While he is seen by many as one of few shining lights in what has otherwise been a dismal season at Punt Rd, the round 10 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee says he feels no pressure.
“I just do what my coaches are telling me to do," Martin said.
"I’ll keep playing my role for the team and the coaches, and that’s all I can do."
Martin has made an impressive start to his AFL career, and it might surprise some to learn that he has had to wait until almost halfway through the season to receive a nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star award.
Despite the delay, Martin didn't feel he was entitled to a nomination.
“I wouldn’t say it was a big goal. I just wanted to play footy and do my bit for the team,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve had a great game yet. They’ve all been just around the mark, nothing special. I’ve had a lot of clearances and that is something that I’ve wanted to do. I think I had 11 on the weekend, so I was pretty happy.”
Martin earned his nomination for his 21-possession performance in Saturday’s win over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. While the nomination highlights Martin’s individual efforts, he will remember the match as his first taste of victory at AFL level.
“It was awesome. I was so happy to have the first win. Hopefully we’ll have a few more this year. We go into every game knowing we can win. We knew it wasn’t far away,” he said.
“All the boys played (their) role. We played four quarters, which was the main thing. Each week there’s been a 15-minute period where we’ve switched off, and the opposition has got a jump on us.”
The Tigers had lost their first nine games of the season, but Martin says the mood around Punt Rd has been far from miserable.
“It’s been a really good feeling. We usually come in on a Monday, and if we’ve had a loss we tend to move on pretty quickly from it,” he said.
“It’s good to get the first one out of the way. We know we can win, and each week we will be going out there to win the game.
“Everyone’s on the same page. We’re all in it together and everyone’s the same.”
Taken with the third overall pick at the 2009 NAB AFL draft, Martin says the eventual NAB AFL Rising Star winner will probably come from one of the two players taken ahead of him, Melbourne duo Tom Scully and Jack Trengove.
“I think one of them will win it. I’ve watched a couple of their games here and there, (and) they are going really well.”
