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WESTS Tigers, a club intrinsically tied to rugby league's humble beginnings, were yesterday given a 100th birthday present by their most magical and influential player.
With millions of dollars of rugby talent mingling with 20,000 fans at the Centenary of Rugby League Fan Day at ANZ Stadium, Benji Marshall pledged his future to the Tigers - a marriage of foundation clubs Western Suburbs and Balmain.
The irony is that he knocked back overtures to return to his old schoolboy stomping ground on the Gold Coast and rugby league's newest club the Titans.
Marshall wants to extend his contract at the Tigers before the 2008 season and is relieved to be back in his customary five-eighth role after dabbling with the halfback spot last year.
Marshall, who described the Tigers as "family", said he had not contemplated leaving and denied having negotiated with any rival club despite rumours he would reunite with Scott Prince at the Titans.
"As much as I'd love to play with Princey again, my life's in Sydney at the moment. I love it here. I really want to stay at the Tigers," Marshall said.
"Nothing's been put on paper, but we're discussing it with the Tigers and I think they're as keen as I am to get something done before the season starts."
Marshall, coming back from his fifth shoulder reconstruction, said the length of a new contract had not been discussed. But the 22-year-old doesn't want the negotiations to distract him.
"I was just going to play (this season) and see how I went first, but I probably don't need the pressure of being off contract, so I want to get it done before the season starts. That way I can just worry about playing football," he said.
"I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I get advised by a lot of people, a lot of people have their opinions, but all that matters is what I want to do. I'm keen to hang around and stay with the Tigers."
Marshall said he owed a lot to the Tigers and praised the support of coach Tim Sheens and chief executive Steve Noyce.
Ideally, Marshall said he wanted to remain a one-club player. "Definitely you get a lot of respect that way," he said.
"The Tigers fans have been awesome to me from the start, they've been there through the good and bad. I'd love to be there my whole career, but I'm only 23 this month so there's a long way to go.
"It's hard to leave a culture that feels so much like family. That would be the hardest thing to leave.
"After Sheensy re-signed for a couple of years, it helped my decision in what I wanted to do. He advises me more as a friend than as a coach when it comes to contract decisions. For him, it'd probably be hard, it'd be tempting for him to say I want you to be my player, but he tells me as a friend instead of a coach."
The Tigers trialled Marshall at halfback last season, but the Kiwi star admitted the experiment failed. He said he felt much more comfortable at No 6. He also said he would start 2008 feeling stronger and fitter than at any period in his NRL career.
"I can't wait, not that I didn't enjoy playing halfback," he said.
"It's just that I'm better suited at five-eighth, it's a bit wider and gives me a bit more time."
As Marshall put his future on the agenda, another of the game's brightest stars declared the fan day a success and called on the NRL to launch every season by taking the game to the people.
With every player from every NRL team on deck, fans were treated to autograph sessions, coaching clinics, photo opportunities and a goal-kicking competition.
"It's a great year, 100 years of rugby league, but I'm hoping it's something that actually takes off from here," Greg Inglis said.
"It's been run so well. Hopefully they can run it every year and really get the message out there before the start of every season. I'm pretty sure we're the first sport to ever do this. I'm certain if we did it again next year, we'd get even more kids coming."
Justin Hodges flew with his Broncos teammates to Sydney for the event and said it was great to give back to the fans.
"I wish it was around when I was younger. Coming from Cairns, there wasn't too many teams coming up. It's really good to come down to Sydney and reach that wider audience," he said.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
With millions of dollars of rugby talent mingling with 20,000 fans at the Centenary of Rugby League Fan Day at ANZ Stadium, Benji Marshall pledged his future to the Tigers - a marriage of foundation clubs Western Suburbs and Balmain.
The irony is that he knocked back overtures to return to his old schoolboy stomping ground on the Gold Coast and rugby league's newest club the Titans.
Marshall wants to extend his contract at the Tigers before the 2008 season and is relieved to be back in his customary five-eighth role after dabbling with the halfback spot last year.
Marshall, who described the Tigers as "family", said he had not contemplated leaving and denied having negotiated with any rival club despite rumours he would reunite with Scott Prince at the Titans.
"As much as I'd love to play with Princey again, my life's in Sydney at the moment. I love it here. I really want to stay at the Tigers," Marshall said.
"Nothing's been put on paper, but we're discussing it with the Tigers and I think they're as keen as I am to get something done before the season starts."
Marshall, coming back from his fifth shoulder reconstruction, said the length of a new contract had not been discussed. But the 22-year-old doesn't want the negotiations to distract him.
"I was just going to play (this season) and see how I went first, but I probably don't need the pressure of being off contract, so I want to get it done before the season starts. That way I can just worry about playing football," he said.
"I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I get advised by a lot of people, a lot of people have their opinions, but all that matters is what I want to do. I'm keen to hang around and stay with the Tigers."
Marshall said he owed a lot to the Tigers and praised the support of coach Tim Sheens and chief executive Steve Noyce.
Ideally, Marshall said he wanted to remain a one-club player. "Definitely you get a lot of respect that way," he said.
"The Tigers fans have been awesome to me from the start, they've been there through the good and bad. I'd love to be there my whole career, but I'm only 23 this month so there's a long way to go.
"It's hard to leave a culture that feels so much like family. That would be the hardest thing to leave.
"After Sheensy re-signed for a couple of years, it helped my decision in what I wanted to do. He advises me more as a friend than as a coach when it comes to contract decisions. For him, it'd probably be hard, it'd be tempting for him to say I want you to be my player, but he tells me as a friend instead of a coach."
The Tigers trialled Marshall at halfback last season, but the Kiwi star admitted the experiment failed. He said he felt much more comfortable at No 6. He also said he would start 2008 feeling stronger and fitter than at any period in his NRL career.
"I can't wait, not that I didn't enjoy playing halfback," he said.
"It's just that I'm better suited at five-eighth, it's a bit wider and gives me a bit more time."
As Marshall put his future on the agenda, another of the game's brightest stars declared the fan day a success and called on the NRL to launch every season by taking the game to the people.
With every player from every NRL team on deck, fans were treated to autograph sessions, coaching clinics, photo opportunities and a goal-kicking competition.
"It's a great year, 100 years of rugby league, but I'm hoping it's something that actually takes off from here," Greg Inglis said.
"It's been run so well. Hopefully they can run it every year and really get the message out there before the start of every season. I'm pretty sure we're the first sport to ever do this. I'm certain if we did it again next year, we'd get even more kids coming."
Justin Hodges flew with his Broncos teammates to Sydney for the event and said it was great to give back to the fans.
"I wish it was around when I was younger. Coming from Cairns, there wasn't too many teams coming up. It's really good to come down to Sydney and reach that wider audience," he said.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
