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The Melbourne Storm needed to land the prized signature of Benji Marshall, but Marshall needed the Storm even more.
We know that when Benji Marshall is popped a beautiful pass to put him through a yawning gap, he instinctively would convert that opportunity into maximum points, but it seems managing his career is not so easy.
In fact, he has dropped the ball.
Marshall knows too well that a happy wife equals a happy life, but he also knows that his career is at the crossroads, some may even say in the ditch.
When the light on your door stops shining and you are given a dream opportunity to resurrect your once lofty reputation, it should have been an instant decision to say to the Storm “where do I sign?”
Marshall is one of the greatest God-given talents to ever play rugby league, but he has never reached the ‘champion’ status as he has often been thrust into the uncomfortable role as on-field general. He was forced to become the Wests Tigers’ chief organiser and create plays for other runners when he was the best runner of them all.
How could any player struggling to get his professional life back on track turn his back on playing alongside the games two best organisers in Cooper Cronk and Cam Smith, and to have Billy Slater screaming instructions to him from the back?
It would have been utopia, and all Marshall would have had to do was to do what he does best – run.
Marshall’s wife Zoe was hosting the new TV3 show The Great Food Race in New Zealand and also was working on 91ZM radio, but fidning employment in Melbourne would have been difficult for her so a Sydney club was the obvious choice.
Wife Zoe may have gotten her way, but what about hubby’s career?
The other major attraction that the Storm offered was the opportunity for Marshall to play under champion coach Craig Bellamy, who has a reputation for kick-starting players’ careers when they are on the scrapheap.
After rejecting Bellamy and the Storm, Marshall’s choice came down to the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Cronulla Sharks, both clubs whose coaches who may not even have a job in 2015.
Both clubs offered a long-term contract, while the Storm wanted Marshall to prove himself before he was offered an extension. All Marshall had to do was back himself, which he was not prepared to do.
The Dragons offered the most money and the Sharks offered the most friends. Money won, and Marshall’s dream of being an All Black will now be an all-white Saint. Both clubs would allow his wife to get a media job in Sydney, but neither are what Marshall’s career really needed.
Neither the Dragons nor the Sharks have an organiser in the same class as Cooper Cronk, but it seems the best fit is not the best idea.
The Dragons have a fullback and a hooker both regarded as individualists, and a six who used to take his orders off Cronk.
Marshall will struggle at the Dragons. They have got him for three years, until he is 32.
Where will he play?
The Dragons already have an expensive pivot in Gareth Widdop, and we all know that when Marshall played halfback at Wests Tigers for 18 months he was ineffective. He said he wants to play fullback, but Josh Dugan owns the No. 1 shirt.
It is certainly great to have Marshall back in the fold and it would have been even better if he could have played on the stage best suited to his rare skills, but at least he has a happy wife.
Let’s hope it leads to a happy life as a Dragon.
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