The NSW star threw his hands up in the air in a bizarre moment that allowed the Raiders to counterattack.
NRL fans have called out Liam Martin for his decision to withdraw from a tackle on Jed Stuart in a moment of indecision that cost the Panthers a chance in golden point as Nathan Cleary admitted Penrith shouldn’t have been in that position. In one of the most thrilling golden point finishers in NRL history, Cleary struck the post from a field goal attempt with just under two minutes left on the clock against Canberra in Mudgee.
The ball then bounced to Raiders winger Stuart who jumped in the air after the ball bounced to secure the Steeden. The onrushing defence got to Stuart and it appeared second-rower Martin was going to hammer a helpless Stuart in the air.
Although Martin appeared indecisive and pulled out of the tackle. This allowed Stuart to offload to young superstar Ethan Strange who made a break down field having skipped past Dylan Edwards. He then turned the ball back on the inside to Kaeo Weekes who scored to secure the two points for the Raiders and all but wrap up the minor premiership for the club.
The Panthers were left absolutely deflated having lost their second golden point game in a row after going down last week to the Storm after Harry Grant’s genius play in extra time. However, the attention quickly turned to Martin’s apparent moment of madness on the final play.
Martin and Izack Tago both got to Stuart with plenty of time to tackle the winger who was suspended in the air after the ball bounced. Tago jumped as well in an attempt to gather the ball and appeared to go beyond the winger.
Although Martin went for the tackle and as he made contact withdrew from the challenge. It appears Martin felt he wasn’t allowed to tackle Stuart because he was in the air. Players have been heavily penalised this year for tackling opponents in dangerous positions.
However, a player is allowed to tackle an opponent if the ball has bounced and they have jumped into the air to gather it. The ball had already bounced after hitting the upright and Stuart voluntarily jumped into the air to get an advantage.
Martin was well within his right to tackle Stuart, as long as it wasn’t dangerous. Although it appears he may have not understood the rules and thought he would get penalised. There were plenty of suggestions Martin was offside after Cleary’s field goal attempt. Although footage shows Martin appeared to be behind Cleary with no blockers in place and everyone retreating behind the halfback.
This prompted fans to question why Martin withdrew from the tackle. Martin may have been confused in the thick of the chaos and hesitated. This may have prompted him to withdraw and throw his hands up to prove he hadn’t done anything wrong with the referee only metres away.
Since it appeared Martin was not offside the NSW star should have completed the tackle. Others felt even if he was called offside it proved a costly miss with a penalty only 10 metres from the Raiders line a better result than letting their opponents throw the ball around. NRL commentator Warren Smith called Martin out for not knowing the rules, while Fox Sports commentator Brenton Speed pointed out Martin was onside and he was just ‘paranoid’ about making the tackle.
Nathan Cleary frustrated after golden point loss
While the attention turned to Martin and the Panthers’ inability to stop the exciting Raiders counterattack, Cleary felt it shouldn’t have got that far. Cleary is one of the best players we’ve seen at icing a NRL game with his clutch moments normally a highlight.
Although he missed a number of attempts last week against the Storm and also missed one prior to hitting the post against Canberra. And Cleary felt Canberra should never have been granted the opportunity to score at the other end.
“At the end of the day I should be kicking that, so that negates them run up the other end, but yes definitely disappointing,” Cleary said. “It’s not a nice way to lose the game.”
He also claimed the team need to find a way to win these close games having lost two golden points in a row. “We need to be better in the pressure moments or the tight moments,” he added. “We’re sort of killing ourselves there, but I think we won’t lose confidence that we can go toe to toe with the best teams.”