‘He's the softest tough guy ever': The other side of Blues hard man Liam Martin

The Age

16 hours ago

There is the Liam Martin who tries to smash Cameron Munster at every opportunity. Then there is the Liam Martin who loves sitting down to read a book, or watch endless reruns of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (the character Aragorn is his personal favourite).
There is the Liam Martin who gets in the face of Tino Fa'asuamaleaui after he dropped the ball in Perth.
Then there is the Liam Martin who helps raise funds for motor neurone disease after losing his uncle in 2022, and his association with the family of AFL great Neale Daniher, who has lived with MND for more than a decade.
Almost every story about Martin and State of Origin is about how tough he is and what an on-field grub he is – the bloke who relishes the chance to antagonise and bash Queenslanders.
In fairness, he does a fantastic job of it. Teammates have even given him the nickname 'Wild Dog'. Even when he's not trying, Martin irons out Maroons, as evidenced by the giant lump above Reuben Cotter's left eye at Optus Stadium.
Just this week, there was more than one story about Martin trying to put the Queenslanders off their game in next Wednesday's Origin decider at Accor Stadium.
But, as the old story goes, there is a lot more to Liam Martin. Ask around enough and you start to get a proper sense of what he is really like.
Nathan Cleary best sums it up when he says of the Penrith, NSW and Kangaroos back-rower: 'He's the softest tough guy ever. On the field, he's a beast. But he wouldn't hurt anyone away from the field.'
Fullback Dylan Edwards says: 'Away from training, when he's at home with his lovely fiancée [Chelsea], he's a real sweetheart. He's very smart, kind and caring.
'He's also good for a 'finjury', or a fake injury. He once thought he had torn his pec, but it turns out he lifted too much weight in the gym [and was just sore].'
NSW coach Laurie Daley, who hails from Junee, a short drive south of Martin's home town of Temora in the NSW Riverina, is full of praise for Martin's work ethic.
'Marto is just a good fella, as you would expect from a country boy,' Daley says. 'He's as tough as nails, loves his teammates, loves his team, loves his state, and would do anything for anyone.
'He's a wonderful young man.
'If he's chasing a kick, he goes flat out. If he's coming out of the line, he's going flat out. If he's carrying the ball, it's always flat out.
'Everything is always maximum effort – that's what he does. He doesn't pace his way through the game. He's got one gear. Even when he drinks, he's only got the one gear.'
The sweetest story we unearthed about Martin took place at the start of this year when he sent his mother, Maxine, a kookaburra ornament.
Martin's older brother, Jarred, took his own life in 2014. Maxine spotted a kookaburra in an unlikely place not long after Jarred's death, and was convinced it was her late son's way of communicating with her.
Martin thought of Jarred and Maxine when he saw the kookaburra ornament, and mailed it to his mum, just to let her know he was thinking of them both.
'When my brother passed away, about a month later, mum found a photo of a kookaburra Jarred had drawn. She reckons ever since then a kookaburra has hung around home, or wherever she goes,' Martin says.
'The kookaburra is my brother. She's got so many pictures and mugs with kookaburras. I saw this ornament pop up, so I sent it to her, without telling her who it had come from.'
The Martin Family Cup, an annual game between Temora High and West Wyalong High, where Martin went to school, started last year. The concept was based on the two schools and towns where Martin grew up, with the key message to the students being 'resilience and respect'. Martin, now 28, possesses both traits in spades.
'I didn't play for West Wyalong, but my brother did. I went to West Wyalong High, but played all my footy in Temora,' Martin says.
'When people say I'm from Temora, my mates in West Wyalong want to know why they never get a mention.
'I love where I grew up. I'll be getting back there in August. There's a trivia night that will help raise funds for MND. I lost my uncle a few years ago. Mum found out about the news when she landed in England.
'It's such a cruel disease. Neale Daniher does a great job raising awareness about MND. I've never met Neale, but I'm close with some of his family, who were from near West Wyalong. His nephew Harvey is my age, and still one of my best mates.'
Martin's fiancée Chelsea is from Temora, but the pair didn't know each other because her family was involved in Aussie rules – not rugby league – and they met by chance at a party in Wollongong. They are expecting their first child in October, which has since prompted Martin to make the early call and pull out of the Kangaroos' Ashes tour of England.
Settling down off the field has also changed Martin.
'We've been together going on seven years; I like to think I'm a romantic,' Martin says. 'Mum talks about buying flowers, but Chelsea is very laid-back, and doesn't even like flowers.
'I do like doing things for her, including cooking meals. I make an authentic carbonara sauce.
'She'll tell me I carry on like an idiot sometimes when she watches me on the field. I agree with her. But she also knows it's just footy. Half the time I don't think she's paying attention.
'As for having that softer side, I think I do, especially when it comes to friends and family. I'm a country boy at heart.'
Martin is smarter than the average NRL forward – he scored 89.95 on his higher school certificate – but, like all country boys, he loves a beer. He was one of only two Blues players to give it a nudge at a bonding session when they entered camp before Origin I. When Canterbury coach and former Panthers assistant Cameron Ciraldo held his 40th birthday party earlier this year, Martin was close to best on ground.
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Martin was the only Blues player brave enough to march into the famous Victory Hotel in downtown Brisbane at 3am after the Blues' loss in Origin II in 2023, and rather than be heckled by souped-up Maroons fans, he posed for endless photos with the same locals who had jeered him hours earlier at Suncorp Stadium.
There is the Liam Martin who is happy to infuriate Queensland – or any opposition – then there is the Liam Martin who would not hurt anyone.
To quote Nathan Cleary one more time: 'He's the softest tough guy ever.'