Marty Banks


Martin Banks is a New Zealand rugby union player. He played in the fly-half position for Tasman in the Mitre 10 Cup and after the 2016 season, he will join Benetton in the Pro12. Banks has previously played for Russian club Krasny Yar in 2011, before heading back to New Zealand ahead of 2012 season's Heartland Championship with Buller. He made his debut for Tasman in 2013 and his strong performances saw him named in the squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season. He joined the in 2015 where he got more game time and scored the winning points in the 2015 Super Rugby Final against his old team the. He has been named to rejoin the Highlanders Squad for the 2019 Super Rugby Season.

Playing career

Banks was playing for Takapuna in Auckland when the opportunity came via the Canterbury Rugby Union to head to Russia where he linked up with Krasny Yar. After a season with the side, an offer of a two-year contract with Krasny Yar was on the table but Banks left the country and came back to New Zealand, which began his path to provincial honours with Buller. Despite not having yet played provincial or Super rugby, it has long been rumoured that Marty was next cab off the rank for an All Blacks call up during the 2011 Rugby World Cup after Dan Carter and Colin Slade were injured and Stephen Donald wasn't answering Ted's phone calls. He made his provincial debut with the side in 2012 season's Heartland Championship, Banks scored a record 131 points for the province, including 16 in Buller's 31–28 win over South Canterbury in the Lochore Cup final.
In 2013, Banks featured in the Crusaders development team as well as being included in Tasman's extended training squad. Banks was later called into the squad and made his debut against Counties Manukau. He's set records with the side scoring all 28 points in Tasman's 28–13 win over Northland, while he scored another 24 points in the 64–28 win over Waikato. In October Banks landed a Super Rugby deal with the Hurricanes. Banks had been prominent at first five-eighth, and Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said his incredible kicking game had been hard to ignore. But at the end of 2014, he signed a deal with the Highlanders for the 2015 and 2016 season. On 12 May 2016, Banks signed a 1-year deal with Italian rugby union team Treviso, which competes in the Pro12 and the European Rugby Champions Cup.