NRL Grand Final: Rabbitoh Benji Marshall opens up on his 17-year GF odyssey

The veteran playmaker reveals how his return to rugby league’s pinnacle event after 17 long years began in earnest on an inner west golf course with the kiwi legend in search of a club.

The exact moment rugby league’s greatest grand final fairy tale began can be traced back to

the first hole of Concord golf club.

Walking down the fairway on January 19 this year, Benji Marshall had his golf clubs.

But what the former poster boy of an entire code really wanted was an NRL club.

Without a job after 17 seasons, the one-time face of billboards, shoe brands, DVDs and those wacky power balance wristbands, Marshall had just been rejected at the last minute by the worst club in the NRL, the Bulldogs.

Benji Marshall holding the Telstra Premiership Trophy after Wests Tigers defeated North Queensland Cowboys in the 2005 NRL Grand Final.

At 36 and with an album of memories including the 2005 premierships with the Wests Tigers, World Cups, Dally M honours and a Golden Boot as the world’s best player, Marshall only had one wish remaining.

The Kiwi International wanted to play with his younger brother, Jeremy-Marshall-King at Canterbury, but that deal fell through. So on a Tuesday morning last summer, Marshall went for a round of golf with Fox Sports commentator, Braith Anasta.  

“Benji turned to me and said, can we just stop for a minute, I think I’m going to ring Wayne Bennett,’’ Anasta recalled for The Sunday Telegraph. “It was a five-minute phone call. That’s it.’’

Marshall had worked under Bennett while playing for the NRL All Stars and also during a one-season stint at the Broncos in 2017.

Latrell Mitchell, Wayne Bennett and new signing Benji Marshall at training for Souths on January 29. Picture: Adam Yip

“He rang me up and said; ‘My deal’s fallen through – I’d love to come to South Sydney,’’ Bennett said.

“I went and saw [fellow playmakers] Adam [Reynolds] and Cody [Walker] because I didn’t want them to think that I was undermining them, and they wanted him to come.

“So I rang him back and I said, ‘Why do you want to come to South Sydney for?’ And he said, ‘I think you can be in the premiership, I think you can be in the grand final. And I want to go out on a good note.’ I said ‘OK mate, let’s do that. I’ll make you number 14 every week, that’s my guarantee to you.’’

Anasta adds: “You should’ve seen Benji hit the ball after that phone call. He knew then that he was a chance to do something special with Wayne.’’

The deal with Souths was worth $120,000 – the type of salary offered to untried rookies or player numbers 28 to 30 on an NRL roster.

It didn’t matter to Marshall that he could’ve signed a $700,000 deal to play in England with Hull or that only a decade earlier, rival clubs knew they were wasting their time negotiating if they couldn’t offer a $1 million contract.

This time, it wasn’t about money. The veteran, who inspired thousands of boys and girls with his famous flick pass and trademark step, simply wasn’t ready to give up on the NRL.

An emotional Benji Marshall after Souths defeated Manly on Friday night.

Marshall with his inspirational step during the 2005 Grand Final win. Picture: Dean Lewins

With tears in his eyes after the Rabbitohs advanced to the grand final by beating the Sea Eagles on Friday night, Marshall explained the impact of the call to Bennett.

“I was just going to retire mate, seriously,’’ Marshall said. “She (wife Zoe) said just give Wayne a try and see what happens. I called him.

“He said mate I have one spot left, come and join us and see what happens and that was it.’’

Benji and Zoe Marshall with their kids Fox and Ever. Picture: Instagram

Next Sunday, against Penrith, Marshall will aim to become the only player in NRL history to have won two premierships with a greater gap between them; it’s an incredible 17 seasons after his first premiership ring with the Tigers in 2005.

Every player from the 2005 Wests Tigers premiership team has retired.

Lote Tuqiri is the only player who comes close to as long a gap between titles having waited 14-years to win his two premierships; first with the Broncos in 2000 and then ironically, the Rabbitohs in 2014.

Martin Tauber was Marshall’s agent from the day he turned 17. The veteran agent and Marshall split amicably three years ago, but in the eyes of Tauber, the champion footballer’s return to a grand final is “one of the greatest stories ever in rugby league’’.

“He’s given so much back to the game,’’ Tauber said.

An 18-year-old Marshall studying at Keebra Park High School on the Gold Coast, on the eve of his NRL debut with the Wests Tigers. Picture: Adam Ward.

“He’s been an outstanding individual, I’m just so proud of him. I can’t believe he’s here. I still recall the images of him sitting on the ground at the Sydney Football Stadium playing with his younger brother (Marshall-King) after they won the title in 2005.

“It was as though nothing had happened. The night before the grand final he went out and got a hamburger around midnight at McDonald’s. He shows no signs of nerves, it’s just another game of football.

“And, of course, the rest of history. It’s folklore now.

“No question, you’d be hard-pressed to find a greater story than this.’’

As he climbed onto the Rabbitohs team bus late on Friday night, Marshall listened to Bennett ask his players to place their trust in his experience and understanding of how to navigate the intense pressure and nerves of the build-up because he’s won seven of nine grand finals.

“Don’t worry about me coach,’’ Marshall piped-up.

“I’m one from one.’’