Rookie Draft selection No. 13
Height: 182cm
Weight: 81kg
DOB: 17/9/90
View Kyle Martin's highlights on CTV in the video above.
Derek Hine says: He's a player who didn't play a lot of TAC football but certainly the level he played was an extremely high level. He averaged in the high 20s for disposals for the games that he played. He went back and played at Noble Park (in the Eastern Football League) and he was consistently playing at a high end there. I think he matured as a footballer as he did as a person this year where he was able to cross over to Frankston and have a really consistent year there, averaging 26 possessions as an inside mid. He does push forward and he can take the ball in the air so, mindful of getting some inside support for your Luke Balls and Josh Thomas' of the world - who obviously hasn't played yet - it just gives us a little bit of succession in terms of an inside ball winner.
What they say:
"Like his teammate Leigh Osborne, Kyle came from the Eastern Football League this year. Much was expected of the strong-marking midfielder after his three dominating years at Noble Park and he delivered, gaining selection in the VFL team and winning the Dolphins club best and fairest" - Paul Amy (VFL expert), Inside Football October 2012.
"He has been a late maturer, but he's still only 21 or 22-years-old so he's still quite young. I've loved what he has done this year. He was tagged each week and still averaged 25 disposals per game and was just outstanding. He has real footy smarts and is similar to Jimmy Bartel in that he's a great mark for his size and he's got a thumping kick on him. The penny really dropped for him during the pre-season in January and February and he really worked hard" - Frankston coach Simon Goosey.
In his own words
On getting rookied by the Magpies
It was a really good thrill watching over the draft tracker and seeing my name pop up. It was, I don't know, just a feeling that I'd been hoping for and waiting for for a long time. It's good that it's finally happened. I was just at work with the apprentice. I was doing plumbing for four years, I just qualified last week. It's been good timing and now it's out of the way.
On spending his past four years in the Eastern and Victorian Football Leagues
Sandy was my Under-18s club and I did a state screening but nothing eventuated from it. I moved on from that and ended up at my local club Noble Park after that for a couple of years. We played in a few premierships and I was lucky enough to win a couple of Best and Fairests (for Noble Park).
On making the jump from suburban football to state football
It was definitely something that I had to get used to over the preseason training and just the first couple of practice matches to get into the pace of it, and just the structure and stuff so it was a good transition. It happened quite quickly so I was able to get the hang of it. Goosey had been calling me for a couple of years previous so I finally gave it a chance and…yeah, it's all paid off. I probably just didn't think I was ready at the time. I'd had a couple of really good years at Noble Park and thought that I was ready to move into the VFL and give it a crack and see how far I could take my footy. When you look back on the season I had, it was definitely a very big surprise to think that last year I was playing local footy. No one could have predicted how lucky I was this year, really, to get the opportunities that I had and half succeed.
On his pre-draft hopes
I went to the state screening and a couple of clubs showed interest, and Collingwood was one of those.
On the sort of footballer the Magpie Army can expect to watch next year
Probably just an inside and outside midfielder who can push forward, always competes and tries my best for the team. It's definitely aided me over the last couple of years of footy, so it's not too bad.
