Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'It was tame out there': Blues' backrower Liam Martin says Queensland had no chat

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

After being cast as a “grub” by the Queensland media, NSW forward Liam Martin is relishing the prospect of having the last laugh at the Maroons’ expense in next month’s State of Origin decider in Brisbane.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Blues backrower was everywhere for Brad Fittler’s side on Sunday night as they squared the series in Perth with a 44-12 shellacking of Queensland.

The mild-mannered Penrith forward had a big week, when he woke up on Wednesday to see he had been depicted as the most-hated man in Queensland since former NSW captain Paul Gallen.

Now with the series tied, Martin has the chance to rub some more salt into the wounds with a winner-takes-all decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 13.

“It was tame out there, there wasn’t sledging from either team,” Martin said.

“They (Queensland) didn’t have much to say, they probably didn’t buy into it (the media talk) too much.

“We played the whole series up there last year. I sort of enjoyed the atmosphere, with the whole of Queensland just giving it to you.

“I’m really looking forward to it being a decider up there.”

Related

The 25-year-old and his fellow Blues forwards will have to replicate the gritty display shown in Perth if they are to have any hope of conquering Queensland in Brisbane.

ADVERTISEMENT

NSW haven’t won a decider in Brisbane since 2005.

The selection of Jake Trbojevic in the front row gave NSW the upper hand in the middle, with the flow-on effect resulting in the Blues blowing Queensland away in the second half.

“I love playing alongside him, he goes out there to fold people in half,” Martin said.

“I’ve nicknamed him ‘The Axe’ because he just chops blokes.

“He keeps going – he’s got a really big motor – and he’ll go all game if you ask him to. He killed it.”

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING ‘It’s about his career’: Why NRL star Payne Haas could jump codes ‘It’s about his career’: Why NRL star Payne Haas could jump codes
Search