Jonathon Marsh has been proactive in his pursuit of another opportunity at AFL level.
The 25-year-old was last week delisted by St Kilda after two seasons with the club who picked him up in the supplemental selection period in 2019.
Despite the split, Marsh has been able to continue his training program at Moorabbin in a bid to stay fit enough to hopefully walk into another club if a chance to join a third club were to come his way.
The former Collingwood defender admits he and his management (at Connors Sports Management) have immediately been seeking new opportunities since receiving the bad news from the Saints.
“I gave my manager a call the day I heard and he’s just getting on the front foot and calling clubs asking if anyone needs a player like myself,” he said on SEN’s The Sporting Capital.
“I myself rung in a couple of favours to potentially help me out, if anyone could put in a good word for me or just to make someone lean my way.
“I’ve made those phone calls myself over the last week or so.
“It’s a tough one because the option to get on a list drags out well into next year so I think it’s just hearing from clubs if they’ve got any interest at all and selling yourself on that.
“The fine balance is maintaining a good physical and mental health and to get in as many facets as possible and put your name out there.”
After playing 11 games in two years with the Saints, including the Semi-Final loss against eventual premiers Richmond, Marsh admits his delisting did come as a shock.
The challenge for him now is to have a fall-back plan in case his time as an AFL player does not endure.
“Personally, to be honest, it was kind of a little bit more out of the blue than some others at the club,” he added.
“I was thinking I was in a good position to receive a contract for next year and then obviously I got the call and it didn’t go my way.
“Initially it probably takes you a couple of days to get rid of that shock factor. Instantly your mind starts reeling towards, ‘How do we pay the bills?’
“But as soon as you get away from that, what was important for myself was just to focus on the good things coming out of it.
“I’d love to continue my AFL career so if I’m able to pursue that another club, fantastic, but you’ve also got to understand the reality that that might not happen.
“In a way it’s kind of exciting for me. I’m 25 and if I can sort that out, that’s fantastic. If I was 30 or 31 leaving the AFL with not a whole lot of cleat direction that would be an even more daunting prospect.”
From his point of view, Marsh insists there is still a strong bond with St Kilda and he hopes that is a two-way thing.
“The club said they appreciated everything I did over the two years and I said I’m not leaving with any bad blood either,” he said.
“It’s not like I didn’t enjoy my two years at the club. I’m hoping I can leave the club and people there can say some good things about me instead of having it be a bad break-up.”