When Benji Marshall arrived at Keebra Park State High School as a skinny 15-year-old touch footy player, not even Benji himself could know the rocky, entertaining, road that lay ahead.
Marshall’s flamboyant style instantly made him a hit with fans in season 2003, when he first debuted for the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium.
On that day the Tigers trounced the visiting Newcastle Knights and it was a scrawny little wiz kid doing all the damage.
He was an overnight superstar.
Some might say success came too early for Marshall and his Tigers, who quickly developed into one of the most dangerous offensive sides in the National Rugby League.
Within two years Wests had won the NRL premiership.
That scrawny wiz kid was now the toast of the town and his entrancing sidestep made him the NRL’s poster boy for a whole new generation of budding rugby league fans.
Then reality set in.
The Tigers would loose halfback Scott Prince to the Gold Coast Titans and fullback Brett Hodgson a few years later.
Now Marshall was stuck with a leadership tag he was seemingly never comfortable with.
It should be noted Marshall is quite possibly one of the most gifted attacking five-eighths rugby league has produced.
But being just one part of an overall package does not make you a legend.
Every great playmaker had to modify their game as they aged.
Modern-day greats like Darren Lockyer, Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler altered their own personal styles without ever losing their grip on whatever side they led.
Their importance never diminished.
Marshall has not been able to evolve.
As time has passed the big play in the clutch moment has gone astray, leaving Tigers fans more and more bemused by the low percentage plays that once made him great.
Don’t forget those shoulder injuries either. Not even Clark Kent could come back from all those setbacks and be the dynamo he once was.
For someone who always struggled with defensive technique, those injuries sealed his fate. He never had a chance.
Nevertheless, Whakatane’s biggest export still found time to win an NRL premiership, a World Cup for New Zealand, the Golden Boot for world’s best player and a media career with the Nine Network.
Perhaps our expectations of Benji were too high.
Maybe we hyped him up so much for so long that we all drank the Kool-Aid.
None of this is Marshall’s fault off course. But when a player leaves us we have to put his legacy up against history and measure them up.
Marshall didn’t underachieve. He overachieved.
As fans, we don’t need to be down on Benji for leaving the game and trying his hand at rugby union. That is the nature of the modern game.
The quicker we realise how much this scrawny touch footballer from Whakatane has achieved, the quicker we can forgive and forget.
esses
Guest
Benji has always been agreat attacking payer with not-so-great defence - like Quade Cooper or dare I say it, Darren Lockyer - but maybe the TIGERS have under-achieved this year, not him. Has anyone thought that maybe BENJI has been making the Tigers look good & now that: A/ he's aged a little & slowed down & B/ the "Tiger-Sharks" have benefited from the Tigers lack of nous in retaining players that maybe, just maybe it's the mediocre players around Benji making HIM look bad?
maximillian
Guest
Hi guys, just read this article on NZ Herald website. Who would've thought the senior Rugby writer on NZs biggest newspaper reads the comments section on the Roar!! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/best-of-sport-analysis/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502180&objectid=10910117
mushi
Guest
the one he's betting, trying to get a gauge on the VAR
Jack Tiger
Roar Rookie
And while your at it, put your next paycheck on Parramatta to win the premiership, its a sure thing.
Jack Tiger
Roar Rookie
You must have a gambling problem Steve, the odds of that happening are 1000/1.
Bobo
Guest
He's obviously a talent with good footy instincts and exceptional ball skills and good evasive skills. He needs to lose some weight to gain that explosive charge over twenty yards. He needs some confidence. A change of team might give him that. He hasn't shown the mongrel or composure that earns an All Black jersey, but challenges can make champions rise to the occasion. He'll need to make water wine to wear the Black #10. If he does he will have earned it. Carter is the best footballer of any rugby code I have ever seen.
Marldon
Guest
You don't need to spend hours with someone to get a good insight into their personality. Watching how they behave and what they say quietly speaks volumes. Benji positively ooozed contempt for the fans as attested by others on these pages on more than one occasion. You could also see it in his bolshi attitude during the salary cap discussions and in some of his comments on live tv. You don't need to be a brain surgeon to see Benji's real character just someone who is prepared to open their eyes.
pogo
Guest
Nothing officially signed as far as I know.
Josh Edwards
Guest
Benji was and still is a good player im a titans fan and I think he carved up against us on the weekend its the players around him are nothing like the players that were there around the 2005 heroics go look at the weekends game and see how perfect his passes were but the winger couldnt make anything of it or his pin point kicking that the titans were just better at getting then the tigers outside backs ... and now everyone saying he will fail in rugby because he cant defend .. have you seen quade cooper he is incredible with the ball hopless without but is still one of the superstars of rugby .. that is the path I beleive benji will go down
Chris
Guest
Way too many people with an opinion on a players personality based on news stories and the way they play. Hope they dont apply that kind of narrow mindedness to all aspects of their lives
The eye
Guest
Marldon to be making kick in the guts personal attacks like these you'd have to know Benji personally.Self-centred,a belief that rugby league owes him ?Hopefully you got this impression from hours of chat with him and not just an opinion based on what you've read in the paper...and most fans don't have any respect for him ? Who are you,the people's spokesman?Benji may well have played his last NRL game and although it ended roughly I want to thank him for all the on field memories of spectacular plays he put on and wish him well over there.
Geronimo
Guest
I'm not sure he has given up - its just that the club lacks spirit and that as a flashy player if the side is being badly beaten and look to him for inspiration he looks out of place...the Tigers have been competitive (till now) in the 10 years he has been there..
enrico
Guest
Disagree with some of the roarers here. I think he is actually lacking confidence and the move is more about him proving himself again. i don't think he is the issue causing the current malaise at the tigers. wish him well and hope regains his mojo. If he cant turn it around he must be considering retirement soon on what has been an exceptional career as an one of the most potent attacking players of his era.
Richard N
Guest
Benji will probably do OK in union ( if he has retained his pace) , but All Black? I think not. When was the last time Benji actually put fear into an opposition ? Most teams seem to have little trouble handling Benji these days , unlike yesteryear. In union it will be even harder to make a break because the defence is so much closer .
Marldon
Guest
Which one ?
Sledgeross
Roar Rookie
Actually, if you looked at the game Lui played, he was more of a 5/8, standing 2 wide off the ruck and playing a predominantly running role. I dont know what Benjis best position is, I think it depends who the other half is which determines what role he would play0
crashy
Guest
Has he actually signed with the Blues yet? Haven't seen anything confirming as such.
mushi
Guest
Where is your house?
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Nice piece, Curtis. When you look at Benji's career from a different perspective, you can definitely appreciate the notion that he overachieved. By the same token, with the skills he was blessed with, I understand the diametrically opposed opinion that he underachieved. Either way, he'll certainly be remembered, and that's no mean feat.
AA
Guest
Bengi Marshall is a five eigth... Every since Robert Lui left the tigers bengi has been playing as a halfback. Last season he set up more tries and line breaks than any other player in the comp, BAR NONE whilst playing out of position because his team managed to go forward in matches. This season the tigers have not won 1 singe forward battle. His second rowers and outside backs have diminished in quality and confidence. It is a two way street. Bengi is 28, he doesnt want to have to play in a team that is rebuilding... and so he shouldnt