Martin’s NRL debut further boosts Cowboys

He’s no Johnathan Thurston but North Queensland are confident New Zealand international Te Maire Martin will make a big difference at his new NRL club.

Martin will make his Cowboys debut in Saturday night’s NRL clash in Canberra after receiving a Panthers release barely two weeks ago.

He’ll step in for Cowboys co-captain Thurston who has been ruled out for the year with a shoulder injury aggravated in Queensland’s State of Origin game two win.

That in itself would usually sound alarm bells for a North Queensland outfit that had lost three of seven games without Thurston this year before last round’s statement.

But Cowboys winger Antonio Winterstein believes his side are beyond relying on one player.

“No one can replace JT. He’s a big part of our team and our captain,” he said.

“But losing him for the year has only given us extra motivation to keep moving forward, especially with Martin coming here.

“We have belief that we can do something special this year.”

Martin played the first seven games of the season for Penrith before being dropped to NSW Cup.

Winterstein was still confident Martin would blow off the rust quickly and slot into the Cowboys structure.

“He is a totally different player to JT,” he said.

“The easiest way to get him up to speed with our structure is to chuck him in there and play some games.

“He’s got senior Origin players around him who can give him a hand if he needs it.”

Winterstein said seventh placed North Queensland would not be relying on any more reinforcements this year as they keep their eye on the finals prize without Thurston.

“It’s something we spoke about before the (last start Penrith) game and after getting the win it has given us the belief,” he said.

“This is the squad we have. Nothing is going to change from now on.

“But we believe if we do our jobs we can come away with the win.

“No matter what happens we have each other’s back.”

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