Gould’s plea to ‘unleash’ Blues star for 20 minutes of mayhem

Former NSW coach Phil Gould has urged Laurie Daley to “unleash” returning back-rower Liam Martin for the opening 20 minutes in the State of Origin decider.

After returning from injury a few weeks ago, Martin has been rushed back into the Blues side for game three, replacing debutant Dylan Lucas.

The four-time Panthers premiership winner has performed at Origin level before and has been known to bring aggression, targeting opposition halves - including Queensland captain Cameron Munster - on a regular basis.

Speaking on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus this week, Gould said the 29-year-old should be used to put the battling Blues on the front-foot before Haumole Olakau’atu comes off the bench in the first half.

“I’m not telling anyone how to suck eggs, but I’d unleash Liam Martin and I don’t care if he burns himself out in 15 or 20 minutes, just unleash him,” Gould said.

“The intensity that he’s gotta play - he’s not gonna play the 80 minutes anyway - his first 20 minutes could be really telling.

“Dish out your punishment with the ball and defend smart, because the days are gone of being able to dish out punishment with your defence … you can’t be stupid or undisciplined, because you’ll get yourself in trouble.

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“I would unleash Liam Martin for the first 20 minutes and I don’t care if he only plays 20 minutes, blow yourself out because he can actually get us on the front-foot and then Haumole coming over the top of that to carry it on.

“That’s not to say that’s how they will do it, but that’s how they should do it.”

Olakau’atu was a controversial omission at the MCG when he was replaced by Lucas, who only got one opportunity before Daley dropped him out.

Blues legend Andrew Johns believes the inclusion of Martin, Olakau’atu and Hudson Young as the back-row options provides a perfect balance.

“I’d imagine he will come on around the 25th or 30th minute and then it’s whether they put Liam Martin into the middle,” he said on Nine’s Freddy and The Eighth.

“They are very similar players him and Hudson, they like to agitate and intimidate, so I’m looking forward to seeing them go at it.

“There’s something beautiful about Liam, there’s something missing upstairs.” 

The other big talking point in the forward pack centres around captain Isaah Yeo and whether he should make way for Cameron Murray to start at lock.

However, according to Brad Fittler, the under-fire NSW coaching staff will likely roll out the same format from the first two games of the 2026 series.

“I was speaking to the coaches, Boyd [Cordner] and Whitey [Brett White], getting their idea of what’s happening with the team,” he said.

“When they look at Melbourne, they look at a game they let go - they were in charge for a fair bit of that game and that was with Isaah starting.

“I think they’ll start with what they’ve got and back themselves.”