A potential season-altering knee injury to NSW State of Origin veteran Liam Martin has opened up a rare opportunities for rising NRL star Jacob Preston, who is now among the top contenders to earn his long-awaited debut in rugby league’s most high-profile representative series.
Martin was forced off the field during Penrith Panthers’ Thursday night match against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, where current reports point to a moderate MCL sprain that could keep him sidelined for six to eight weeks. The 15-time Origin representative will undergo formal scans this week to confirm the injury severity, with early analysis from sports medical experts noting Martin reported a “loose” feeling in the knee, a symptom commonly linked to grade 2 or higher MCL damage requiring extended recovery time.
The 2026 State of Origin series opener is scheduled for May 27, exactly six weeks from Martin’s injury. Even if the star back-rower hits the earliest projected return mark, he would have no match fitness leading into the blockbuster clash, making his participation highly unlikely. For NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley, a potential absence would count as a major blow to his starting lineup — but the team is not short of in-form candidates to fill the vacant edge forward spot. Among the leading options are Hudson Young and Haumole Olakau’atu, both of whom have previous Origin experience and are in strong club form this season. Standing out among the contenders, however, is 24-year-old Bulldogs back-rower Jacob Preston, who has been building toward his first Origin call-up for more than a year.
Preston came tantalizingly close to Origin selection last year, when he earned a spot in the Blues’ training squad in Leura, and has since turned in consistently elite performances for Canterbury that have caught the eye of representative selectors. He was also named to the Australian Men’s Test squad for last year’s Ashes series, giving him valuable experience training alongside some of the game’s top talent.
“That’s a massive dream of mine. It’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a little kid,” Preston told NewsWire in a recent interview. “All I can do is take it week by week playing good football for the Bulldogs. As long as we’re winning games, we’ll be in contention for those spots, and a lot of other boys will be too. So if I play good footy, then whatever happens from there, happens from there.”
Since making his NRL debut in 2023, Preston has been a standout core player for the resurgent Bulldogs, turning in a career-defining performance in the club’s stunning upset win over Penrith earlier this season. In that match, he scored one try and set up another with his signature hole-running ability to seal the upset victory, cementing his reputation as one of the league’s most promising young edge forwards.
Reflecting on his experience with the Australian Test squad last year, Preston said the tour shaped his approach to the game far more than any individual coaching tip. “I learnt so much from that tour. It was a great experience, and I have heaps of lifelong memories I’ll cherish forever,” he said. “I want to put on those (rep) jerseys. I just took what I learnt from all the elite players I was around, implemented it into my training, and hopefully it keeps showing on the field. It wasn’t necessarily a single person (who really helped me). It was more so the level they train at and the accountability they hold themselves to. I think that’s the two main things I took from the tour, and I’m just trying to bring that back to the Bulldogs in my own training.”
Preston also credited Bulldogs club legend Josh Jackson, a former Origin representative himself, for guiding his development through club training over the past two years. Additionally, his growing on-field combination with young halfback Lachlan Galvin has helped lift both his form and the team’s overall performance this season. Galvin turned in his best NRL performance just last week, and Preston said the pair have spent the pre-season building chemistry that now shows on game day.
“He was outstanding,” Preston said of Galvin. “He’s been doing it at training, it’s coming out on the field, and as long as he keeps going after it, I’m sure there are going to be plenty more performances like that. We’ve had a pre-season to kind of work on our combinations and learn each other’s little intricacies. It’s only going to continue to build.”
This season has also seen Preston step into a new level of on-field confidence, most recently marked by a spontaneous post-try celebration that has gone viral among fans: sticking his tongue out after scoring crucial tries against Canberra and Penrith. When asked about the celebration, Preston laughed and said the habit is entirely unplanned. “To be honest, I don’t even know (where it comes from) so it just kind of happens. I don’t even mean to do it, so I probably should stop doing it,” he joked.