Geelong officially signs Jack Martin as a delisted free agent

Geelong has officially signed Jack Martin, and Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield played a part.

Geelong recruit Jack Martin said a message from captain Patrick Dangerfield helped convince him to join the Cats as the delisted Blue shared his excitement to play alongside an ex-Suns teammate and another indigenous forward.

Martin, 29, has officially signed with the Cats on a two-year deal as a delisted free agent, having committed to the club last month after choosing Geelong over Fremantle.

The injury-riddled forward was delisted by Carlton after five seasons and 54 games with the club, joining the Blues in controversial circumstances in the 2019 pre-season draft following 97 games with Gold Coast.

Asked which connections drew him to Geelong, Martin said: “I had the captain Paddy Dangerfield reach out about a month ago, so it is always nice when you get a text like that.”

Martin, who grew up in Broome and Geraldton, said the country feel of Geelong also appealed to him.

Jack Martin has signed with the Cats. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“There is no big skyscrapers or trams so that’s a win, but just feels like a good community, feels like you’re in the country and everything is about 10 minutes away. A lot more convenient,” Martin said.

“Family have moved down to Geelong, it’s a great football club, seems like a great community.”

Martin said he can’t wait to rekindle with former Gold Coast teammate Jack Bowes and to play alongside Stengle — who also joined the club as a delisted free agent — in the Cats forward line.

“I played with Jack Bowes at the Suns, so have got that relationship there with him, that is always going to make the transition a lot more smoother,” Martin said.

Tyson Stengle, he is an exciting young player so looking forwad to what we can do together

Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie said he was looking forward to welcoming Martin into their program.

“We were really excited about the prospect of bringing Jack into our football club, he is an experienced player and a quality person. He has already settled into Geelong with his young family,” Mackie said.

Geelong is hopeful it can help Martin overcome his soft tissue injury that have plagued the forward throughout his career.

Martin managed just three senior games for Carlton this year and two appearances in the VFL after a string of calf and hamstring injuries.

Jack Martin (right) after being subbed out in round 22. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Taken by Gold Coast as a highly-touted 17-year-old in the 2012 mini-draft, Martin played 151 games at the Suns and Carlton — 54 of those for the Blues.

Geelong has made a habit of extracting every bit of talent from players of all ages and getting the best out of Martin would give the Cats’ forward half mix an added boost.

Stengle has gone from being sacked at Adelaide to one of the best small forwards in the competition at the Cats after being picked up as a delisted free agent at the end of 2021.

Geelong also took punts on mature-agers Shaun Mannagh and Lawson Humphries in last year’s draft which paid off handsomely.

The Cats locked in captain Patrick Dangerfield until the end of 2026 on Thursday, while Mitch Duncan and Rhys Stanley penned one-year extensions.

They also picked up promising Gaelic talent Cillian Burke as a Category B rookie.

Originally published as Geelong officially signs Jack Martin as a delisted free agent