WHAT to do with the oversized Dustin Martin problem will have dominated discussion among Greater Western Sydney's brains trust this week.

Martin's devastating second-half performance against Geelong in Richmond's 51-point qualifying final triumph a fortnight ago highlighted the threat he poses.

I must break you: Dusty's don't argue record

The 26-year-old beat up on the Giants in rounds nine and 18 for a combined 66 disposals (37 contested), 16 clearances and 16 score involvements.

Callan Ward, Tim Taranto, Josh Kelly, Matt de Boer, Dylan Shiel, Matthew Kennedy and Heath Shaw spent the most time alongside Martin. They managed 57 possessions (18 contested) and 10 clearances opposed to him.

Ward was the only one to play 10-plus minutes on Martin in both clashes and outperformed the Tiger in those periods, but it was Kennedy who lasted the longest duration of 52 minutes in round 18.

De Boer and Shiel also had some success in respective 12-minute stints.

Worth noting is that Stephen Coniglio, touted as Martin's most likely midfield minder in Saturday's preliminary final at the MCG, missed both games.

Martin spent 72 per cent of game time in the midfield this season, compared to 28 per cent up forward, but there were notable differences in those ratios against GWS and in the Cats match.

He was a midfielder for 86 and 80 per cent of the two Giants outings – possibly because of the onball depth at Leon Cameron's disposal – then rocketed to 36.5 per cent time forward against Geelong.

AFL.com.au looked back at Martin's big plays in the last-start victory over the Cats to see how they might impact Saturday's bout with GWS.

1. A selfless Dusty is the best Dusty (first quarter)

Martin's effort to mark a Jack Riewoldt kick across goal late in the first quarter then almost instantly find an unguarded Josh Caddy 20 metres out is an example of his value in attack. It was one of his 12 score involvements against Geelong, above his season average of 8.8, which is second to only Swan Lance Franklin. Martin also ranks equal third in score assists (40) and fourth in goal assists (25). The Giants won't be too fussed if Martin wins big possessions, so long as he isn't playing a major role in the scoreboard ticking over. His per-100-minutes averages as a forward are 21.4 disposals (eighth in the AFL among players with 500-plus minutes as a forward), three clearances (third), 2.4 goals (eighth) and 2.3 assists (second).

2. The midfield show with the lot (third quarter)

Martin clocks up 14.3 of his 30.2 disposals per game in contested situations. But he is incredibly dangerous when released, as evidenced by his burst of speed in traffic after receiving a Trent Cotchin handball. Martin's pace off the mark is electric and he manages to hit a target despite the chaos around him and create time for Kamdyn McIntosh to make a good decision. GWS must find a way to make him feel pressured as often as possible. Martin's per-100-minutes averages as a midfielder are 31.4 disposals (eighth in the AFL among players with 500-plus minutes as a midfielder), 7.5 clearances (fifth), 0.9 goals (14th) and 1.4 assists (14th).

3. Somebody stop me (third quarter)

This was the highlight of Martin's second-half storm that put an end to Geelong's resistance. The Tiger's fend off is already the stuff of legend, but his one-on-one win against the hapless Tom Stewart was a beauty. He read the ball better than Stewart at ground level, then one of his classic stiff-arm plays put the Cat off balance to establish some breathing room before he took two bounces and launched Richmond into attack. Martin is a runaway League leader in broken tackles with 74, way ahead of second-placed Patrick Dangerfield's 25. It's easier said than done, but the Giants need to find a way to stick their tackle opportunities on Martin.

4. Creating something from nothing (fourth quarter)

Martin used his greatest weapon to see off Stewart (again) then Mitch Duncan, opening a gap for him to send a pass from beyond 50m to Shaun Grigg within inches of goal. The Tigers regularly seem to sneak a player forward of the play for a gimme goal, but you would rather Martin having the ball there than deep inside 50. Thirty-seven of Martin's 56 scoring shots this year came inside 40 metres – and 25 of them were goals. But he is only 7.12 from 40m-plus. One GWS aim will be to try to deny Martin deep forward-50 possessions and force him into spectacular attempts that even he can't expect to nail every time.

5. Dusty's defensive buy-in (third quarter)

Martin is such an offensive juggernaut that he can get hurt the other way on occasion. He becomes an even tougher proposition when he is applying pressure, like in the vision above, where he smothers Lachie Henderson's attempted clearing kick out of defence. Martin averages 38.3 pressure points per game, ranking him ninth at Richmond. The reason Coniglio looms as a great defensive match-up for Martin goes beyond his tagging diligence. Coniglio is a more-than-capable ball-winner (25.9 per match) who churns out clearances (six), tackles hard (6.7) and makes his possessions count (6.9 score involvements).

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