Everything Rep - Marshall, Folau, Future

Benji Marshall, once the greatest myth in rugby league, is now a guy who could lead New Zealand into an era of greatness. We got a sniff of this at the World Cup in 2008, Australia couldn’t beat them during the Four Nations last year and now Benji Marshall is on the crest of reaching his potential and more.

Two years ago Marshall was an enigma, a phantom. Here was a kid with all the skills in the world but couldn’t put two games together. That was because he either mixed his brilliance with trash, or he got injured.

The injuries have been well documented over the years and Marshall gained the reputation as a brittle player who could not defend. What’s more, he probably deserved that too. He seemed to spend more time in the casualty ward than the football field and when he was there, Marshall tended to defend on the wing or at fullback to minimise his tackling (and consequently injuries).

My word, how all that has changed in 18 months.

Today Marshall is the New Zealand captain. He is the first man picked in that side and probably the first picked for the Wests Tigers. He has wonderful moments of bravado and attacking flair, capable of producing tries from absolutely anywhere. He also is beginning to take control of matches. He has learnt how to be a genuine 80 minute match winner rather than a freakish ‘pull-it-out-of-his-arse’ match winner. He can defend. He is durable – the constant injuries are a thing of the past.

Benji Marshall is now a wonderful talent of our game. The myth of this talent has been dispelled because now Marshall is delivering. If he holds his form and plays the full season for the Tigers, they are a Premiership Contender.

If Marshall brings his ‘A’ game on Friday night, New Zealand is a massive chance to defeat Australia as well.

Israel Folau

So, was Izzy Folau left out of the Test because of his impending rugby league departure or was he simply not picked because of form?

I tend to think it is a bit of both – in my opinion while a player is still in our game he should be eligible for all regular season representative teams, regardless of where they will be next season.


Having said that, I don’t think Folau warrants Test selection on his current form. I have watched every Broncos game this season (on TV or live at the ground) and Folau isn’t in the top centres in the competition. That’s not to say he would let Australia down, because he won’t, but I believe we selected better options.

I have covered or watched the last three Manly matches and can tell you Jamie Lyon is playing head and shoulders above Folau in that right centre position. Lyon deserves his selection on form alone and I think the selectors made the right call.

If it did come down to a choice between Folau and Lyon, I’m sure the futures of both men influenced the decision. And I’m fine with that too.

Rep Weekend

Big debate in Sydney has been about the 13 guys forced to backup from rep games merely 24 hours afterwards in the Manly vs. St George match. I have a possible solution to avoid this problem – let’s make a weekend out of it.

There are a couple of things we’ll have to do – tweak the season schedule to either extend a week or remove one of the byes (considering all teams get the bye during this rep weekend). Also, to suit the broadcasters we need to try and get a minimum of 6 games for the weekend.

Here is my proposed schedule with all NRL teams forced to release players selected in various teams, subject to independent medical tests.

Friday Night Ch 9 – Australia vs. New Zealand
Saturday 5:30pm FOX – PNG vs. Samoa (Match played in PNG if broadcast etc can be arranged)
Saturday 7:30pm FOX – Tonga vs. Fiji (The four islander teams to play each other in alternate years).
Sunday 2pm FOX – Under 20’s Australia vs. Under 20’s New Zealand
Sunday 4pm Ch9 – NSW City vs. NSW Country
Monday Night FOX – Legends of League Charity match (similar concept used in AFL)
Another possible Saturday night match is Indigenous Australia vs. New Zealand Maori

TIPPING
Tips – Manly, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Roosters
Last Week – 4/8
Total – 32/64 (50%)

Thanks for reading everyone and don’t forget you can contact me directly on email at andrew.keyte@gmail.com or through the comment section below. I’m also on Twitter (@keyto316) and Facebook.
Cheers,
Keyto