#KiwiNRL Grand Final Preview: Waikato Cowboy Te Maire Martin
Cowboy attire.
North Queensland Cowboys fall second to Melbourne Storm in pretty much all 'footy club building' categories and there's no shame in that. The Storm have built the best culture and sustained that for over a decade, while also consistently making the best recruitment moves of any NRL club in the same time period. The Cowboys aren't too far behind though, having built yet another Grand Final roster that features a long list of players who were incredibly wise recruitment moves and have improved since moving to Townsville.
Kane Linnett, Justin O'Neill, Lachlan Coote, John Asiata, Gavin Cooper and Ben Hampton have all seen their careers reach greater heights after joining the Cowboys. Then you have two nifty pieces of business done this season, with Shaun Fensom leaving Canberra Raiders as a last-minute recruit and Te Maire Martin making the mid-season move. Fensom has proved to be a valuable recruit in Matt Scott's absence, with his no-frills style through the middle - which likely led to Ricky Stuart brushing him aside - an asset for the Cowboys.
Martin however, well he's our #KiwiNRL brethren and his footy career thus far has been nothing but a whirlwind adventure. Y'all know they story how Martin left the Waikato and Hamilton Boys High School to link up with Gold Coast's Keebra Park High School, a move sparked by Wests Tigers (Keebra is now under Bulldogs' control). Martin then had his NRL pathway at the Tigers blocked after emerging as an Under 20s gun, so he moved to Penrith Panthers and made his debut last season, showcasing all his ability on debut.
Injury came, then Nathan Cleary sealed a halves spot and perhaps most notably, Dylan Edwards snapped up his opportunity at fullback. That meant a shift to the halves for Matt Moylan and even with Moylan battlin' his dramas, Penrith's Championship winning Under 20s spine was rolled out this season with Cleary and Edwards joined by Tryonne May.
Martin left Penrith somewhere in the middle of all of that and not long after moving up to Townsville to soak up footy wisdom from Jonathan Thurston, Thurston was ruled out for the season via injury. Suddenly Martin was not only a starting half alongside Michael Morgan, but he was set to play the rest of the season in the halves. Martin wasn't the solution to filling the hole left by Thurston's absence as Morgan has taken care of that, Martin has however done his job and allowed Morgan and Lachlan Coote to step up to the plate with greater responsibility.
There's incredible #KiwiNRL funk in this Grand Final and I detailed that in my looksie at the forwards, I'm low key frothing with anticipation for Martin's efforts as well though. Some of this stems from the hype that has followed Martin since he joined Keebra Park and dominated Under 20s footy. Martin leads the young wave of kiwi halves that are already evidence of rugby league's slept on (not by the Niche Cache, but by mainstream rugby union folk who aren't aware of their impending doom) rise in Aotearoa and now, after promising so much, we get another glimpse of where Martin is at as a half.
In that regard, I'm just exciting to see one of our best prospects play in such an arena. Unlike Melbourne's forwards (sans Asofa-Solomona) and Taumalolo who have played Grand Finals games and Test footy, Martin hasn't tasted that yet. Also unlike those forwards, Martin is a half and in such high pressure games, the execution of halves comes under an intense microscope. This is the 'lil cuzzie who we've seen bits and bobs of his potential, playing in a Grand Final; how can you not be frothing!?
The rest of my frothy-froth-o-ness stems from a more tactical aspect, which flows off of the above paragraph. Thus far in his Cowboys career, Martin has played a limited role in the Cowboys attack and he's been restricted to doing his job as best he can down the Cowboys left edge. Morgan and Coote run the show, they are the real play-makers and organisers who dictate how the Cowboys play their footy.
1,333 Likes, 27 Comments - Te Maire Martin 🐠🐟🎣 (@t_m4rtin) on Instagram: "Stoked my bikes finished. Thanks to Hostile Customs for doing it up. And also @hoooks3 and..."
Two weeks ago Martin had 21 touches against Parramatta, while Coote had 36 and Morgan 66. Martin had 1 kick for 14m (a short kick), while Coote had 3 kicks for 113m and Morgan 18 kicks for 472m; Coote and Morgan did all the long kicking.
Last week, Martin had 32 touches, while Coote had 36 and Morgan 78. Martin didn't have a single kick, while Coote had 4 (113m) and Morgan 17 (620m).
What is impressive about Martin's work is his efficiency as he doesn't get as much footy, he works wonders with the footy in his limited touches. Against the Eels, Martin had a try assist with that delicious inside pass for Coen Hees and while he only had 2 runs, he averaged 10.5m/run. Against the Roosters, Martin scored that try, an important first half try to break the game's shackles and that run obviously boosted Martin's running stats (5/60m). Martin's try assist vs Eels and try vs Roosters came when either game was in the balance and without doing a whole lot in either game, Martin still had an influence.
Martin will be in for a tough night on defence as he'll have to deal with Cooper Cronk's wizardry, Felise Kaufusi's running lines and Will Chambers who will likely try to isolate Martin on defence. Coming up against Boyd Corder - the best north/south edge runner in the NRL - Martin missed 5 tackles, which isn't ideal but his edge forward Gavin Cooper missed 6 tackles. Melbourne would have noted that and I'm as intrigued by what Martin and his left edge do on defence, as I am by what Martin does on attack.
On attack, Martin's role is based on ensuring that his combination with Coote is as slick as possible. Martin will also be put in situations like last week where he receives the footy out the back of a decoy runner (Taumalolo last week) and has options; run is the priority, if there's no opening then shift the footy to Cooper or Justin O'Neill.
As Martin won't get much of the kicking duties and Coote will be tasked with long kicks as well as getting repeat sets down the left edge, look for Martin's running game and how he distributes. Melbourne don't have any #KiwiNRL funk down their right edge, so when the Storm head that way, tune into Martin and how he performs his defensive duty.
There's a chance we might not see too much of Martin and that's all good. The Cowboys didn't sign him mid-season and then give him a starting gig to control, or dominate games. We've seen in two big Cowboys Finals wins that Martin can influence a game with a single play though and now we're going to see if he can do the same in the biggest game of the season.
Peace and love 27.
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