In an era in which ex-players are increasingly the preferred option, he is one of the few to rise up right from the bottom in coaching.
The former Otago assistant coach has reached rugby’s professional level.
He will join Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels as an attack coach from September.
Martin had a stint with the Rebels as a skills and kicking coach in 2020 before Covid-19 forced him to return home and he linked back with Otago for a third season.
He continued working with the Rebels online, forming the connection that would eventually land him a full-time assistant coaching job.
It is an exciting move for Martin, who is nearing the end of the Major League Rugby season in the United States, where he is coaching the New England Free Jacks.
"For me, that’s the epitome of all the competitions worldwide. To finally get there, that’s pretty special."
Martin’s coaching career had its beginnings in 2004, when he was a 21-year-old teacher at Papatoetoe Intermediate School in South Auckland.
He realised getting involved with pupils outside the classroom would help his behavioural management.
From there he "got the bug".
In 2008, he was the assistant coach of the Otago Metropolitan under-65kg team, which included a 12-year-old Sio Tomkinson, now in the Highlanders.
From there, he rose through the age grades, while also coaching Otago Boys’ High School and the Kaikorai premiers.
During that time, he forged a powerful reputation and his Otago Boys’ teams became among the strongest in New Zealand.
It led him to the Otago NPC team in 2018.
Even getting that far was impressive for someone following that path.
Martin said he was one of only three people to be a coach or assistant coach in last year’s NPC — from all the teams combined — to have not played professional rugby.
He admitted it was hard to leave Otago, but was happy with how he had left the province.
A Super Rugby job was a good opportunity that did not come up very often and that made it a "no-brainer" for Martin.
"Maybe I’m the outlier, the anomaly in the system, where you come through age-group rugby as a coach, then at secondary level, at club level.
"To be honest, that’s helped me in terms of getting jobs. People have seen what I’ve done. I’ve racked up over 17 years of coaching.
"There’s probably value in that, rather than coming straight off the professional rugby field into coaching and dealing with what you have to do.
"Being an outlier that way’s actually helped me. For me, it gives hope to guys plying their trade at club level and secondary school level that there’s a pathway there as well."
Beating Waikato in 2018 to win the Ranfurly Shield with Otago had been his onfield highlight.
However, he said his favourite thing was seeing the kids he coached rise through the ranks.
He said 40 of the players he coached at Otago Boys’ had played professional rugby. That includes names such as Josh Dickson, Michael Collins and Tomkinson.
On top of that, he said one of the most special things was seeing 44 of his old players taking the field for Dunedin premier teams one Saturday.
