As the clock ticks down to Sunday’s NRL grand final, Benji Marshall fans are nervously wondering whether it will be the last time they see the ageing superstar in professional rugby league.
Marshall, 36, dropped a bomb this week when he declared he certainly has not decided to hang up the boots, but at the same time is unsure whether he will arrive at that conclusion once the grand final is over.
He was handed an 11th-hour lifeline by South Sydney this year and now has the chance to win a premiership 16 years after leading Wests Tigers to glory.
Since that 2005 victory Marshall has endured a tumultuous career that led him to rugby union in Auckland, back to the NRL with the Dragons, then Broncos, then Tigers again, before arriving where he is today.
Prominent rugby league commentator Phil Gould says Sunday’s grand final is the perfect way to end one of the NRL’s most captivating careers, no matter the result.
“I’ve been an unabashed admirer of Benji Marshall right throughout his career,” Gould told James Bracey on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus podcast.
“He’s matured into such a great leader and a great playmaker, it’s an inspired decision to send him around again this year from Wayne Bennett.
“Retirement? I think this would be the perfect day to be his last day, but I don’t know how he feels, or if his love of football means he will play until they have to wheel him off in a wheelchair.
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“This would be such a wonderful moment, a wonderful memory to play your last game in a grand final.
“We’ve seen great players over the years, but very few players get to play their last game in a grand final. Win or lose, it’s still a memento that you cherish forever.
“I’d hate to see him go around another year and play with a weaker side, finish the year on a bad note or an injury or something like that.
“He’s got a chance at a fairytale finish here, Benji, a grand final, particularly if they win. But there would be a lot of great memories for him even if he played in a losing side.”
The man who brought Marshall to South Sydney, coach Wayne Bennett, is leaving the club after Sunday’s grand final.
The Rabbitohs are losing veteran halfback Adam Reynolds to the Broncos, but the club has a number of young playmakers ready to step into the NRL and begin a new era in the cardinal and myrtle.
On top of that, South Sydney have bought Anthony Milford for the 2022 season, although his contract may now hinge on the outcome of assault charges laid against the maligned playmaker earlier this month.
Andrew Johns said if Milford’s Bunnies contract is torn up, Marshall may be offered one.
“I think he’s fit enough to keep going if he wants to (keep playing),” Johns said of Marshall on Wide World of Sports’ Freddy and The Eighth.
“You can see he still enjoys playing, so it shows he still enjoys training if he’s fit, he looks fresh. If they win a grand final, putting yourself in Benji’s shoes, that’s it, you retire on that.
“But I think it all depends on Anthony Milford, he’s got some dramas at the moment, and what happens there.
“If he wins (the grand final) I think that’s it.”
Fellow legend Brad Fittler doesn’t want to see Marshall, who will be 37 by the time next season starts, go to another club and fail.
“I don’t think Benji would want to go to a team that’s not doing as well as Souths, I think that would be incredibly hard,” Fittler said.
“If he stays at Souths that could work, it depends on the Milford thing of course. But there wouldn’t be many teams outside South Sydney where he would enjoy it, it would have to be a winning team.
“If he was coming in (to a team) where all he was doing was defending, then his enjoyment for the game could turn around really quickly.
“The fact Souths have done so well this year has benefited Benji, and if it had to be another team I’d be a bit nervous if it wasn’t one of the leading teams.”
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