WESTS Tigers superstar Benji Marshall says the time for hiding is over as he looks to haul the NRL club back to the giddy heights of their 2005 premiership triumph.
Marshall claimed as he announced a one-year contract extension, which will take him through to the end of the 2009 season, that he was over the shoulder problems which crippled his past two NRL campaigns.
Marshall said he was ready to get back into the thick of the action, after defending on the wing last year as he nursed his way back from a third shoulder operation.
"I was being a cat last year out there, it would be good to get back to playing three-in," Marshall said.
"The shoulder’s not worrying me, I’m doing a lot of tackling at training and feeling pretty confident.
"Playing on the wing probably wasn’t the best thing for me in the form of making tackles.
"I was trying to hold myself back and trying not to make tackles where really in my position I should be making tackles."
Three shoulder operations in two years would be enough for anyone to have doubts about their future in the game, but Marshall said that retirement had never entered his mind.
"This one was probably the hardest one to get over," Marshall said.
"I’m only 23 this month, I’ve still got a long way to go.
"Touch wood nothing happens but I’m not really worried about it.
"If something does it’s not going to be the end of me, I might have to take a year off or something but it really hasn’t crossed my mind."
Neither has leaving the Tigers, with his one-year deal more about giving the club and the player some breathing space.
Despite being the Tigers’ highest paid player, Marshall has played only 50 per cent of the club’s matches over the past two years.
He is keen to repay the club for the faith it has shown in him ever since they flew him down as a schoolboy from the Gold Coast to make his debut at Campbelltown Stadium in 2003.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens denied the club had lost confidence in their star playmaker, insisting the one-year term would just ease pressure on the Kiwi international, and was confident that his latest comeback would be a success.
"There has been that element of coming back without having the time behind him because of the urgency of not only the team needing him to play but him wanting to play," Sheens said.
"That sort of pressure’s not on at the moment.
"If he has the season that we think he can then he’s in a position to be one of the best paid players in the game, if not the best paid player in the game."
On top of the retention of Marshall, the Tigers were also celebrating the capture of Great Britain Test forward Gareth Ellis on a three-year deal starting in 2009.
Ellis will play out 2008 with Super League champions Leeds before his likely inclusion in the England squad for the World Cup, to be staged in Australia in October-November.
Sheens said he was confident Ellis could make a similar impact on the NRL to that of former Sydney Roosters firebrand Adrian Morley.
"We’re talking about one of the best players in England, if not the best backrower in England," Sheens said.
"His ability is there and his ethic is there – I wouldn’t say it would take long for him to have an impact in our side."
AAP
Source: No time for hiding: Marshall
