Phil Gould says Te Maire Martin ‘won’t be held back any longer than necessary’

PENRITH boss Phil Gould has thrown his support behind NRL wannabe Te Maire Martin, saying: “He won’t be held back any longer than necessary”.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 13: Te Maire Martin of the Panthers makes a break during the NRL Trial match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium on February 13, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

PENRITH boss Phil Gould has thrown his heavyweight support behind NRL wannabe Te Maire Martin, saying: “He won’t be held back any longer than necessary”.

Still only 20, Martin is suddenly the undisputed topic of conversation out west after scoring a try and orchestrating two more in the Panthers’ 24-20 trial win over Canterbury on Saturday.

Apart from being compared to fellow Keebra Park alumni Benji Marshall, the young New Zealander is also putting plenty of heat on Penrith’s veteran halves pairing of Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace.

Te Maire Martin has been compared to Benji Marshall.

Asked to describe his young No. 6, Gould told The Daily Telegraph: “I’m confident he’s a long-term NRL player. It was only a low-key trial against the Bulldogs, but Te Maire couldn’t have been more impressive. We’ll be patient with him.

“He won’t be rushed. But, by the same token, he has undoubted potential and won’t be held back any longer than necessary. I suspect Te Maire will tell us when he’s ready.”

The No. 6 jersey has proved contentious for Penrith in the past year, with Gould taking to Twitter late last season to rubbish reports suggesting Soward was being shopped around to NRL rivals. In his statement, the GM revealed an “honest” discussion had taken place between the pair, with Gould telling the veteran he should retire and take up a coaching post with the club if not 100 per cent motivated to play.

Soward, however, has since recommitted for 2016, with he, Wallace and fullback Matt Moylan determined to finally stay injury-free and create some strong ­combinations.

Jamie Soward is under pressure to perform. Picture: Mark Evans

Still, Martin will be in the mix.

A former junior Kiwi, the five-eighth was one of several “Next Big Things’ to stand out over a bumper trials weekend, with South Sydney No. 6 Cody Walker also getting his team home in the Charity Shield.

Playing for 60 minutes against Canterbury, Martin also received praise from his new coach Anthony Griffin, who admitted to knowing little of the youngster before signing on with Penrith.

“Obviously I watched a lot of NRL last year, not much 20s,’’ the former Brisbane coach said. “So I knew very little of Te Maire.

“He was good against Canterbury, did what he needed to do, but still has a long way to go.”

An outstanding league and touch footy player in high school, Martin was initially picked up by Wests Tigers, who had an option in their favour to keep the rookie for just $110,000 this year.

However, because of the club’s ongoing financial dramas, coupled with the money already invested in halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses, Martin was released to the open market.

From there, it’s understood the youngster rejected offers from Melbourne, North Queensland and St George Illawarra before signing at the foot of the mountains.

And as for how the Panthers GM rates his new recruit? “Outstanding young man,’’ Gould continued. “Polite, respectful, humble ... he’s also very patient. Te Maire trains hard and has been most impressive all off-season.

“Yet he also has this quiet fly-on-the-wall nature about him. He just sits back and takes everything in. He wants to learn and he watches everything the senior players do.”

And as for playing NRL this year? “Ah, I’m not sure,’’ Griffin said. “The Bulldogs game was a trial. A low-level trial where both teams used about 30 players.

“But as a half, he did what he needed to do. He’s a quiet kid.”