It was in the 72nd minute of the game when I believe Liam Martin won the Clive Churchill Medal as the best player in the 2024 NRL Grand Final.
It was a popular choice with few arguing the decision, especially his teammates who all celebrated the moment with him seconds after the announcement.
So, what did he do to in the 72nd minute which was so pivotal?
Leap high and defuse a bomb?
Run a perfect line and score a try to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead?
Make a 20-metre run and bust seven tackles?
Or was that when he helped Nathan Cleary, Paul Alamoti and Izack Tago tackle Storm youngster Jack Howarth over the sideline after the Panthers had just repelled Melbourne for 18 consecutive tackles?
No, in fact, he wasn’t involved in that tackle. He tried but he was just too tired to get there in time to assist.
He was so tired that he didn’t even have the energy to celebrate the great try saving moment, even as Dylan Edwards and Lindsay Smith ran over to congratulate their teammates.
Edwards looked over and saw Martin with his hands on his knees, bent over barely able to take a breath and with a look of concern, he yelled at him.
“Cmon’ f**king c’mon!” Edwards barked to motivate him. Martin immediately stood upright.
He wasn’t going to let his team down.
It was everything he did after that point in the 72nd minute that epitomised why the 27-year-old deserved to win the best on the field that night.
For the next eight minutes, Martin kept turning up. Kept his legs moving and made tackle after tackle pushing himself to get back into the defensive line.
He even made a few runs into the Storm defence.
When the final siren sounded no player was probably more relieved than Liam Martin.
As tired as he was, he probably would have kept going for another eight minutes if he had to.
When asked by a journalist after the game just how ‘cooked’ he was in that second half, Marto was brutally honest with his reply.
“I was gone, I was busted,” he said with a smile. “I had Nathan and Tago saying, ‘c’mon we need you to keep turning up’. Just hearing those words drives you.
“ I think everyone was out on their feet but we just kept turning up for each other.”
Co-captain Nathan Cleary added: ““I’ve been playing with Marto since we were 17. So to see him come this far, I’m pretty proud of him. He definitely showed up tonight”
A proud coach Ivan Cleary also had some choice words to say about his fiery second-rower.
“Marto is the epitome of the big game player, the bigger the game, the better he goes,” he said.
“He made some huge plays today, he was out on his feet but he just kept finding something.
“It’s just the way he plays, all effort, all action…he continues to turn up when we need him.”
Marto will always turn up when he’s needed especially for his coach and his teammates, who are like family to him.
He doesn’t do it for himself or for the glory.
This time, the medal around his neck… well that was just a bonus.
Enjoy the off-season and I’ll look forward to being back next year.
Peter Lang
Peter Lang is an experienced sports writer, who has been covering rugby league for several decades. He first wrote Lang on League for the Weekender in the 1990s, and worked for Panthers on its famous Panthers Magazine for several years.