League: Benji Marshall 'would have longer union career'

If Wests Tigers star Benji Marshall does return to rugby union he'll be turning back the clock to more than a decade ago when he played on rugby grounds throughout the Eastern Bay and was known as the little Maori boy with the dazzling sidestep.

Benji has been part of the Tigers franchise since 2003 but a switch from league to union looks imminent following his request on Monday night for an early release from the final two years of his contract.

Whakatane-born Marshall is part of a rugby-mad family, and according to his uncle Phil Marshall, was never cut any slack with the oval ball in hand, even as a youngster.

"Benji and his cousins grew up playing backyard rugby with their uncles and they all knew if they wanted to play with the big boys, they were expected to hold their own," Phil said from his Wellington home.

"We're all pretty rough and we certainly didn't play any differently just because there were young ones on the field."

As a 12-year-old, Benji was selected to play Tai Mitchell rugby for Whakatane and was described as a Maori boy with a dazzling sidestep by the team manager at the time, Rob Shaw.

"He had huge talent. He was a flanker for the team and a stand-out player," Mr Shaw said in 2010. "Even then I thought he was an All Black in the making - a real star of the future."

Uncle Phil also remembers the sidestep but in a situation he thought rather precarious way back then.

"Benji used to play for the Whakatane High School First XV at the age of 15," Phil said. "After their games he would jump in the car and race out to Paroa to play for the senior Paroa team who were in the third Baywide division."

He said the coach at the time, Noel Horlock, used to try and keep the youngster away from the majority of the action.

"I recall this one game when Benji had the ball and the opposition number eight was eyeing him up.

"I was too far away to do anything and thought he was going to get smashed but he stepped him and ran away to score at the other end of the field."

The Paroa team won their division that year.

Phil believes his nephew, like most top-level sportspeople, will chase whatever it is he is after, and will succeed because "that's what they do".

"I read something about him being past his use-by date. I believe if Benji does play union, he'll jump back into it.

"He adapts fast to anything he takes on and I think he'll have a longer career in union than he would in league. We have a bit of longevity on the sports field, I'm still playing top level masters touch and rugby here in Wellington," he laughed.

Another who agrees Benji will succeed in union is his former volleyball coach and Whakatane High School physical education teacher Pete Barsdell.

"Benji was a naturally-gifted athlete, an all-rounder with an innate sense of self-confidence," Barsdell said.

He hoped Benji would return to union and believed he had the ability to succeed on the rugby field if he made the move for the right reasons.