Why did Phil Gould give Te Maire Martin to the North Queensland Cowboys?

FOR the second year in a row, Phil Gould has gifted one of the grand finalists a key player with a mid-season release.

Santa gus art for buzz column

AFTER last year’s historic grand final victory, the Cronulla Sharks made a point of thanking Phil Gould for providing them with Clive Churchill Medal winner Luke Lewis.

North Queensland are likely to do the same next weekend if five-eighth Te Maire Martin has a blinder for the Cowboys against the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium in the decider.

Without Gould’s very generous midyear release of the dashing playmaker, the Cowboys wouldn’t be playing on Sunday evening.

And the remarkable part is that the Cowboys are paying him only $50,000 for this year.

The rest of it is being covered by Gus’s chequebook at the Panthers.

I watch Fox Sports instead of Channel 9 for the advertisement-free coverage but they tell me Gus remained silent inside the commentary box as Martin cut through to score his wonderful 24th-minute solo try on Saturday night.

Martin opened the scoring with a brilliant try against the Roosters.

He chipped in and said how happy he was during the replay.

Happy? How about embarrassed.

Next thing they will be changing his name from Gus to Santa Claus.

Not that Cowboys coach Paul Green is complaining at being gifted such a special talent.

‘Thank you very much Gus, Yours Sincerely, the Cowboys.’

Green still clearly remembers the morning in mid-June when the phone call came from Martin’s agent.

“I was driving to work about 7am,” he said. “My phone rings and it’s his manager asking if we’ve got any interest in Te Maire.

“I said ‘bloody oath we do’. We had the deal done the next day. That’s how keen we were.”

It was the weekend Penrith had a bye and the rookie five-eighth had booked a flight to New Zealand for a break with his family.

Martin began the season with the Panthers.

“To his credit, he cancelled the plane ticket and came straight to Townsville,” Green said.

“It gave us a very good early indication of how keen he was.”

Turns out it was a double favour from Gould because it was only James Tamou’s move to the Penrith Panthers that left enough space in the Cowboys’ salary cap to accommodate Martin.

Plus the opportunity to learn from Johnathan Thurston.

“I’m his coach but JT has been fantastic with him,” Green said. “He has a quiet word to him before games and it’s obviously been beneficial.

“A big part of the attraction of him coming here was to learn from JT.”

The Cowboys had interest in Martin long before that June phone call.

“We had crack when he was leaving the Wests Tigers,” Green said. “But Gus got under our guard.

Martin has been in top form for the Cowboys.

“So it wasn’t a hard decision when his manager rang. It’s been a huge bonus.

“The try he scored was a big play for a kid in a semi-final to back himself like he did.”

On Sunday he’s up against another cracking young five-eighth in Cameron Munster.

It will be one of the highlights of the grand final. Two superconfident youngsters.

On Sunday morning I texted the great Gus Gould to ask: “Any regrets about letting Te Maire Martin go.”

And the reply: “Some things in life are far more important than football. We are extremely happy for him.”

Sure Gus, it’s hard to admit when you’re wrong. Especially two years in a row.

HIGHLIGHT

That amazing sellout crowd of 94,258 and sensational atmosphere for the Richmond-GWS preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday put rugby league to shame.

LOWLIGHT

Another poor attendance at Allianz Stadium of 28,108 for the Roosters-Cowboys grand final qualifier. The sooner we get a world-class rectangular stadium at Olympic Park the better.

LOWLIGHT II

Adam Blair’s dog shot on Cooper Cronk in Melbourne on Friday night. Attacking a smaller man from behind is, as Andrew Johns said, a cowardly act. It’s a strange game when you can get sin-binned for slapping an opponent but nothing for a low act like Blair’s.

FRIEND ZONE

Check out the Fox Sports statistics from Saturday night’s Cowboys-Roosters match. Roosters skipper Jake Friend made ZERO metres in attack. He did make 60 tackles.

DOG TREATS

The Cowboys should be sending Bulldogs prop Aiden Tolman and hooker Michael Lichaa a case of beer each. It was their tries in the 66th and 74th minutes in Round 26 that knocked St George Illawarra out of the finals and opened the door for North Queensland.

FINAL KNIGHT

Veteran Sharks forward Chris Heighington turns 35 before the start of next season but is still expected to have one final season at the Newcastle Knights before retiring.

CHEERS, MADGE

The South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter group The Burrow is planning farewell drinks for axed coach Michael Maguire at Souths Juniors this week. Shane Richardson will not be invited.

BENCH PRESSURE

Trent Robinson is a great footy coach but questions need to be asked about his selections for the Cowboys game. Having a winger on the bench is not a smart move.

360 VIEW

Catch you on Monday night on NRL 360 on Fox Sports to discuss all the big issues from the weekend as the countdown begins to Sunday’s grand final.