Eagles keen to shut down 'scary' Martin

Apr 3, 2017 - 6:58 AM Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin is in "scary" form, but West Coast forward Josh Hill is backing his teammates to shut down the 25-year-old in Saturday's AFL clash at the MCG.

Martin is one of the early Brownlow medal favourites after producing stunning performances in wins over Carlton and Collingwood.

The 155-game veteran tallied 33 disposals and booted four goals against the Blues and he backed it up with 25 touches and two goals against the Magpies.

Both Richmond and West Coast are undefeated after two rounds and the winner of Saturday's match will get an early boost in the race for top-four berths.

Stopping Martin looms as a critical aspect in West Coast's victory hopes.

Martin tallied just 23 disposals and failed to kick a goal in his only match against the Eagles last year - a 68-point loss in Perth.

The powerful Tigers midfielder is in much better form this year and he has become a bigger threat in attack as well.

Eagles defenders Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn, Sharrod Wellingham, Tom Barrass and Brad Sheppard may get the job on Martin at some stage and Hill is confident they'll be able to shut him down.

"I'd back any of our defenders to take him on because I'm pretty trusting in our defence that they can get the job done in the big moments," Hill said.

"I think it's just that palm-off he's got (that makes Martin so dangerous and hard to defend).

"He can definitely make a statement with it and he can kick a goal from just about anywhere on the field. He can torp it almost 80 metres.

"He's a scary player to watch and I think we'll all be able to adjust. If he tries to palm us off (we'll) try to run him down.

"We'll try to take him down as a team."

West Coast have won just five of their past 21 appearances at the MCG - a record they are keen to improve given the grand final and some other big finals are played at the venue.

Under coach Adam Simpson, the Eagles have won three of their past seven meetings there.

But with the Eagles only fixtured for two matches at the MCG during the home-and-away season, Hill said the team is intent to make the most of the experience.

And he predicts he will thrive if Tigers supporters try to heckle him.

"The Tigers are going to have the crowd on their side and it's going to be intimidating for us," Hill said.

"Their crowd are very loud and can give a bit of lip over the fence.

"But that boosts me as a player to perform and do those things to prove people wrong."

Source: AAP