Geelong coach Chris Scott has spoken on the 'excitement' of having recruit Jack Martin named for his club debut, with the former Suns and Blues speedster to avoid his sub role when the Cats host Gold Coast.
Martin endured an injury-riddled five years with Carlton, playing 54 games before being delisted at the end of last year.
He found a lifeline at Kardinia Park, with the Cats taking a cautious approach with the 30-year-old, who has played just two VFL games in 2025.
Those two matches were enough for Scott to bring Martin into the senior side, with the former forward thriving in a role further up the field in defence.
"It is really good for Jack," Scott said on Friday.
"I think we were clear, we certainly were internally around our expectations of him through our pre-season and early start of the season proper.
"We wanted to take our time, make sure that he was well prepared to play, and he has got to that stage now.
"We've also said publicly that we didn't bring him in thinking that we will see how it went for one season, we aspired for a longer tenure than that.
"He has only played the two games in the VFL, but he has trained really well before that and has earned his spot in the team.
"It's fair to say that everyone is excited to see what he can do."
Jack Martin will be part of the starting 22 for the Cats, putting him in line for a full game in his return.
Martin is one of two inclusions for the Cats, with captain Patrick Dangerfield returning from his hamstring injury.
Geelong decided to manage forward Ollie Henry and have omitted youngster Ted Clohesy.
The Suns will be chasing their first win at Kardinia Park, with their star-studded midfield of Noah Anderson, Matthew Rowell and Touk Miller to lead the charge.
Scott is likely to utilise run-with player Oisin Mullin to tag one of Gold Coast's top ball winners, however will plan to have the Irishman attempt to damage his opponent the other way.
"That's the harder question, which one?," Scott said.
"He tends to play a pretty similar role for us, even when he plays in the back half rather than the midfield. His method and the way we go about it tends to stay pretty similar.
"It would be reasonable to say that if he kind of rolled off one player to the next one, then that second one is going to be just as dangerous.
"He has played some really good roles for us, but it would be slightly misleading to think that he is just a lockdown player who has a specific role every week.
"We are a bit more flexible than that."
Geelong will host Gold Coast at 4:15pm (AEST) on Saturday afternoon.
