Marshall knocks back Titans deal
BENJI Marshall knocked back a 2022 contract with the Gold Coast Titans because he knew the time was right to call curtains on one of the NRL’s great careers.
Marshall announced his retirement on Wednesday following a glittering 346game NRL career which has seen him enter the debate to become New Zealand’s first rugby league Immortal.
Marshall, 36, played a remarkable 19 seasons in the NRL with the Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
He starred in the Tigers’ 2005 NRL premiership season and played 31 Tests for
New Zealand, including the Kiwis’ memorable 2008 World Cup triumph.
Marshall’s final season ended in heartbreak as the Rabbitohs lost last Sunday’s grand final 14-12 to Penrith and he had a one-year deal on the table from the Titans.
But he knew the time was right to go out on his terms.
“I don’t think it gets any better in terms of timing,” Marshall said.
“The more I thought about it, if I didn’t make this decision now I would have played until I was 40. I just love the game so much.
“It feels like the right time. There was a lot of good stuff being said about me and I’d hate for that to go on for one season too long.
“I did consider playing on but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was time to move on.
“My family’s put a lot of sacrifice into moving around and doing things for me. It’s time for me to change that and put my family first.
“I still love what I do, I’m just glad I get to go out this way.”
Marshall made his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers as an 18-year-old in 2003, but it was the 2005 season that he came to life.
He played 27 games for the Tigers that season on the way to Wests winning the premiership, which remains the joint venture’s only NRL title.
Marshall’s famous flick pass to sink North Queensland has long been remembered
as one of the greatest moments in NRL grand final history and he played 201 games across 10 seasons in his first stint at the Tigers before making a shock switch to rugby union with the Auckland Blues.
Marshall’s Super Rugby experiment lasted just six games before he found himself yearning for a return to the NRL, with St George Illawarra bringing him back to the 13-man game.
After three seasons with the Dragons, Marshall’s career was at a crossroads and if not for a lifeline from Wayne Bennett at the Broncos in 2017 it may have come to an end.
After one year in Brisbane, Marshall then made a fairytale
return to the Tigers and spent another three seasons at Wests before being squeezed out again.
A one-season cameo at Souths ended with the Rabbitohs falling agonisingly short and Bennett said Marshall deserved to be remembered among the game’s greatest players.
“When they talk about the great players of the game, he will always be in that category,” Bennett said.
“How do you define the greatest player of all time? I can’t do that, but he’s in that category.
“The influence he’s had on the game and the way he’s played … the players that wanted to be like him are many.”