Caloundra Sharks captain Ben Marshall returns to rugby league after tough injury

A Sunshine Coast rugby league player is loving being back on the field after a heartbreaking series of events had him staring down the barrel of three years on the sidelines.

Caloundra Sharks captain Ben Marshall returns to rugby league after injury

Caloundra’s Ben Marshall is loving his return to rugby league after a heartbreaking series of events had him staring down the barrel of a forced three-year hiatus from the sport.

The 23-year-old captain made his return for the Sharks in Division 1 last month after breaking his jaw in two places during a pre-season tournament in March.

It was initially feared the injury was season-ending, but after a strong recovery doctors cleared him for return after three months.

He had three metal plates and 12 screws put in his jaw.

Caloundra Sharks captain Ben Marshall has enjoyed his return to the field after breaking his jaw in two places in March.

“It was a long couple months off the field but it’s good to be back,” Marshall said.

It was an especially momentous return for the young hooker who had not only missed last year’s season due to Covid-19 but was out for three-quarters of 2019 from the same injury.

Aside from pre-season trials, his last regular season game was early 2019.

“This is the second time breaking my jaw,” he said.

“In the 2019 season when we did play I broke my jaw early on in the season, so it was well over two years since I’d played footy.

“So, it was a very long time off the field.”

Marshall was ecstatic to be back playing despite the Sharks going down in his first game back.

“Obviously we didn’t get the result that we wanted and didn’t play our best but for myself it was good to be back playing again and getting that confidence up and being back on field and playing alongside mates,” he said.

Caloundra Sharks captain Ben Marshall has enjoyed his return to the field after breaking his jaw in two places in March. He got man of the match in his second game back. Pictured with assistant coach Craig Cleary and coach Leigh de Jersey.

He has played four games since his return, earning man of the match honours in just his second match back.

“It took a little bit (to get game fitness back),” he said.

“The first match I probably played about 50 minutes but the last few games I’ve played the full 80.

“It’s been good and I’ve been enjoying it.”

Coach Leigh de Jersey was happy to see Marshall make his return.

“For him to come back and play the way he has, he’s an absolute little champion,” he said.

“The fact he got it (broken jaw) through an illegal act of getting kicked he didn’t lose his confidence.

“If he’d done it doing a tackle his confidence would have been wrecked and he would’ve thought his technique was wrong.”

The Sharks went down to Caboolture 24-10 at the weekend and face second-placed Kawana for their final match at home on Saturday.

De Jersey said it had been a tough injury for the team, with injury plaguing their ranks.

“I think after Round 2 we had 11 of our top side out,” he said.

“So, we’ve been chasing our tails which then of course had instant effects on reserve grade because we pull the next 11 out of there.

“We’ve had to blood a lot of really young kids in both A-grade and reserve grade.

“I think at last count we’d used 33 players, maybe 35 players in A-grade.”

Originally published as Caloundra Sharks captain Ben Marshall returns to rugby league after tough injury