THE AFL has asked Richmond to investigate what prompted Dustin Martin's 'jailhouse salute' after he kicked a goal in Sunday's game against Carlton at the MCG.

Martin briefly joined his wrists together after kicking a goal in the second quarter in front of more than 94,000 people at the MCG.

Other players have used the post-goal celebration before and the AFL has generally taken a dim view of the action.

In this case, however, AFL spokesman Patrick Keane confirmed the League had handed the initial responsibility to the Tigers to deal with the issue through their in-house processes.

The salute came in for strong criticism from AFL.com.au commentator and former Western Bulldog Luke Darcy on Monday morning.
He said on Access All Areas that it was "selfish and poor" from Martin.

"I would be absolutely furious if I was Damien Hardwick and his teammates. That is very selfish and just a really poor thing to do. Leave that out of the game: give him a call, send him a postcard," Darcy said.

"In a big final, when your whole season is on the line, to be thinking about that - I don't understand it."

Martin remains out of contract but the Tigers remain confident he will sign.