Rhyse Martin, Lachlan Lewis deliver puppy pact to shine light on Canterbury’s bleak future
IT’S the pact between Belmore pups Rhyse Martin and Lachlan Lewis that proves there is light at the end of the tunnel at Canterbury.
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IT’S the pact between two Belmore pups that proves there is light at the end of the tunnel at Canterbury.
Young gun Lachlan Lewis told The Daily Telegraph that he and boom forward Rhyse Martin made it their “mission” to re-sign with the embattled club.
Both players had drawn interest from other NRL rivals and even overseas but staying at the Bulldogs was their priority.
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“It’s funny — we set out when I made my debut — we were both off contract and we both wanted to stay at the club and we’ve kind of made it our own little mission to get re-signed here. To say that it was easy to renegotiate a contract is not true,” Lewis said.
Martin agreed to a one-year extension yesterday and Lewis signed on to a further two years last week.
The up and coming playmaker says the tough times facing the proud club made him more determined to stay.
He says despite all the headlines and criticism Canterbury have endured this year, he still wants to be part of the side’s rebuild.
“It’s a great club that’s the biggest thing for me,” he said.
“I have been here for two years and the club has shown good faith in the last five weeks with the belief in me.
“The structure they have here at the club is outstanding and I want to be a part of the rebuild. “That’s a big focus for [CEO] Andrew Hill, when we were discussing the contract that basically the next three years there is going to be a lot of tough times and there’s going to be a lot of hard work that goes into it but that sits well with personality.”
He also revealed that coach Dean Pay has assured him first crack at partnering Kieran Foran in the halves in 2019.
“That was the biggest thing we needed to clear up [during contract talks]. I love playing football and I’ll play football in any position if I have too,” he said.
“But yeah, Dean said that I’d be playing in the halves.
“That’s where I’d be training in the preseason and Dean’s really good on picking players on form and not on history so he’s given me a good shot in the preseason.
“There’s an opportunity there but there’ll be other players I’ll be competing with and that only brings good things.”
Yesterday’s announcement about Martin’s future was much-welcomed signing news for the struggling Bulldogs, who have been forced to release star players Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye this season due to salary cap pressure.
According to CEO Andrew Hill, Martin’s one year deal was the best outcome for both parties as gives the 25-year old a chance to prove his first grade credentials without the club over committing to him.
Veteran backs Josh Morris and Brett Morris are also on their way out of Belmore next season, while Greg Eastwood will also depart.
Martin has emerged as a shining light for the Bulldogs and teammate Adam Elliott says the retention of the back-rower was vital for where the club was heading.
“He’s really earned that contract. It’s a really big lift having young guys staying on at the club for a couple of years,” Elliott said.
“Rhyse is a really good ball runner. He runs a great line on the edge and he probably runs the best line at our club and we’ve been saying that for a while.
“He’s been doing it in NSW Cup for years and years now.
“He scored a great try against the Raiders, the first try, it was just a really good edge back-rower try.
“He can run that tough line and he carried a few blokes over the try line and that’s something he’s a little underrated with at the moment.”
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