bulldogs tomorrow night.<\/p>\n

The three-time Norm Smith medallist is also nursing a foot injury and, at the earliest, will return for Richmond's clash with Geelong in Round Eight.<\/p>\n

Richmond have allowed Martin to use the trans-Tasman travel bubble to fly to New Zealand to see his dad, Shane Martin, who in 2016 was deported from Australia for his involvement in bikie gangs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Tigers have given the green light to Martin's wish despite the fact the Brownlow medallist could find himself trapped in New Zealand if there's an outbreak of the coronavirus in either country.<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes said on Nine's Footy Classified<\/em> that his only issue with Martin visiting New Zealand was that, in his eyes, it wasn't "a good look" that he travelled overseas instead of resting his head.<\/p>\n

But Lyon found that school of thought ludicrous.<\/p>\n

\"Dustin<\/p>\n

"He's not flying economy, mate. He's flying first class. I'd row him there. He hasn't seen his dad for a long time. He could go to the moon," Lyon said.<\/p>\n

"You know what? He's given, you trust him, that trust is earnt, he deserves it. He'll come back ready to play."<\/p>\n

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire agreed with Lyon, indicating that mental health must be prioritised.<\/p>\n

"He'll come back owing and feeling like he wants to be freed up, rather than sitting there literally like a tiger with a sore head, worrying about his dad and talking on the phone," McGuire said.<\/p>\n

"And it shows the maturity that we need to get into our game."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick told reporters this week that is was an easy decision to make.<\/p>\n

"It's a no-brainer for us," Hardwick said.<\/p>\n

"He'll head back to see his dad. He hasn't seen him for a long period of time.<\/p>\n

"It's a little bit like everyone else; he's travelling back to see his dad, who just happens to be overseas.<\/p>\n

"I know it's a little bit challenging with these COVID times, but we'll always support our player who wants to see his family."<\/p>\n

The trans-Tasman bubble allows residents of Australia and New Zealand to travel between the countries without having to quarantine.<\/p>\n

"All the contingencies have been worked through but there is a very, very small probability that it happens," Hardwick said.<\/p>\n

"At the end of the day, you can live your life in fear or you can choose to live. We choose to live."<\/p>\n

\"Damien<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says he has no issue with Richmond superstar Dustin Martin flying to New Zealand to visit his […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64450"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64452,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450\/revisions\/64452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}