Liam Martin admits his long-running rivalry with Cameron Munster went quiet in Origin I, but he has pledged to make up for it if the new Queensland skipper comes his way in game two.
Rivalries like Martin’s and Munster’s are what Origin was built on and every clash they leave the fans coming back wanting more.
The long running feud between the pair dates back to Martin’s Origin debut in game one of the 2021 series when Munster lashed out at him with his boot after a collision midway through the second half.
However, Martin had the last laugh as the Blues went on to thrash the Maroons 50-6 in an Origin massacre.
The Blues back-rower vowed to get square with Munster the following year, even declaring he would target Munster’s injured ribs throughout the 2022 campaign.
The pair won a World Cup together for the Kangaroos at the end of the 2022 season, but Munster later revealed the pair didn’t get along, which came a surprise to Martin.
In a bizarre turn of events, Munster’s mum intervened and told her son to apologise and bury the hatchet with his Australian teammate.
However, while they kissed and cuddled before the 2024 Grand Final, every time the pair play each other another chapter in their rivalry plays out, especially as Martin’s Panthers beat Munster’s Storm in a tense decider.
When the Storm beat the Panthers in Round 3 earlier this year, the old sparring partners were at it again, with Munster admitting Martin baited him into giving away a penalty late in the contest, a claim which the Penrith enforcer later denied.
“He called me a liability, so I was just trying to get one back and repay the favour,” Munster claimed at the time.
Munster will captain Queensland for the first time in game two, so he can’t afford to be a liability, as the Maroons look to square the series and force a decider.
But one feels Martin will take great pride and joy to put the new Queensland skipper off his game.
“But I’m really looking forward to it. We always have great match-ups and we both have that competitive drive and play the sort of game that I enjoy.
“He will be looking to take the game on and lead from the front, so I just have to match that and just be better.”
Martin admitted the last instalment of the Munster rivalry was a bit of a fizzer, but he believes both players will be looking for more action in game two.
“It was pretty tame out there, but I think I saw a quote where he said that he wants to take the game on more,” Martin said.
“So he’ll obviously be looking to step up, but I think I am just going to have to try and match that.”
Given the pair’s fiery relationship on the field, you could be forgiven for thinking the pair go looking for each other on game day.
But for Martin it is more about playing his role in the team and if Munster comes his way by design or accident his eyes light up.
“Yeah that’s pretty much it,” Martin said.
“Obviously I have a role to do and need to stick to that. I don’t want to go out of my way out of the system to go after him.
“But when I get the chance, that’s sort of the job of the back-rower I guess to sort of give it to the other halves, so I’ll be trying to do that next Wednesday.”
In the lead-up to Origin II, Martin was involved in another running battle with former teammate, Jarome Luai as the Panthers beat the Tigers 18-14 in Round 14.
However, Martin revealed he was expecting a bit more fire and brimstone from his former title winning five-eighth and is looking forward to playing him again in the future.
“It was good to catch up with him after the game,” Martin said.
“Obviously I have a role to do and need to stick to that. I don’t want to go out of my way out of the system to go after him.
“But when I get the chance, that’s sort of the job of the back-rower I guess to sort of give it to the other halves, so I’ll be trying to do that next Wednesday.”
In the lead-up to Origin II, Martin was involved in another running battle with former teammate, Jarome Luai as the Panthers beat the Tigers 18-14 in Round 14.
However, Martin revealed he was expecting a bit more fire and brimstone from his former title winning five-eighth and is looking forward to playing him again in the future.
“It was good to catch up with him after the game,” Martin said.
“They came in the sheds and we all caught up, but out on the field it was pretty tame.
“I was expecting a bit more from him, but no, it wasn’t too bad.”
After a tumultuous build-up to game one with Payne Haas and Stephen Crichton in doubt, the Blues have just one change to their team, with Stefano Utoikamanu replacing Mitch Barnett after his season ending ACL injury.
While Barnett is a massive loss, Martin is looking forward to what Utoikamanu can bring to the side, with his size and power.
“It’s exciting for Stefano, he’s a quality player,” Martin said.
“I think he’s had an underrated season down at the Storm, so it’s really exciting for him to get his opportunity.
“He’s obviously a big body but he’s also a workhorse, so it’s really exciting to see what he can do in the Origin arena again.”
Barnett’s misfortune also resulted in a call-up for Martin’s club teammate Lindsay Smith, who could make his Origin debut if anything goes wrong this week.
Smith has already played for the Kangaroos, but Martin has no doubt he will get a chance in the Origin arena, if not this week then in the near future.
“Lindsay or Larry as we call him, he’s a great bloke and I was really excited for him when they mentioned it the other day that he was getting the call up,” Martin said.
“He is just a workhorse and he’s actually very skilful, he’s one of those blokes that is good at everything pretty much.
“He’s so skilful for his size. He can do everything, but he’s also a workhorse.
“He’s going to bring a lot of energy and really looking forward to the week with him.
“He’ll be really good for the week in preparation and he will get his chance in the future.”
With all the focus on the Maroons after they dropped captain Daly Cherry-Evans and made changes to their team, it has them right where they want to be, as underdogs.
However, if they are expecting the Blues to take them lightly, Martin warned they are mistaken.
“They obviously love the underdog tag,” Martin said.
“But we know they’re going to bounce back and probably play their best game in a while, so we’ve just got to be up for it and be ready to match it.
“We can’t get complacent and need to have a good solid week of training and just try and get better.”
Martin was content with his own form in game one, but concedes he wants to make more of an impact in Perth on both sides of the ball.
“I probably won’t be changing too much,” Martin said.
“I was pretty happy, but I’m trying to get more involved in the game. I was happy with how I went, but it would be nice to sort of crank it up a bit.”
Winning the first two games of the series is rare in Origin footy and while the fans and the NRL might want a decider, Martin is more than happy to spoil that party and wrap up the series in Perth.
“It would be awesome, we’d love to wrap it up over there, but we know that that’s a long way off yet,” Martin said.
“It’s going to be a hard 80 or 90 minutes or however long it’s going to take.
“We have got to be prepared to go the distance and fingers crossed we’ll get it done, but there’s going to be a lot of hard work put in before that.”
