Martin fires Panthers to win on debut

Penrith debutant Te Maire Martin has enjoyed a dream NRL debut, scoring a try and kicking the winning field goal in their 23-22 win over Brisbane.

Te Maire Martin of the Panthers takes selfies with fans

Debutant Te Maire Martin has booted Penrith to an upset 23-22 NRL win over Brisbane. (AAP)

Penrith appear to have uncovered a superstar after debutant Te Maire Martin kicked them to an upset 23-22 NRL win over competition favourites Brisbane at Pepper Stadium on Saturday night.

After being a late inclusion for his first game, the former Junior Kiwis maestro scored to level the game 11 minutes from time before kicking the winning field goal to seal a dream debut game in first grade.

The Broncos looked to be storming to victory after opening up a 22-6 lead late in the first half, however the home team piled on 17 unanswered points to score their first win of the year.

Martin will now prove difficult to displace from the No.6 position after guiding his side to an unlikely victory.

Coach Anthony Griffin will have a difficult decision to make when hooker James Segeyaro returns from a broken arm in a month.

He must decide whether to shift regular pivot Peter Wallace, who has played No.9 for the last two weeks, back into the halves or leave him out.

The Broncos had the Panthers rocked early as they raced out to a healthy lead on the back of some Anthony Milford magic.

After scoring the first try of the game after 90 seconds, Milford set up Darius Boyd 11 minutes later before stepping through the line to get his double.

The Panthers looked on the ropes but after scoring both sides of the halftime siren, they turned the game on its head.

Panthers livewire back-rower Bryce Cartwright had a mixed game, coming up with key errors but proved the architect of his side's second half fightback.

He scored 30 seconds from halftime to lift his team and when he drifted across field late in the second half, he created room for Martin to score and level up the scores.

Jamie Soward missed the conversion as well as a penalty attempt which would have sent his side ahead however Martin iced the game three minutes from time to seal a memorable win.

Broncos centre Jack Reed was taken from the field late in the game with a head knock and appeared to suffer a concussion.

Griffin was reluctant to praise Martin or reveal if he had done enough to maintain his spot.

But he did applaud his side for showing the mental strength to win it at the death after being pipped after the siren against Canterbury last week.

"It's a lot better than last week when we earned the win but didn't get the points," Griffin said.

"I was just really happy for the players, it was heartbreaking for them last week. It was a real show of courage."

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said the game was lost after letting in Cartwright's try in the shadows of the break and accused his side of clocking off after believing they had the game in the bag.

"It was an indication of where we're at mentally, we started to let go," Bennett said.

"A good team just doesn't let them do that at halftime. We scored three minutes from halftime, we had a good set, gone down the field, gave a stupid penalty away and then we let a soft try in.

"It just tells you where they're at mind-wise, they started to think they had the game won and didn't have to turn up in the second half."


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Source: AAP



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