During his first five seasons in the AFL, Stefan Martin never got the opportunity to play in a Final at the elite level.

Now, after just a handful of pre-season matches since moving to the Brisbane Lions during the off-season, Martin finds himself gearing up for the 2013 NAB Cup Grand Final.

“I’ve never played in a Final at AFL level before,” Martin said.

“It’s been great to have won all the games so far.”

But Martin won’t be alone, with a number of his Lions teammates set for their first taste of Finals action as well – albeit in the NAB Cup.

In fact, from the side that defeated Collingwood last Saturday night, only eight players – Daniel Rich, Brent Moloney, Jed Adcock, Joel Patfull, Jonathan Brown, Ash McGrath, James Polkinghorne and Daniel Merrett – have previously experienced an AFL Final of some description.

And while the NAB Cup Grand Final is a far cry from September action, it will at least prove some sort of occasion for the relatively inexperienced Lions.

Carlton, meanwhile, have won two NAB Cup titles within the past decade and participated in three of the last four AFL Finals series.

The Blues also boast a wealth of big man stocks, meaning Martin is likely to have his hands full on Friday night.  

“On the weekend I didn’t play ruck at all, I was sort of a permanent forward,” Martin said.

“So I’m probably going to have to switch gears and help out in the ruck as well.”

“(Carlton has) a pretty strong ruck line-up, and we’ll have to be at our best to compete with those guys.”

The 26 year-old also feels that he has plenty of improvement left in him, considering he didn’t start playing Australian Rules until seven years ago.

“My first game was when I was 19 years old in amateur footy,” Martin said.

“Personally I feel like there’s a long way to go. Even on the weekend, I missed several opportunities which I hope in the future I’ll be able to iron out.”

“That’ll allow me to have a greater impact on games.”