Flash in Japan: Marshall may not jump ship
Glenn Jackson | December 8, 2008
IN ANOTHER of sport's quirky ironies, the loss of Wests Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall to the money on offer in rugby union may be prevented by … the money on offer in rugby union.
The prospect of earning almost $1.5 million for a stint in Japanese union may stop the Kiwi World Cup winner from quitting league altogether.
Marshall has attracted interest from Japan, and is believed to be in a position to earn upwards of ¥90 million ($1.49m) a season in the lucrative Top League.
And because the Japanese season runs in the Australian league off-season - from September to February - Marshall may be able to remain in the NRL even after a code switch.
While Wests Tigers officials, who commenced negotiations with the 2005 premiership winner's manager Martin Tauber on Friday, refused to confirm whether they would allow Marshall to test himself in Japanese rugby if it meant him staying at the club, a similar idea has been floated before.
St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust, in attempting to prevent Mark Gasnier from defecting to rugby union last year, put forward the bold idea of allowing him to play in Europe in the off-season.
Marshall is believed to have told Kiwi teammates he would likely leave the Tigers when his contract expired at the end of next season, amid interest from the English Super League as well as rugby union clubs from the UK and France.
He is known to harbour a desire to play for the All Blacks, which would be forfeited should he decide to remain in the NRL, but he is relatively untried in rugby union, having played the sport only while a schoolboy, making a total code switch a gamble. The prospect of an off-season stint, while taxing on a body that has suffered significant injuries, is still a remote one but may be considered in an attempt to keep one of the NRL's most marketable players in the code.
The Tigers are facing a battle to keep not only Marshall, but a player equally important, Robbie Farah, and the fresh development around Marshall comes as another club joins the race for the hooker.
Farah has already toured the Gold Coast with Titans officials, and his manager Sam Ayoub yesterday confirmed there had been interest from another club in the City representative.
Tigers officials will likely meet Ayoub this week, and with Marshall not due back from a holiday - nor due at training - until the new year, said they expected Farah's future to be finalised first.
"Obviously we'd prefer it [Farah's negotiations] to not be done so publicly but we're not losing any sleep over that," recruitment manager Warren McDonnell said. "It's up to Gold Coast and his management."
Asked about the chances of losing both players, McDonnell said: "Who knows? We might not [keep them] if they came back and said we've been offered X-Y-Z and we can only offer X-Y. Everything's got its limits. But we'll be guided by that once we talk to them."
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens added of his stars: "They're going to look at their options. Why not? But I think both the boys have a desire to stay here. It's not going to be a matter of them being unhappy here.
"We've spoken to both their managers and both boys have indicated they'd like to get it done before the start of the [2009] season. That will settle everybody down."
Meanwhile, former Parramatta halfback Tim Smith is almost certain to return to UK club Wigan next season, but remains committed to returning to the NRL in 2010.
Smith, back in Australia until January, was courted briefly by Cronulla about a return to the NRL next season, even though he is contracted to the English club, but the money on offer was not enough.
"If he got an opportunity to come back he'd come back," Smith's manager David Riolo said. "He'd rather be in Australia than England. Wigan have always said if he gets an offer they'll let him go."
