Aaron Black Biography

Paddy McCartin faces a lengthy five-match VFL ban for his off-the-ball strike on his Geelong opponent.

Footage emerged of McCartin lashing out at Aaron Black during the match between Sydney and Geelong's reserves, with the ball nowhere near the pair.

"I'm really disappointed about what happened and I'm gutted, honestly. I feel terrible about what happened and really want to apologise to everyone," McCartin said.

"I just wanted to apologise to him (Black) and his family for what happened. I'm really, really sorry and deeply regretful for what happened and hopefully next time I see him I can shake his hand and we can move past it."

Stewart Crameri, Aaron Black, Ryan Gardner, Cory Gregson, Matthew Hayball and Timm House are delisted by Geelong.

"We sincerely thank all six players for their service to the club, whether it be over a short or a long period, these players have all made a contribution to Geelong as footballers and as quality people," Cats head of football Simon Lloyd said.

"The club wishes them all the best as they embark on their future endeavours."

Aaron Black may face an extended stint on the sidelines, with the club fearing he has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Black appeared to badly hyper-extend his knee while landing in a marking contest during the third quarter of Geelong's 37-point win over North Melbourne.

"The whole footy club, and even North Melbourne, really feel for him. He's just a great clubman," Cats coach Chris Scott said.

"If anyone has any right to feel sorry for himself it's Aaron, and he hasn't shown any sign of that, so it's disappointing. We have to find a way to stick by him."

Geelong is hopeful Aaron Black has avoided serious damage to his left knee after the defender suffered a nasty hyperextension in the win over North Melbourne.

Black, who crossed to the Cats last season, was carried off by two trainers after landing awkwardly following a marking contest early in the third quarter at GMHBA Stadium.

A new beginning is what Geelong recruit Aaron Black says he needs, after being barely used by North Melbourne over the past two years.

"Sometimes you just feel you need a fresh change and fresh start, and that's what I'm looking forward to the most," Black said.

"The good thing is, Geelong is in a very good position and has a great list, so I'm pretty excited about it."

Geelong surprisingly secures North Melbourne forward Aaron Black in exchange for pick 92 on the final day of the NAB AFL Trade Period.

Black, 25, had been linked to Fremantle, but interest from the Dockers waned after they turned their attention to Cats forward Shane Kersten.

North Melbourne and forward Aaron Black have agreed to part ways.

Black is contracted for next season but is looking for more opportunity after spending the year in the VFL.

"It's only fair now on Aaron that he gets a fresh start to continue his career somewhere else," Black's manager Jason Dover said.

"Aaron needs that mentally as much as physically getting to a new location.

"We feared at the time when they went and got (Waite) that that might be putting him ahead of Aaron. We thought Aaron was one of the best young forwards in the League at the time.

"He had come off a really big season and had … major offers to move clubs. He showed a lot of loyalty at the time to stick with the Kangaroos.

"Unfortunately, it probably hasn't played out as promised."

Aaron Black says he is "happy to go anywhere" in a bid to resurrect his AFL career.

Black is contracted at the Kangaroos until the end of 2017 after he signed an extension at the end of 2013, but has not managed a senior game in 2016.

"We're in continual conversation with North … and come the trade period we'll explore what opportunities are out there for Aaron in a trade that might benefit both the club and Aaron," Black's manager manager Jason Dover said.

"It's not all about returning home."

Aaron Black's manager Jason Dover says his client may seek a trade from North Melbourne after struggling at the club for opportunities in 2015.

The addition of Jarrad Waite and Shaun Higgins at the end of last year meant there was no room for Black in the Roos’ forward line.

“We’ve probably been a little disappointed in that instance. Some of the players brought in might have gone past Aaron,” Dover said.

“Aaron made the choice to stay at the Kangaroos because of loyalty. Perhaps in hindsight, we may look at it differently.

“It’s been 12 months now he’s been treading water.”

Aaron Black says his performance in last year's preliminary final loss to the Sydney Swans was probably the worst of his career.

"I didn't train at all in the lead-up to the prelim, but I was right to go by Thursday and I had a half-decent game the week before against Geelong, so I was actually feeling pretty confident," Black said.

"The lead-up to the game was pretty frustrating, but there were no excuses really. I just played shocking that game."

Black downplayed the impact his shoulder injury had on his form last season, saying it had affected him mentally more than physically.

"It only hampers you the tiniest bit (physically) but I guess that little bit does mean you lose confidence in yourself," Black said.

"Whereas I might have been getting to balls and marking them the previous year, last year I couldn't get my arm up as much at times, I dropped some marks I should have taken and I let it affect me too much.

"The biggest thing with the shoulder was just that I couldn't do weights properly, so I lost a couple of kilos during the year and my strength dropped away and my marking just wasn't as good as 2013.

"It was frustrating."

Aaron Black says he is confident of returning to form after being plagued by a shoulder injury throughout the 2014 season.

"I've got full movement in my arm and now (I'm) just trying to get my strength back," Black said.

"It was pretty annoying (this year) because I wouldn't be able to do weights or go out and do full training with the boys, it was just a lot of skill work.

"My output probably wasn't as good as the year before, but a lot of that has to do with confidence in football."

Aaron Black's manage, Jason Dover of Stride Sports Management, says his client is happy to remain at the Kangaroos despite interest from Fremantle who are keen to lure the forward back to Western Australia.

"With Jarrad Waite coming to the club, we have spoken to the Kangaroos about how that might affect Aaron's role in the team," Dover said.

"We've been assured that Aaron very much remains a required player and is seen as a vital part of North's future plans in attack.

"I understand there was an approach from Fremantle about Aaron, but North have said there is zero chance of a trade being done."

Aaron Black is only too happy to play his part in North Melbourne's "structured offence" but the forward is constantly working on ways to get more involved in Brad Scott's game-plan.

"I speak to 'Scotty' each week and we go through things to work on and he's been pleased with the team role I've been playing," Black said.

"Whether that be creating space for Drew (Petrie) or getting back and laying blocks.

"It would be good to play really good football all the time but that's not realistically going to happen."

Black admits he hasn't quite hit his straps in 2014 compared to his breakout year in 2013.

"Statistically I'm not going as well as last year. But last year I could get away with things playing on guys that had never seen me play," Black said.

"This year, I guess it's a compliment to myself, that I'm getting looked at harder and getting manned up a lot tighter."

West Australian Aaron Black admits to being homesick and missing his family for much of 2013 but never considered leaving the Kangaroos.

"North were really good. I told them throughout the year how I was feeling and I would regularly chat with 'Scotty'," Black said.

"At the end of the year North came to me and put an offer forward about how they could help me, how they could help my family to get over here and see me a bit more, and how I could go home in the breaks.

"I never wanted to go home. It was just about getting the things outside of the contract sorted, which would help me out, help the family out and just make me feel more comfortable in Melbourne."

Aaron Black resists a tempting offer from Fremantle and re-signs with North Melbourne until the end of 2017.

Former Kangaroo Aaron Edwards will face his former as a Tiger and North Melbourne coach Brad Scott admits the club was reluctant to let him go.

"We'd have love to have kept him - but we really felt if Aaron Edwards stayed on our list, then Aaron Black would have been playing the VFL," Scott said.

"Majak Daw wouldn't have had his opportunity this year. We're fortunate in terms of the number of key position forwards we've had on our list.

"It was disappointing to lose Azza, but we had to keep moving forward. I hope he doesn't hurt us."

Robbie Tarrant says he is under pressure to keep his spot with the emergence of young forwards in Aaron Black, Majak Daw and Tom Curran.

"I feel a lot of pressure to keep lifting my game," Tarrant said.

"Blacky's had a really good pre-season, he's really taken his fitness base to a new level, and Majak has improved so much over the last few seasons.

"Tommy Curran has been able to get out on the track now too. Unfortunately for him last year he only played a couple games of VFL before he hurt his foot.

"If there was no pressure you might rest on your laurels a little bit, but it's really good at the minute because you know full well you have to continue to work on your game and improve."

Two-game North Melbourne forward Aaron Black has quickly shown why the Roos were so keen to extend his contract after kicking three goals against the Lions.

"Brad [Scott] made it pretty clear I had some work to do on my second efforts, keeping my feet in the contest and those sort of things," Black said.

"I've still got a way to go but it was good to be able to dish off a couple of goal assists and stay in the contest a bit more."

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has high hopes for Aaron Black, who has extended his contract with the Kangaroos for another two seasons.

"We know the key-position players take a long time," Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said.

"Eventually we think he'll be able to hold down a key position, but at the moment he'd be more that athletic, agile third forward."

Aaron Black makes his AFL debut for North Melbourne at Docklands Stadium with 9 disposals (5 kicks and 4 handballs), 3 marks and a goal in a 13-point win over Richmond.