Could 2017 be the year Jack Martin establishes himself as an elite player in the AFL competition?

His fellow AFL players seem to think so, predicting the West Australian as a breakout contender in 2017.

As part of the fourth annual AFL Players’ Top 50, players were asked to nominate the youngster ‘most likely to have a breakout season and become elite in 2017’, with Martin polling third in the vote with seven per cent behind Essendon’s Joe Daniher (14 per cent) and St Kilda’s Paddy McCartin (10 per cent).

From the day he arrived at Metricon Stadium as a 17-year-old, Martin has always been earmarked as a future star of the AFL competition.

He has shown glimpses of his prodigious talent across his 44 senior games, from his four goals against West Coast in the last game of his maiden campaign to his electrifying start to 2016 where he booted nine goals in three games to provide the perfect foil to All Australian Tom Lynch.

After finishing third in Gold Coast’s best and fairest last year, expectations at the club are that Martin will improve again in 2017.

“Certainly the expectations are internally that he will improve from last year,” coach Rodney Eade said in a press conference last week.

“He has had a very good preseason ... so with his ability to go forward and back I think he can have a major impact on the team.”

Time will tell just how good the boy from Broome can be, but it’s hard not to see the 22-year-old taking another big step forward in 2017.