Benji Marshall receives esteemed accolade

New Zealand rugby league legend Benji Marshall isn’t missing the NRL and is backing the Kiwis to have more world cup success this year.

Benji Marshall last played for the Kiwis in 2019.
Photo: Photosport

The former Kiwis captain and World Cup winner is made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday honours list on Monday, one of two sportsmen to receive the honour this year.

Marshall said he was humbled but initially was not sure how valid his nomination email was – so he turned to another well-known New Zealander for reassurance.

“I didn’t know what to think of it so I actually rung the Mad Butcher [Peter Leitch], who’s been knighted, and I asked him how he found out about his and he said ‘you’ve gotta accept it and write back'”.

The 37-year-old played 19 seasons in the NRL and retired after the 2021 grand final in October.

He debuted for the Wests Tigers in 2003 and played for the Brisbane Broncos, the St George Illawarra Dragons and the South Sydney Rabbitohs – amassing nearly 350 games in the NRL, the most of any New Zealand-born player.

Despite spending more than half his life on the professional footy field, Marshall, who lives in Sydney, was not wishing to be back in the thick of the action this NRL season.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs were the last NRL team Benji Marshall played for.
Photo: Photosport

“I don’t miss it. I get to wake up every day and feel not sore, not tired, the brain feels fresh every day and I also get to spend a lot more time with my kids at home which is very important.

“But I definitely don’t miss the hard training and the big contact tackles and stuff like that, if anything you only really miss hanging out with the boys – but that’s why I play golf I get that fix from playing golf with the boys and everything else I don’t miss at all.”

Marshall also represented the Kiwis in 31 Test matches, captaining the side 21 times, and won the Rugby League World Cup in 2008.

He played his last international game in 2019, coming back to the Kiwis after a seven-year hiatus, where he code-switched briefly to rugby union.

The Kiwis have not played since Marshall retired.

The New Zealanders will play Tonga on 25 June in Auckland as part of the build up to the rescheduled Rugby League World Cup in October and November in the United Kingdom.

New Zealand and Australia withdrew from the tournament that was originally to be held in late 2021 but will be involved this year.

Marshall will be in England to watch the first week of the world cup.

“I was lucky enough to be a part of a winning world cup side in 2008 and we were massive underdogs that year and we found a way to win that which was so special to be a part of, that was our first world cup win for a long time.

“There was no greater honour for me than representing New Zealand.”

Marshall is backing the current crop of players to have an impact at the world cup, especially if they get a proper build-up.

“The one thing I know about the Kiwis in general is when we spend a bit of time together in camp and we bond we tend to go better in longer campaigns and so I think the world cup for us it might take one or two weeks to getting to know each other’s game but the longer we spend together the better we get.

“I feel like a lot of the Kiwis in the [NRL] at the moment are really in form, we’ve got some great players playing some great footy, that helps, and in key positions we’re really lucky that we have depth we probably haven’t had for a long time so I’m really excited about what we can achieve this year.

“Having all the players available is one thing, going an performing is what it needs to be about and we’ve got a good coach who can probably take care of that.”

Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has the backing of former captain Benji Marshall.
Photo: © Copyright Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photosport Ltd 2018

The coach Marshall has faith in is the under fire Michael Maguire.

Maguire’s head coach role with the Wests Tigers in the NRL has come into question as the team sits near the bottom of the competition.

“The thing with Michael Maguire is he’s really passionate about New Zealand rugby league and all the steps he has put in place over the last few years to get it to the place it is is a credit to him because he is Australian and he’s representing the Kiwis but you’d never know, he’s so passionate about the Kiwis and he loves that space.

“The boys in the Kiwis love playing under Madge … he knows how to bring the boys together, he knows how to win games, the Kiwis are in good hands at the moment.”