Dustin Martin will play his 20^th game at the Gabba on Saturday night … and possibly his last. And with the greatest respect for one of the best players of all-time there won’t be a true Lions fan disappointed to see the back of his #4 jumper.

Because, put bluntly, the brilliant Tigers midfielder/forward and 2017 Brownlow Medallist has been a pain in the butt to local interests.

The now 32-year-old in his 15^th season, besieged by rumours of retirement, has feasted on the Lions like no other Richmond player throughout his 296-game career. And few (if any) opposition players.

He polled more Brownlow Medal votes and more goals against Brisbane than any other opposition, three of his top four goal hauls,  four 30-possession games, including one 40, and a 16-3 win/loss record after a 15-0 start.

He has polled 21 medal votes in 16 home-and-away games against Brisbane (with three finals), with a game-by-game vote count of 2-2-3-0-0-2-0-0-3-0-3-3-0-3-0-0.

He’s kicked 31 goals in 19 games, going 1-1-5-1-0-3-0-2-0-0-2-6-2-6-0-0-0-1-1, with his twin bags of six in 2018 and 2019 an equal career-best.

He played 18 games in a row against Brisbane from 2010-21, finally missing in 2022 and 2023, and has posted a game-by-game possession count of 26-35-22-24-27-18-34-29-35-16-40-17-21-14-24-18-17-15-15.

His 40-possession game against Brisbane at Marvel Stadium in 2017 (which came with two goals) is his equal second-best behind 43 possessions against Essendon in 2016.

The only shining light for Brisbane is that after  Martin’s 47-point Gabba win over the Lions in the 2019 finals he has lost his two subsequent finals against them – a 15-point Gabba qualifying final in 2020 and a two-point Gabba elimination final in 2022.

The Martin record is overloaded with sparkling superlatives – three Norm Smith Medals in three premierships and 212 Brownlow votes – 8^th most all-time behind only Gary Ablett Jnr (262), Patrick Dangerfield (248), Sam Mitchell (227), Scott Pendlebury (221), Gary Dempsey (218.5), Robert Harvey (215) and Joel Selwood (214).

He heads the Richmond medal vote by 75.5 votes from 403-game megachampion Kevin Bartlett – despite playing 103 less games in which votes were awarded.

He’s played 296 of a possible 328 games since his debut in Round 1 2010 – he missed seven games in his first 11 years but has missed 25 games in his last four years.

That one AFL club website would eulogise about an opposition player in this fashion is somewhere beyond unusual, but his place in head-to-head statistics between the clubs is impossible to ignore.

Martin’s 21 medal votes against Brisbane isn’t just the most by a Richmond player … it’s the most on a votes-per-game basis by any player, and the second-most outright.

Only Chris Judd (23) has polled more votes against Brisbane – 11 for West Coast and 12 for Carlton. The dual Brownlow Medallist averaged 2.21 votes per game against Brisbane, while Martin has averaged 1.31 votes per game.

It’s all part of a 55-game history between the clubs since 1987 in which Brisbane have a 20-1-34 record – 15-13 at home (3-1 at Carrara and 12-12 at the Gabba), and 5-1-21 interstate.

Lachie Neale’s 51-possession game at the MCG in 2019 is the Brisbane record between the clubs. His 39 possessions at the Gabba in the 2022 finals is next best for Brisbane, while Martin’s 40 is equal best for Richmond with Nathan Foley’s 40 at the MCG in 2011.

The record for most goals in a game between the clubs is eight, set by the Bears’ Warwick Capper at Carrara in 1988. Alastair Lynch and Darryl White kicked bags of seven for Brisbane against the Tigers, while Matthew Richardson and Jeff Hogg share the Richmond best against Brisbane at seven.

If Martin was bogey player #1 for Brisbane then Richardson and the Tigers’ triple premiership captain Trent Cotchin are #2 and #1.

Richardson polled in the medal eight times in 18 games against Brisbane for 15 votes, behind only Martin and ahead of Cotchin, who polled six times for 14 votes. Another ex-Richmond skipper, Matthew Knights, polled 10 votes to equal Brisbane’s best of 10 votes from ex-Richmond champion Geoff Raines – a club mark which has stood since 1988.

Richardson kicked 62 goals in 18 games against Brisbane to head the aggregate goal count between the clubs, while Alastair Lynch is Brisbane’s best with 33 goals in 11 games.

Oddly, a disproportionate 19 Brisbane players have made their AFL debut against Richmond and another 13 played their first game for Brisbane against Richmond.

This group includes current players Harris Andrews, Jack Payne, Darcy Wilmott and the injured Zac Bailey and Darcy Gardiner, plus brothers Daniel and Darren Bradshaw, and premiership players Shaun Hart and Richard Hadley.

The others were Corey Bell, Brent Green, Rory Hilton (later to play for Richmond), Brad Rowe, Marcus Allan, Chris Schmidt (who like Shadeau Brain debuted in a draw), Patrick Karnezis, Harley Hammelmann and Cedric Cox.

Rowe, a first-round draft pick who played 14 games with the Bears in 1990-91 before stints at Collingwood and Fremantle, polled one Brownlow vote in his debut against Richmond at Carrara in Round 1 1990, which was Norm Dare’s first game as coach.

Rod Lester-Smith polled two votes in his first Brisbane game at Carrara in Round 11 1988.

Curiously, too, an elevated proportion of major club milestones have fallen against the Tigers – Darryl White played his 100^th and 200^th against them, Craig Lambert his 150^th and 200^th, Jonathan Brown his 250^th, Roger Merrett and Brendan Fevola their 200^th, Daniel Merrett, Dayne Beams and Joe Daniher their 150^th, Scott McIvor his 100^th and Lachie Neale his 100^th game for Brisbane.

Brisbane statistical records against Richmond are:-

Highest Score – 26-13 (169) in Round 22 1987 at the MCG. Brisbane won by 56 points to avoid the wooden-spoon in their first season. Gold Coaster Darren Carlson, in just his 11^th game, had a team-high 28 possessions and kicked two goals, and Brad Hardie kicked seven goals.

Lowest Score  & Biggest Loss – 2-5 (16) to 16-14 (110) in Round 4 2018 at the MCG. Cam Rayner and Dayne Zorko kicked the only Brisbane goals in a 93-point loss in which Dustin Martin kicked six goals for three Brownlow votes.

Biggest Win – 81 points the last time they met in Round 23 at the Gabba last year.  Joe Daniher kicked five goals in a 20-14 (134) to 7-11 (53) home triumph.

And, finally, the “did you know?” special ….

Only once in 854 Brisbane games has one player kicked the club’s entire goal tally. It was against Richmond at the MCG in Round 11 1989, when they lost 3-8 (26) to 5-14 (45) in front of a sparse and a rain-drenched crowd of 7986 – after leading 3-2 to 0-4 at quarter-time. Brad Hardie kicked all three goals. In fact he kicked 3-4 of his side’s 3-8, with the other behinds coming from Roger Merrett, David Bain, Rod Lester-Smith and Michael Gibson. Matthew Campbell had a game-high 29 possessions – 13% of his team’s paltry total of 231 possessions – for two Brownlow votes.