Clifford threat inspires Martin
COWBOYS youngster Te Maire Martin insists he is embracing the heat being applied by halves rival Jake Clifford as speculation continues he will be given an NRL shot sooner rather than later.
Coach Paul Green said on Tuesday it was unlikely halfback Clifford would be blooded against the Dragons at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday night.
But the door was left slightly ajar when fullback Lachlan Coote was included in both the Cowboys and Mackay Cutters teams while Clifford, 18th man for the Cowboys this week, wasn’t named for Northern Pride.
However the 20- year- old, who has battled shoulder issues in the past, was ‘ pink shirted’ at training yesterday, which excludes players from physical contact.
Martin joined North Queensland midway through last year and injuries to Johnathan Thurston and Michael Morgan have given him first crack at locking down a halves spot when Thurston retires.
But he’s aware of the threat posed by Tully product Clifford, who sent another message with a brilliant man- of- the- match performance for the Queensland under- 20s last week.
“It’s always healthy for any club you’re at to have some competition, he’s going really well,” Martin said.
“He’s really knocking on the door to get a debut and I believe it will come shortly, hopefully.
“He’s a very good player and there’s a whole lot of players knocking on the door for first grade. If you’re slipping up now, you don’t get too many second chances.
“I heard a lot in our rookie camps that getting the jersey is the easiest bit – it’s keeping the jersey ( that’s tougher).
“I know what they’re talking about now, I’ll be working hard for my position at five- eighth.
“With so much talent coming up, you want to play your heart out to keep that jersey. What we put into the back end of this year is setting up for next year.”
Martin is bracing for plenty of traffic to be directed his way by a Dragons pack intent on proving they aren’t in the early stages of another late- season fade out.
St George Illawarra have capitulated the last two years after great starts to the season, and have endured a draining Origin period with Tyson Frizell, Jack De Belin, Tariq Sims, Paul Vaughan and Ben Hunt all featuring.
They lost 52- 30 to Melbourne when both teams were missing their representative stars, before falling 20- 16 to Wests Tigers last week.
“It’s a big test for us halves, for myself and Johnno ( Thurston) to get up on their big ball runners,” Martin said.
“I believe there’ll be a lot of traffic coming both our ways.”