Liam Martin (born 5 March 1997) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a forward for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at international level. He won the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and 2024 NRL Grand Finals with the Penrith club. He has represented the NSW Blues in State of Origin. Known for his aggressive defense, high work rate, and ability to break tackles, Martin has been an integral part of the Panthers' recent success, including their multiple premiership victories. He is recognized for his toughness on the field, often playing through injuries, and his relentless energy, making him a fan favorite and a key player for both club and country

Early life

Martin was born in

Temora, New South Wales Temora () is a town in the north-east of the Riverina area of New South Wales, south-west of the state capital, Sydney. At the the population of Temora was 4,016. Temora was named by John Donald McCansh. In September 1880 he told the Warwick ...

, Australia. He was educated at

West Wyalong West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the northern Riverina region of western New South Wales, Australia. In the 2021 Census, West Wyalong's population was 3,037. Located west of Sydney as well as being above sea level, it i ...

High School. He is a cousin of former NRL footballer Trent Barrett. He played junior rugby league for the Temora Dragons.

Playing career

2019

In Round 3 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

, Martin made his NRL debut for Penrith against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

. Martin scored his first try in the top grade in Round 10 against the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

which ended in a 30–10 defeat at Penrith Park. Martin made a total of 16 appearances for Penrith in the

as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.

2020

Martin played 21 games for Penrith in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

as the club won the

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

and reached the

2020 NRL Grand Final The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Me ...

. Martin played in the grand final which Penrith lost 26–20 against Melbourne.

2021

On 30 May 2021, Martin was selected by New South Wales for game one of the 2021 State of Origin series. Martin made his New South Wales debut from the bench in game one of the series as New South Wales defeated Queensland 50–6. Martin played in all three games of the series which New South Wales won 2–1. Martin played a total of 27 games for Penrith in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final victory over South Sydney.

2022

On 29 May 2022, Martin was selected by New South Wales to play in game one of the 2022 State of Origin series. In round 23 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

, Martin scored the winning try which sealed Penrith's second consecutive

in the clubs 26-22 victory over South Sydney. Martin played 22 games for Penrith in the

including the clubs

2022 NRL Grand Final The 2022 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2022 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels on Sunday the 2nd of October at Accor Stad ...

victory over

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. In October he was named in the Australia squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. Martin played for Australia in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Samoa. Martin scored a try during the first half of the game. In November he was named in the 2021 RLWC Team of the Tournament.

2023

On 22 May, Martin was selected by New South Wales for game one of the

2023 State of Origin series The 2023 State of Origin series was the 42nd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 23 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Venues Game I was hel ...

. Martin played 18 games for Penrith in the 2023 NRL season including the clubs 26-24 victory over Brisbane in the

2023 NRL Grand Final The 2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October at Stadium Aus ...

as Penrith won their third straight premiership.

2024

On 24 February, Martin played in Penrith's 2024 World Club Challenge final loss against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. On 26 May, Martin was selected by New South Wales ahead of the 2024 State of Origin series. Martin played in all three games as New South Wales won the series 2-1. Martin played a total of 22 games for Penrith in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

. On 6 October, Martin played in the 2024 NRL Grand Final and won the Clive Churchill Medal as Penrith defeated Melbourne 14-6.

Honours

Individual * Clive Churchill Medal: 2024 * Rugby League World Cup Team of the Tournament 2021 Penrith Panthers * NRL Premierships: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 * NRL Minor Premierships: 2020, 2022, 2023 New South Wales * State of Origin Series: 2021, 2024 Australia * World Cup: 2021

References

External links

Penrith Panthers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Liam 1997 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Temora, New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen