Warriors fans from the South Island were treated to a special Air New Zealand jet experience this afternoon, heading from Christchurch to Auckland ahead of tonight's home game.
Video / Air New Zealand
For Warriors five-eighth Te Maire Martin, the waiting was the hardest part. It was bad enough to suffer an awful injury, but the interminable rehabilitation was even harder.
Martin will be pivotal against the Broncos on Saturday night (9.50pm NZT) in the NRL preliminary final as a secondplaymaker alongside Shaun Johnson, while his defensive attributes have added starch to the left edge.
It’s been quite a return for the 27-year-old, who thought his season could be over at one point.
After being part of the team that won three of the first four games, everything collapsed in the round-five clash at Newcastle. Early in the second half, Martin heard a sickening crack as he lunged for the try line, with subsequent scans assessing a broken leg (fibula bone).
The initial prognosis was promising, with hopes that Martin could be back within two months. That was optimistic.
“It was a long process,” Martin told the Herald. “It wasn’t just a straightforward break. It had broken, and then the bottom of the break had shattered and it had fractured down below that. In a perfect scenario, you would just want a clean break - no surgery needed, it heals and you are back in six to eight weeks.”
Te Maire Martin in action against the Penrith Panthers. Photo / Photosport
There were further complications. Martin elected to have a rod put in the lower leg – which goes through the bone and up to the top - but that solution didn’t work.
“They tried, but it was too messed up,” said Martin.
The final outcome was inserting a plate, which engendered the longest healing time of all.
“That’s the one I didn’t want,” said Martin. “But it was the only option.”
It meant Martin spent most of the season during solo rehabilitation in the Warriors gym as the rest of the team trained, travelled and soared to new heights. At first, it was okay, as he had company. Jazz Tevaga joined in, and Dylan Walker was part of the recovery group for a while, along with some of the younger players, but progress was slow.
“People were coming in and leaving and I was still in there. I had the longest injury, something like 20 weeks,” said Martin.
He is naturally optimistic – as he should be, given his remarkable return to the NRL last year after a brain bleed had forced him into retirement in early 2020 - but was tested, as he wondered if he would come back at all this year.
Finally, after 140 days, he returned via the NSW Cup at the end of August, before featuring in the final-round game against the Dolphins. It’s been doubly demanding – trying to get his conditioning base and rhythm back during playoff football.
“It took a while, but I feel sweet now,” said Martin.
Though he doesn’t capture the headlines of some teammates, his value was epitomised in Saturday’s 40-10 win over Newcastle. The Knights sent a lot of traffic his way but Martin answered the call with 23 tackles, including a couple where he drove much bigger forwards backwards.
His experience - across three other clubs (Penrith, North Queensland and Brisbane) - is also invaluable, as he is not one to get carried away.
“We were good in patches,” assessed Martin. “The second half showed how we needed to play: real grind-type footy.”
The prospect of running out at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday vindicates Martin’s decision to sign for the Warriors. He was already leaning towards coming home, but a phone call he took from Andrew Webster was the final catalyst. Webster had been Martin’s first coach – in the under-20s at the West Tigers – and he had enjoyed the experience.
“When Webby rang up and said he was going to be the coach here, that’s when I said, ‘Okay, I’ll come back if you are there,” said Martin. “He told me that he was going to sign – it was on that day or something – and I was like, ‘Oh, really? Okay, I’m keen too’.”
Aside from the injury, things have gone well since. He has enjoyed life in New Zealand – and being closer to his family in the tiny Waikato settlement of Tahāroa – while his partner Brigitte gave birth to their daughter Marnie in February.
Reaching a grand final - and getting the better of his old teammates - could top things off, especially as he will attend a wedding with most of the Brisbane Broncos team and coaching staff next month.
Martin, who played for the Queensland club last season, has been invited to the nuptials of Brisbane hooker Billy Walters, son of coach and club legend Kevin Walters. Depending on the result of Saturday’s game, it could either be a joyous – or awkward occasion – for the four-test Kiwi.
“It would be nice to get to the wedding knowing that we have knocked them out because there will be some sour faces there,” laughed Martin. “They are flying, they are playing really well, but we will back ourselves.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
