NRL grand final: Why we all wanted to be like the marvel Benji Marshall

Primary school students dashed through the gates of St Gregory's in Queanbeyan towards the farthest basketball court, dropped school bags and formed two makeshift football teams.

An asphalt basketball court was our Leichhardt Oval, and when the time felt right, our Stadium Australia. The school bell signalled the frantic final play. The stern voice of a teacher imploring us to line up for class only encouraged sublime sidesteps and flashy flick passes.

Because there was only one player we all wanted to be like.

We all wanted to be like Benji.

Sure, you might try the banana kick perfected by Andrew Johns, and if the teachers on duty had their back turned you could try to sneak in a shoulder charge a la Sonny Bill Williams.

But it was the sidestep and the audacious flick pass every kid wanted to perfect, because Benji was different. Benji was to rugby league what few had ever been before, and few have been since. Marshall was the game's pin-up boy, a rockstar of the sport.

Kids everywhere would dream of having Marshall's artistic flair, skill, vision and creativity. South Sydney hooker Damien Cook was no different.

"I still remember when he came into the competition, watching him grow up, going to school the next day trying to emulate his footwork he did in the game before, do what he did and try to re-enact his highlights," Cook said.

"Now I get to play alongside him, and pass him the ball. No matter what he does after this, it's been a special moment to be able to play alongside him. He's definitely one of the greatest players to play this game."

Your columnist was in year two at school the year a vibrant young footballer from Keebra Park High made his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers, coming off the bench in No. 14 during a 40-point rout of a depleted Newcastle outfit in the winter of 2003.

Eighteen years later, 36-year-old Benji Marshall wears the same number. Only this time, he does so in an NRL grand final against the Penrith Panthers at Brisbane's Lang Park on Sunday.

The 2021 grand final marks 16 years since Marshall's first. You know, the night he threw that flick pass for Pat Richards to score during the Wests Tigers' breathtaking triumph of 2005.

The curtain may soon be drawn on the career of a man who transcended rugby league, on a journey we so often thought had to have hit a dead end, only for Marshall to persevere and become rugby league's ultimate survivor.

"It's hard to comprehend at the moment, it's been so long I forgot what grand final week was like," Marshall said.

"One of the things a lot of people don't talk about when it comes to me is just resilience. I had five shoulder reconstructions at a young age, I've missed like 70 games throughout my career. To bounce back from that is something I'm most proud of.

"To play 19 years in this competition is something that is pretty special as well. I've had to change my game as I've got older into playing a lot smarter and not so flashy and instinctive. I've really enjoyed the evolution of what I have had to do with my game.

"I'm just really grateful to be in this position and have this opportunity. There was probably a couple of times, especially in the last five years, when it looked like my career was over."

Twelve months ago Marshall was at a crossroads. Unwanted by the Wests Tigers, even lowly Canterbury went cold on a deal. So on the advice of wife Zoe, the survivor rang the supercoach.

The rest is history. Sunday marks the fifth consecutive decade in which Wayne Bennett has coached a team to the game's greatest occasion. Bennett can become the first coach to win a premiership at three different clubs. He is already the first to take four clubs to a grand final.

"I don't think he has changed too much within his principles of coaching. If anything, I think he has realised the generation is different. He has had to probably get to know his players a lot better and try to find ways to get the best out of his players," Marshall said.

"He's still a grumpy old man to you guys, he's actually a really caring, friendly guy who loves to have jokes with the boys at the back of the bus, playing country music we all have to listen to that some of us don't like.

"We put up with it because it's Wayne, he's the coach and he picks the team, so you play whatever he wants."

The storylines stretch far beyond Benji and Bennett.

Adam Reynolds is bound for Brisbane and will play his final game for the club. This is the eighth game in fullback Blake Taaffe's career. Taaffe was four when Marshall began captivating audiences with the most daring of hands.

Marshall knows he has had a significant impact on the game. To what extent, the kid from Whakatane isn't quite sure. That's something the beloved New Zealand international will look back on when he retires.

So when will that day come, exactly? The veteran of 345 NRL games is not so sure.

"I might get a few hakas this weekend, everyone thinks I'm retiring. Wayne said I am, anyway," Marshall said.

"I just laughed, I haven't even discussed retiring with Wayne at the moment. I think I've done a really good job in the last few years of playing each game as if it's my last.

"Put it this way, I feel like, the way my body feels right now, I could play next year if I wanted to. If you've still got the desire and the passion to play, and you want to play, then why not?"