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Martin nails his make-or-break season
sportAustralian Rules/Footy04 Sep 08 @ 10:27am by Reece Homfray
Young West Adelaide defender Matthew Martin
AT 195cm and 102kg, Matthew Martin’s sheer size makes him a tantalising AFL draft prospect.
And having manned the post at full back for West Adelaide most of this season, he has developed into a tough, key position defender.
But his journey from under-19 forward to League full back has been a steep ``learning curve’’.
``I played on Brant Chambers against Sturt and he kicked five on me in the first half,’’ Martin said.
``And I played on Daniel Schell against Centrals and he kicked five on me as well.
``But I played on (Luke) Cowan on the weekend and kept him quiet, so it has been a big learning curve.’’
The 18-year-old was named the round-22 Coca Cola Star Search nominee this week.
``I walked into training and (Damian) Cupdio said `Mr Coca Cola’ and I didn’t know what he was on about,’’ Martin said.
``I found out later and it was nice to get that award.’’
Martin has spoken to ``a few’’ AFL clubs about his draft chances in November and is one of four West Adelaide players invited to the AFL’s Draft Camp in Canberra this month.
``I wanted this year to be make-or-break for me trying to get into the AFL,’’ he said.
``But I didn’t want it getting into my head so I’ve been trying to concentrate on playing good footy, one week at a time.
``And I feel privileged Andy (Collins) has given me a chance to play this year and have a crack at senior level.
``That’s what this year has been about young guys having a crack.’’
Martin started the season in the under-19s and made his League debut against Woodville-West Torrens in round five.
He has only missed three games since and two of those were due to SA under-18 commitments.
``Full back has been new to me this year. I played most of my juniors up forward and in the ruck.
``So I’ve been doing a fair bit of work with Andy (Collins) during the week and extra defensive work after Wednesday night training with Fergie (former Melbourne defender Ryan Ferguson) and he’s been great.’’
West Adelaide finishes its season against North Adelaide at Broadspectrum Oval on Saturday
NB he is VERY fast.
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