http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/panther-te-maire-martin-reading-the-play-just-like-idol-benji-marshall-20151205-glg8nh.html
Panther Te Maire Martin reading the play, just like idol Benji Marshall
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Te Maire Martin has read only one book.
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"I was about 13 or 14 at the time and read the whole thing," Martin said of Benji Marshall's biography.
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"I remember watching the 2005 grand final, he was killing it at the time.
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"I was always watching his highlights, he's definitely one of my idols. Ever since then I had to read his book."
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Martin's story reads similar to that of Marshall. Born in New Zealand, dreamed of becoming an All Black, a touch football sensation, left home early to attend renowned Queensland league nursery Keebra Park High, developed into an exciting five-eighth, signed by Wests Tigers.
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All Martin had to do was win a premiership, a golden boot and represent the Kiwis and it would have been a case of it's all the same, only the names will change.
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"It's weird, it's not exactly the same but it's sort of like that," he said.
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But this is where the tales take divergent paths. For all of Martin's undoubted talent – Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney offered him a train-on spot for the recent tour to England before he had played a single NRL game – the Tigers baulked at re-signing him.
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That they chose not to trigger an option in their favour, for just $110,000 for next season, highlights their belief in incumbent halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses and the depth of the salary cap dramas engulfing the joint-venture outfit.
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The Tigers did make a last-ditch attempt to retain Martin, but it was too late.
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**"They were real understanding," Martin said. "I told them I wanted to learn from someone experienced in the halves. It was only going to be better for myself and they said 'fair enough' and let me go.\
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"I have to thank them because they did have another year and they could have held me in."**
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Which is why one of rugby league's most exciting prospects is now at Penrith. The plan is to learn all he can from veteran halves Peter Wallace and Jamie Soward and eventually to replace one of them when they finish up.
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Not that there weren't other tempting options. Melbourne offered a similar opportunity to complete his apprenticeship under coach Craig Bellamy and Kangaroos half Cooper Cronk. Had he accepted North Queensland's invitation, the Tokoroa product would be at the premiers as the understudy to the game's best, Johnathan Thurston.
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"After I made my decision, they started going good," Martin quipped.
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There was even a chance to head to St George Illawarra, where he would have ended up at the same club as his idol and the man with whom he is most compared, Marshall.
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"I'm not getting carried [away], but if I could get nearly as good as he is – when he was in his prime he was unstoppable – I'd be stoked," he said.
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Instead he is at the foot of the mountains. For a youngster keen on surfing, the transition wasn't easy.
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"The first week of preseason, I moved to Jordan Springs," he said. "I couldn't do anything around here. I like the beach. I moved down on the Monday. I moved back [to Manly] by Tuesday morning."
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That he is here at all is testament to the support Martin receives from his extended family. The 20-year-old describes his aunty, Keebra Park teacher Suzy Cooper, as his "adopted mum".
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"Because my mum had three kids at the time, it was sort of a bit too much, so I moved in with my mum's sister and she's looked after me since I was little," said Martin, the nephew of former Chiefs and Blues Super Rugby back Jackson Willison.
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"She pushes me and keeps me away from drinking and all that kind of stuff," he said. "She's a big reason why I could make it, giving me the mental drive I have.
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"She played touch footy, as well, so I was always going for runs with her and kept trying to make the next team.
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"You could say she's strict, but she's a good [kind of] strict."
So it appears we didn't just let Martin go, but decided not to enforce the option when Martin wanted to train under more experienced halves. We have committed to Brooks and Moses and can't keep them all?
Also Martin has only ever read one book, seriously? Not even Cat In The Hat?
