For a young player, the maturity of Nic Martin is there to see.

In just his third AFL season, Martin is now widely regarded as one of the young guns of the competition, thanks to exponential year-on-year growth.

After making his name as the consummate wingman in his first two years, Martin’s rise as a genuine utility has rocketed him into stardom.

The 23-year-old averaged career-best disposals (28.3), inside 50s (3.5), and score involvements (5.3) in 2024, floating between halfback and the wing.

What impressed most was Martin’s ability to swing forward when the Dons needed him, kicking 15 goals this season, highlighted by four majors in round 18 against the Demons.

Reflecting on his emphatic year, Martin said the foundations for it were laid by Senior Coach Brad Scott, and the flexibility of continuing to playing in any position is a driving factor for next season.

“It started in the off-season when Brad (Scott) mentioned the idea of playing halfback,” Martin said.

“(I wanted to) develop that craft and add another string to the bow, and then that sort of evolved when I played games across all three lines. I think that flexibility was a real strength of mine, and I showed it throughout this whole year.

“I think I’ll continue to explore being a utility, that’s the best way forward. I think of the best players in the competition, and they’re not pigeon-holed into one position. I use Marcus Bontempelli as an example where, yep, he’s a pure inside midfielder, but he can also pinch-hit forward and be damaging. If I can evolve my game, it will help continue to strengthen the team.”

Despite the individually brilliant year, Martin’s sense of pride is shawdowed by the disappointment of another opportunity missed to play finals.

But rather than feel a sense of waste, Martin believes 2024 was another pivotal year of growth for the Bombers.

With two new debutants and a host of players growing in their games, Martin believes the spirit of the team is stronger than in seasons before, which will hold the club in good stead for next year and beyond.

“It’s a bit of déjà vu and similar to last year, which is disappointing. But there are some positives in the growth we’ve seen,” Martin said.

“The things which come to mind is the ability to fight back in games (shown particularly in) the Freo win. To overcome a pretty big margin in that last quarter, if we compare that to previous seasons, I don’t think we’d have been able to do that. I’ve seen a lot of growth in this group, and I think we’ll be better for it.

“Our processes, our systems, and our structures were sound. It was our ability to execute (which was poor). We were getting a lot of inside 50s as a stat, but we weren’t able to finish it off. But we’ll go to work and learn from that.”

Now that nothing can be done about 2024, Martin has quickly turned his attention to the pre-season ahead.

In his fourth year, Martin is determined to use the hurt of successive years of no finals to spur on a successful 2025.

“It leaves a sour taste in your mouth for the entire off-season,” he said.

“You have to watch the finals, which hurts, but it’s a good opportunity to learn. You’ve just got to get to work and prepare as best you can mentally and physically.”