Wests Tigers great Robbie Farah has revealed what he believes was Benji Marshall‘s best-ever moment on a footy field – and his choice is likely to take many by surprise.
In reminiscing on Marshall’s legendary 346-game NRL career after the 36-year-old announced his retirement on Wednesday, Farah opted against his former teammate’s famous flick pass in the Tigers’ 2005 grand final triumph over the Cowboys.
Marshall’s incredible play against the Sharks in Round 21, 2005 wasn’t Farah’s pick either.
The former Tigers hooker believes the best moment Marshall ever produced came in a clash with the Eels in Round 24, 2009, when the Kiwi international did what only he could in setting up a Blake Ayshford try.
Check out the try in the video above!
“The best thing I’ve ever seen him do – I remember we played the Eels at the footy stadium and I think maybe Joel Reddy rushed out on him, he evaded a tackle and then threw a behind-the-back pass to Blake Ayshford on the wing,” Farah said on Wide World of Sports’ 2GB radio.
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“And I remember on the field just screaming out at the time – I said, ‘Mate, that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen’, with a ‘f–king ever seen’ in there. It was ridiculous.”
Farah pointed out that coach Tim Sheens allowed his youthful Tigers to play daring footy under one condition.
“The thing was (Marshall) would practice it at training and that was the one thing under Tim Sheens with myself and Benji and the other guys coming through…” Farah said.
“Everyone talks about the ’05 side and how we were the entertainers. But everything we did was practiced and Sheensy’s one moto was that as long as you can do it at training I’ll let you do it on the footy field.
“So at the time you’d come down to training, I’d be chipping and chasing and Benji’s flick-passing.
“It won us a comp in the end.
“But to Sheensy’s credit he didn’t shackle us. He knew the type of players we were and that obviously brought out the best in me and it definitely brought out the best in Benji, too.”
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