TAUMALOLO BACKS COWBOYS RECRUIT
DALLY M champion Jason Taumalolo has praised North Queensland’s signing of fellow Kiwis representative Te Maire Martin as the ex- Panther prepares for a possible showdown against his former club.
Martin will begin life as a Cowboy today after securing an immediate release from Penrith to sign with North Queensland until the end of 2019.
Despite public denials, Martin fell out of favour with Panthers coach Anthony Griffin and managed just 13 NRL games in 1 ½ seasons at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
A graduate of Keebra Park High School on the Gold Coast, Martin was a junior star who dominated the under- 20s competition at Wests Tigers.
The 21- year- old failed to reach those heights at the Panthers despite showing enough promise to earn a Kiwis Test debut on last year’s Four Nations tour.
Taumalolo played with Martin in England last year and said he could relaunch his career in Townsville.
“He’s a great young player,” he said.
“I know what he brings to the team.
“He’s a great ballplayer and has pretty good vision, too.
“To have a young half like that come in is pretty handy, especially with a couple of the boys being injured and Origin duties.”
The Cowboys were planning to announce Martin’s signing today and he will be on board for Saturday’s clash against the Panthers at 1300SMILES Stadium.
It is unlikely he would be rushed into Paul Green’s team, especially with North Queensland’s four Maroons planning to back up in what will be Johnathan Thurston’s 300th NRL game provided he comes through Origin II unscathed.
The Cowboys blooded rookie playmaker Kyle Laybutt in last Saturday’s goldenpoint loss to Melbourne and he performed admirably alongside Ray Thompson.
Laybutt, 21, orchestrated a try for Kyle Feldt and did enough before being forced from the field following a head knock.
“Greeny said to take your opportunities ( to run),” Laybutt said.
“I thought I did that early on and a bit more at the end.
“I just wanted to get the first tackle and run out of the road and I was OK after that.
“I definitely need to go back and work on a few things but I’m happy to get the first one out of the road and play the next one.”
Green said he was happy with Laybutt’s debut.
“For a kid on debut with the players we had out, he did really well,” he said.
“Generally his game was really good. He put himself in the game.
“He missed a couple of things he should have done but overall I was really happy with his game considering he was on debut and the players we had out.”