How Liam went from hobbling one week to hero the next

With the game in the balance and another minor premiership within touching distance, Liam Martin personified the resilience and depth that has made the Panthers an irresistible force for three seasons.

From hobbling off BlueBet Stadium seven days earlier to walking on air after scoring the match-winner on Thursday night, Martin's wholehearted commitment to the Panthers jersey was clear for all to see.

With his barnstorming try, 16 runs for 148 metres and six tackle breaks in Penrith’s 26-22 win over the Rabbitohs, Martin was the hero in a match he wasn’t even meant to play, having rolled his ankle against the Storm in Round 22.

“The days after, I thought there was no way I could play on it. I was still on crutches and it was really painful,” Martin told the media post-match.

“The first couple of days afterwards was pretty painful and I couldn’t really walk on it, but it just kept getting better and better.

“Four days out from the game, I said to the physios that I wanted to see if I could play this game. I got through most of the training through the week and was good to go.

“I could have [missed some weeks] but I didn’t really need to because I could get through it.”

After bombing two tries earlier in the night, Martin stood up when it counted, surging on to an Api Koroisau pass and steamrolling Isaiah Tass to break the 22-22 deadlock in the 79th minute.

“I was so glad to get over the line. I obviously bombed the first two and was kicking stones for 75 minutes of the game going, ‘geez I’ve cost the boys the win’ so to get the last one made it feel a lot better,” he said.

“They were butcher jobs. When I scored the third one, all the boys were like, ‘Oh my god, we were going to spray you after the game’.”

“It’s my first match-winner.”

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was delighted to have sealed the minor premiership with two games still to play, especially given the premiers were without big guns Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris.

Cleary was full of praise for Martin, who got through a mountain of work in tandem with Isaah Yeo and Spencer Leniu to get over the top of one of the NRL's form teams.

“Liam played 80 minutes tonight and he was a constant threat every time he got the ball. It was a reward for perseverance," Cleary said.

Martin described the hard-fought victory as “pretty sweet” considering the Rabbitohs were virtually at full strength and had lost just once since Latrell Mitchell returned from a hamstring injury in Round 16.

“They were the red-hot side coming into tonight…so I’m pretty ecstatic to get that win,” Martin said.

“They’ve been playing unreal the past few weeks, so to get the win over them makes it pretty sweet.”