Play the big fella forward, I love the way this kid takes a mark !

Can leap, take pack marks, courageous.

All he needs is to learn to Kick, so lets hope he works hard on it over the coming years, cause it will turn him into a very dangerous weapon for us.

A forward line that has a mature Martin, Watts, Wona, Jurrah, Bate, Sylvia all goes well for the future.

Love the run up when kicking for goal.

Play the big fella forward, I love the way this kid takes a mark !

Can leap, take pack marks, courageous.

All he needs is to learn to Kick, so lets hope he works hard on it over the coming years, cause it will turn him into a very dangerous weapon for us.

A forward line that has a mature Martin, Watts, Wona, Jurrah, Bate, Sylvia all goes well for the future.

Steph Martin - The reason why we shouldn't be afraid to use picks 1 and 2 on elite midfielders

Pick him there, play him there, keep him there, invest the rest of the season in him there PLEASE bails

On triple m today Dean Bailey echoed these sentiments, and the fact we have frawley, warnock and rivers back there. He seems to like the look of him up forward too.

he did very well yesterday on Matthew Spangher, who proved himself to be in need of self control and anger management session, what a goose he made of himself yesterday, even before the first bounce!

good call kat, i thought spangher was more concerned with trying to act tough, than actually play footy! he was always the first one in too provoke and tussle, but we it was his turn to "go" he was thrown off the ball easy

and as for stef... put him in the square, and get him leading up the ground every time, straight up the middle!! needs to learn from someone (plugga i wish) how to "use" his size to hit packs, once he can do that, will be a beauty

Martin's still quite young, too, he'll develop more bulk and strength as his career goes on. It'll be exciting to see him grow as a forward.

He won't cut it as a forward alone.

But his athleticism will give him a chance to be a back-up ruckman for a decade: roaming forward, back, linking in midfield, and relieving Jamar/Meesen/Spencer.

He is taking away PJ's position here folks.

He has PJ for breakfast in every area other than kicking. Must must must improve here. Otherwise, I'm awfully happy with his on-field flexibility.

This kid can take a mark, wow.

Also he is great at ground level for someone so tall.

And he is becoming a guy who can play either end.

Good stuff.

Martin's still quite young, too, he'll develop more bulk and strength as his career goes on. It'll be exciting to see him grow as a forward.

He accually might not be as young as you think, his turning 23 this year.

I had no idea, thought he was around 20-22 most.

Jeez, i thought about 20, too!!!

He was an older selection, thus we picked him up in the PSD.

He was a basketballer who converted to footy very late.

Before playing his first AFL game, he played something like 10 games in the VFL (then Sandy) as a defender.

So while he isn't technically young, he is extremely inexperienced. In fact, he would be as experienced as someone like Jack Watts, given he made a later conversation to footy than Watts, who played both footy and basketball growing up.

Martin really is a remarkable player and his ability to learn and adapt so quickly is amazing. Hopefully that ability will transfer to his kicking.

(I was very pleased to see him convert his second attempt at goal!)

Have been very happy hearing numbers of our siginings had high level basketball histories. Ten people in a small place requires excellent awareness, reaction time, spatial understanding and more. The only things a basketballer wont have are a full footy tank (mind you short and mid bursts can be as good or better) and developed foot skills. Everything else is applicable or adaptable.

He won't cut it as a forward alone.

But his athleticism will give him a chance to be a back-up ruckman for a decade: roaming forward, back, linking in midfield, and relieving Jamar/Meesen/Spencer.

He is taking away PJ's position here folks.

Agree, I think he can be used in 3 positions spots actually, ruck, forward and down back. These types of players come in handy when injuries occur.

Needs to fix up his kicking though.

(I was very pleased to see him convert his second attempt at goal!)

As he needed to because his first shot was shocking.

Martin really is a remarkable player and his ability to learn and adapt so quickly is amazing. Hopefully that ability will transfer to his kicking.

(I was very pleased to see him convert his second attempt at goal!)

Agree. At his rate of improvement, by his mid-late 20's we could have a real superstar on our hands! Very smart and adaptable, i've said it many times before, but he could be anything! Even his ruckwork has improved over the last 2 weeks, and he's spent very little time on that.

Like the look of him up forward, but his kicking is really a concern. He has no particular set routine for his set shots; sometimes he stutters in, other times he pokes, sometimes his run-up is long, other times he only takes about 5 steps, etc etc. It's definitely something i'd like to see the coaching staff spending a lot of time with him on.

You can generally tell when a player is being coached in goal kicking as they'll be consistent with their routine. Stef's routine suggests to me that they haven't spent a long time working on it with him. Watch all the good forwards in the league and you'll see they all have a solid routine. Josh Mahoney & co, spend some time teaching the man how to kick for goal!!!!!

Once he gets that down pat, he'll be a very dangerous target.

Martin is being groomed as a Utilty both forward and back

By having him experience both offence and defence early in his development it gives bailey a card up his sleeve on the selection table and is very useful on match day

Ability to hit targets needs to improve to be more effective team wise

Very confident he can be a very good long term player for us

He was a basketballer who converted to footy very late.

Before playing his first AFL game, he played something like 10 games in the VFL (then Sandy) as a defender.

So while he isn't technically young, he is extremely inexperienced. In fact, he would be as experienced as someone like Jack Watts, given he made a later conversation to footy than Watts, who played both footy and basketball growing up.

Agree Jaded. In fact IMO it's closer to compare him to NikNat, with a similar amount of time playing seniors footy. He's got this far almost totally on his athleticism. And he's going to be no less awesome than NikNat when he develops his skills and game sense. I don't think there's too much wrong with his kicking action.

Doggo is absolutely right, he needs to have a set-shot routine. Is Josh Mahoney the right person? He's been thrown around so much that he's probably never had a consistent Assistant Coach! If DB's planning to settle him in the forward line, that's great

Mr Flexible. It will be interesting what takes place when Garland is up and going next year. Garland can also go forward and is a better kick for goal. Bailey would have quite a few options in attack. Various match up options for horses for courses purposes. With the likes of Jurrah, Watts, Martin, Green, Wonaeamirri, Maric, Bate, Sylvia, Davey in the forward mix - all would be well served with a better midfield. Coming soon.