Steve Martin

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Monday, 7th January, 1957
Current Age
67 years and 81 days
Place Of Birth
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Dynamic halfback with a background as an Australian Rules player in Wagga first came under notice when he represented Riverina in the 1976 Amco Cup competition. Martin, who played for Barrow in English club football in 1975-76, came to Manly in 1978 in what was a phenomenal debut season. Rushed into the NSW side as five-eighth after only a handful of first grade games, he played in both the drawn grand final and the grand final replay win over Cronulla before touring with the Kangaroos. NSWRL 'Rookie of the Year', he appeared in 11 matches on tour and made his sole Test appearance as a centre against France in the First Test at Carcassonne. Martin was a reserve for NSW in the first State of Origin match in 1980 and his versatility in the backline saw him tour NZ with the Australian team that year (5 games, no Tests). He underwent several positional changes at Manly (centre, five-eighth, halfback and lock) but went to Balmain in 1982 to cement a first grade place as halfback. Despite glimpses of the old magic, Martin's two seasons with the Tigers were plagued by a series of shoulder injuries and he went to England to play for Leeds in 1983-84. When his Sydney career was over he captain-coached West Tamworth to two premierships in 1986-87 but retired as a player following two shoulder dislocations. As coach of Norths he won a reserve grade premiership in 1989 before taking the club to the 1991 final – Norths’ best effort in 26 years. Unfortunately Martin's winning formula became staid and predictable and he resigned the following year after a disappointing season and took on the role of coach of Featherstone Rovers in England. He returned to Australia as coach of Souths in 1998 but clashed with players and management over his disciplining of Julian O’Neill and was sacked by the Rabbitohs midway through the year.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 123 31 -   3 103 65 52 6 52.85% List
Interstate Matches 2 1 -   - 3 2 0 0 100.00% List
NRL Finals 8 2 -   - 7 4 2 2 50.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 7 1 -   - 3 3 3 1 42.86% List
Test Series 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
English Championship 17 2 -   - 8 9 6 2 52.94% List
Tour Matches Leeds Rhinos 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Regal Trophy 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Challenge Cup 5 2 -   - 8 3 1 1 60.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1978 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List

International Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1978-1980 1 - -   - - 0 0 1 0.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW Firsts 1978, 1980 2 1 -   - 3 2 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Seconds 1979, 1981 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1978-1981 4 1 0   0 3 4 0 0 100.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Manly NSWRFL 1978 18 7 -   1 22 13 3 2 72.22% List
Manly NSWRFL 1979 17 5 -   - 15 8 8 1 47.06% List
Manly NSWRFL 1980 20 5 -   1 16 9 9 2 45.00% List
Manly NSWRFL 1981 15 4 -   - 12 7 7 1 46.67% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1982 21 3 -   - 9 9 12 0 42.86% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1983 22 6 -   1 25 14 8 0 63.64% List
Balmain NSWRL 1984 10 1 -   - 4 5 5 0 50.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Manly 1978-81 70 21 -   2 65 37 27 6 52.86% List
Balmain 1982-84 53 10 -   1 38 28 25 0 52.83% List
Overall1978-1984 123 31 0   3 103 65 52 6 52.85% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Leeds 1983/84 24 4 -   - 16 14 7 3 58.33% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Leeds 1983 24 4 -   - 16 14 7 3 58.33% List

Your Say

Want to have your say about this player? Add a comment.

Contributions: Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Bill Bates, AJ Lucantonio

Sources: Match Video, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1984-85