The three clubs who helped 300-gamer Dusty on his path to AFL stardom

Campbells Creek is where Martin first played junior football; Castlemaine is where Martin got his first taste of senior football; and the Pioneers is where Martin was drafted to Richmond from.

Now one of the most revered names in the history of the VFL/AFL, Martin, 32, will play his 300^th AFL game against Hawthorn at the MCG at 4.35pm.

While Campbells Creek has done it tough on the field in the Maryborough-Castlemaine District for an extended period of time, including twice going into recess for a season in 2021 and 2007, the club has two claims to fame.

Firstly; the Creekers are in the Guinness Book of Records for kicking the highest score in a senior game of football - 100.34 (634) - against Primrose in 1990; and secondly, they will always be linked with Martin as the club where he took his first steps to football stardom.

"Back when he was just starting Dustin was the sort of player who used to handball the ball off to his team-mates so that they could kick a goal," said Steve Adamson, one of Martin's former junior coaches at Campbells Creek.

"And that's a trait he still has in the AFL... how many times have you seen him pass the ball off and allow his team-mates to be part of the glory.

"He was always the first kid to get to training and after he had played his junior game in the morning he would stay around and run water... he just wanted to be involved at the footy for the whole day."

Adamson has fond memories of his sons, Cody and Josh, spending hours upon hours playing footy in a paddock with Martin and his two brothers, Bronson and Tyson, at the Martin's former Vaughan Springs Road property at Yapeen.

"They'd play footy all day... Dustin's mum Kathy would have to say, 'come on boys, if you're going to be AFL players one day you have to eat'," Adamson said.

"My two sons and Bronson and Tyson would go inside and eat, but Dustin would stay out in the paddock trying to kick goals from all sort of angles.

"Back then he was a player who could kick on his left and right foot and he could turn on a 20 cent piece. Did we know back then that he would win three Norm Smith medals and everything else? How could you.

"What we did know is that he had some good talent at a young age and could potentially make AFL, but who could have said 23 years ago that he would go on to achieve what he has."

According to Adamson's wife, Kerrie, the iconic Martin "don't argue" was one of the traits of Martin's uncle, Steve Knight, during his football career at Harcourt.

"Steve used to tuck the ball under his arm like a rugby player and he'd give the don't argue," Kerrie told the Bendigo Advertiser on the night Martin won the Brownlow Medal in 2017.

"He was a great player, Steve, who was scouted by Carlton, but he just didn't have the passion for football that Dustin has always had."

One of the treasured pieces of memorabilia at Campbells Creek is a framed copy of Martin's junior registration form for the 2003 season, while Adamson is raising money to purchase equipment for the Campbells Creek junior footballers and netballers with special "Dusty 300" caps produced for Saturday's milestone day.

While Campbells Creek was where Martin played his first games of football, it was at Castlemaine in 2008 where the then 16-year-old was first exposed to senior football in the Bendigo league.

Martin arrived at Castlemaine following a stint living in Sydney and working with his dad Shane's transport business in 2007.

The Magpies senior coach at the time was Jamie Elliott, who immediately knew he had a special talent on his hands from Martin's first training session at Camp Reserve.

"He came as a kid and I remember saying to my dad (Col), you better come over and have a look at him because he's got some talent," Elliott said this week.

"My old man would drive over from Maryborough just to watch him train because we could see from very early just how special he was.

"He walked into the place a fairly confident kid; he was super talented and even from that first game he was pushing grown men off the ball."

Martin's senior debut for the Magpies was round one of the 2008 BFNL season against Gisborne at Camp Reserve.

The Castlemaine side printed in the Bendigo Advertiser on the eve of the game listed D. Martin in a forward pocket for a game that had a major spotlight on it given the crowd included the legendary Ron Barassi.

The game was played under the banner of the "VCFL Game of the Month", with Barassi the special guest for the clash, which Gisborne won 19.17 (131) to 9.8 (62).

Martin kicked one goal in his senior debut for the Magpies and three weeks later would feature in the best players for the first time when Castlemaine thumped Sandhurst by 100 points.

But the Martin game that lives on 16 years later in Castlemaine folklore is his eye-catching performance against eventual grand finalist Golden Square late in the season.

It was round 16 at Wade Street in a game Golden Square won by 79 points. The Magpies kicked 10 goals for the day, with teen sensation Martin slotting five of them playing a mix of forward and midfield in a sign of what was to come during his stellar AFL career with the Tigers.

It's certainly a game that - although the result wasn't pretty for the Magpies - Elliott fondly remembers from that 2008 season.

"It's the game I most remember," Elliott said.

"Even at that age he was a player who could turn a game of senior footy. I reckon he kicked the five goals in the first half out of the middle changing forward,.

"Just an incredible talent and even back then there wasn't many opponents he couldn't push off.

"I remember Brett Cook who was coaching Kyneton at the time ran into Dustin and said afterwards it was one of the hardest hits he had been on the end of."

That's the same Brett Cook who played 43 AFL games for Fitzroy and St Kilda as a ruckman between 1994 and 1999.

The week before Martin's brilliant game against Golden Square Cook's Tigers got an early front row seat to a Dusty Show when Martin booted six goals in Castlemaine's 135-point win over Kyneton.

"Dustin would be the most exciting talent I have coached. He is a player with a big future," Elliott told the Bendigo Advertiser after the Kyneton game.

Off-field that 2008 season the Magpies were led as president by Ron Cawthan - a BFNL Hall of Fame member who also holds Castlemaine senior games record of 343.

Like many at Castlemaine - and Campbells Creek and the Bendigo Pioneers - Cawthan has watched on with tremendous pride as Martin has carved out one of the most decorated careers in AFL/VFL history: three premierships (2017, 2019, 2020), an unprecedented three Norm Smith medals in those same premiership years; Brownlow Medal in 2017; four All-Australian selections (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020) and two Richmond best and fairests (2016, 2017) among his glittering CV.

"We had a small part in Dustin's journey and he has absolutely given us an enormous amount of pleasure over the years," Cawthan said.

"He started that year with us as a 16-year-old, turned 17 during the season and was runner-up in our best fairest, even after playing the last few games with the Bendigo Pioneers... what an effort that was playing major league footy at that age and at that standard."

Cawthan, too, still has clear memories of Martin's five-goal outing against Golden Square in round 16 that season.

"We all still talk about that," Cawthan said with a chuckle.

"At that age he just didn't have the concept of fearing anybody. It wouldn't have mattered whether he was playing against, say, Ron Best in his prime... he would have just played his natural game and done his own thing."

Martin finished runner-up to ruckman/key position player Luke Walters in the Magpies' 2008 best and fairest and won the club's goalkicking with 22.

He was also the winner of the BFNL's Rising Star that season after taking the competition by storm with his mix of speed, penetrating kicking and ability to bust packs open with his fierce attack on the contest.

"He was shy back then, but always extremely respectful to everyone around the club, whether that be canteen support staff or supporters," Cawthan said.

The Magpies vice-president that 2008 season was Ray Taylor, who described Martin's training ethic as "unbelievable".

"He'd train hard and then when it was over he would be there afterwards kicking the ball to himself," Taylor said.

"And if there wasn't training on, you'd probably still find himself down at the Camp just kicking the ball.

"You could see from the first game he played he was going to be a silky smooth player... he was one out of the box; it was just unbelievable what he could do.

"We're very proud of any player who has come through the club and gone on to play AFL, but this is a guy who plays his 300^th on Saturday; we're super proud.

"Regardless of who he was playing against, he always had the belief that he could beat his opponent."

Such was the impact Martin was having for the Magpies from early in the 2008 season, Elliott was prompted to ring one of his former clubs, St Kilda, to alert them to his talent.

"Playing that year with Castlemaine against a lot of bigger bodies was really good for me in getting used to the tougher contested ball,'' Martin told the Bendigo Advertiser on the eve of the AFL Draft in November of 2009.

"I had a lot of good team-mates that year, a good coach and playing that year of senior footy was a really good grounding.

"Footy is my life; I just love it and it's all I've ever wanted to do. And when you get to the AFL, that's what footy is - it becomes your life by training every day, and that's the way I want to live. I can't wait and hopefully, I'll get an opportunity.''

The notoriously private Martin also gave an insight in the lead-up to the Draft around how he handled the media attention he had gained throughout 2009.

"You just do what you've got to do. I don't get a big head or anything like that, I just keep going about my business. Hopefully, I can get picked up and then the hard work will all really begin."

From that same feature piece in the Addy, Elliott believed Martin was already capable of playing AFL football in 2009.

"He's just a powerful, powerful kid; I used to do one-on-ones with him as a 16-year-old and he would just push me off the ball," Elliott said.

"I thought he could have played senior AFL football this year as a 17-year-old, no doubt.

"I've never seen a kid run into a pack of six or seven men and come out backwards with the ball . . . it's not as though he was running through the pack, he would run in like a bull, grab the footy and run out backwards.

"There's no doubt he's the best kid I've seen play at that age; he's just a phenomenal talent.''

As well as his formative years with Campbells Creek and Castlemaine, Martin's journey to Richmond also features the Bendigo Pioneers.

Martin played four games in the TAC Cup with the Pioneers late in 2008 before he made a name for himself as one of the country's top prospects in 2009, ultimately being taken with Pick No.3 by Richmond that year after Melbourne had selected Tom Scully and Jack Trengove at No.1 and 2 in the National Draft.

While also working as a labourer for Luke Arnott Electrical, Martin played 11 games with the Pioneers in 2009 where he averaged 24.6 disposals, 4.0 marks and 3.0 tackles as a midfielder changing deep forward.

He was pipped by team-mate Kallen Geary by two votes in the Pioneers' best and fairest.

But it was at the Under-18 National Championships in June and July when Martin's stocks rose exponentially, with his carnival representing Victoria Country capped by being named in the centre in the All-Australian team.

"Dustin was just like any of the other kids who came in to the program... he loved footy and he loved training," Martin's Pioneers coach Mark Ellis said this week.

"Like a lot of players at that age, he played on instinct, but he was just extremely good at it.

"Back then he was doing don't argues and getting penalised for it. People would say to me, you've got to stop him doing that, but my comment was, that's part of AFL footy, so I'm not taking that out of his game.

"He was extremely easy to coach because he just wanted to play footy.

"He was a ripper kid; he was very shy and from that perspective not much has changed, but he just loved playing footy.

"He played TAC Cup and then Vic Country and he just constantly found the level every time."

When he runs on to the MCG on Saturday Martin will become just the third draftee from the Pioneers to play 300 AFL games behind Joel Selwood (355) and Nick Dal Santo (322).

"A player like Dustin certainly doesn't come along too often, but we didn't treat him any different," said Ellis, who coached both Martin and Selwood at the Pioneers.

"He had a magnificent footy IQ; before the ball got to a spot he knew where it was going and that's where he ran to.

"And his kicking both sides of the body was exceptional. He was doing the around-the-corner kicks and the like almost before they became fashionable because he just practiced it so much.

"He knew he had a talent and he worked hard at it... and the rest is history."