One of the few positives to emerge from Canterbury's salary-cap wreckage is the rise of surprise sharpshooter Rhyse Martin.
As high-profile Bulldog Moses Mbye followed Aaron Woods out the door at Belmore before the June 30 deadline to release cap pressure, rookie Martin suddenly found himself entrusted with the extra responsibility of adding the extras.
And just like the club's former golden boots Daryl Halligan and Hazem El Masri, Martin is quickly showing signs he could become one of the game's best goalkickers.
Kicking on: Canterbury’s Rhyse Martin.
Heading into Sunday's clash against St George Illawarra at a packed Kogarah Oval, Martin has slotted 33 from 34 goals, including his past 20.
Martin, 25, used to practice slotting balloons and bottles down the hallway of the family house in Proserpine, in the Whitsunday region.
"There would be a balloon and I'd try to kick the balloon through the door frame,'' Martin said.
"There would also be bottles. I used to get in trouble, especially with the bottles because they'd sometimes leave dints in the door.
"I've always been able to kick the ball, I just never took the job on. I'm glad I did.''
Rhyse is the word: Martin has been a shining light this season for the Bulldogs.
Martin took over from Mbye in round 16, slotting six from six against the Knights, then six from six – and three tries – in the heart-breaking loss to Canberra one frosty Saturday night at Belmore.
Since botching a sideline conversion against Souths, Martin has nailed 20 in a row.
The record remains 35, held by El Masri, who is a huge fan of Martin.
"As a goalkicker you can be on cloud nine and then want to dig a hole for yourself, that's the pressure that comes with it,'' El Masri said.
"But Rhyse has done extremely well and, above all, he's also playing good footy. The fact he is doing both is a good sign."
El Masri said he tried not to think about hot streaks, but it was tough when teammates and people constantly reminded him. He came close to toppling Halligan's previous mark of 30 straight goals before he finally bettered it during the 2003 season.
Halligan continues to work with Martin twice a week and was fine-tuning a few things at Belmore on Saturday.
Martin said he actually bombed a few during the warm-up last Sunday before the New Zealand Warriors game, including his last three.
"But you try to focus on the good ones,'' said Martin, who, as a right-footer, actually prefers kicks from the right sideline.
"When I do a bad kick I'll know what I've done wrong and why it ended badly. The ones I missed during warm-up last week I was sitting back and drawing the ball across the face of the goals.
"I just needed to keep my head down and keep it on the right pole. I try to imagine a line from the point of the ball to the right upright.
"'Chooky' [Halligan] helps me a lot and I think confidence is the biggest thing. Those two guys [Halligan and El Masri] were the best when they were playing and when you believe you're the best you go well at what you're doing.''
The Dogs have won three of their past four and pushed the Dragons all the way when they met in round 14.
Martin said the plan was to ''shake up the ladder'' when Canterbury realised they could no longer reach the finals. For Martin, however, he will feature in the reserve grade action in September after he qualified by taking the field for a few seconds last weekend.
Mbye was the regular kicker for Canterbury before he departed for Wests Tigers, while Kieran Foran made the briefest of cameos, including one attempt that went under the crossbar from directly in front on Good Friday against Souths.
Golden boot's golden run
Round 16 – 6/6 v Knights
Round 17 – 6/6 v Raiders
Round 18 – 1/2 v Souths
Round 19 – 2/2 v Eels
Round 20 – 4/4 v Tigers
Round 21 – 8/8 v Broncos
Round 22 – 1/1 v Manly
Round 23 – 5/5 v Warriors
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