Kiwis Try To Ride Out Benji Blow
Sun Herald
Sunday May 4, 2008
A "shattered" Benji Marshall has told New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney he won't play in Friday's rugby league clash with Australia in a huge blow to the Kiwis' hopes of pulling off a Centenary Test upset.
Marshall relayed the news to Kearney during the week after the star five-eighth tore scar tissue around his injured left knee during his comeback match for the Wests Tigers against Cronulla last Sunday. "He was very disappointed," Kearney said. "Knowing that this Test match was coming up, he sort of gave himself an opportunity of playing at the weekend after five or six weeks out, and things didn't go as well as he thought. "He was shattered, actually."Marshall's omission not only robs the Kiwis of their chief playmaker, but the Test of one of its biggest drawcards. It will also raise fears the SCG clash could be another massacre similar to Australia's 58-0 mauling of the Kiwis last October. Kearney, though, insists his side will be competitive, despite Marshall's omission coming on top of injuries to Krisnan Inu and Manu Vatuvei and doubts over the availability of English-based pair Brent Webb and Thomas Leuluai. "From our perspective, all we can do as a coaching and management staff is provide the team with the right information and what we think is going to make us competitive against Australia," Kearney said. "All I can ask from the players is that they perform as good as they can, and if they do that I certainly think we've got the personnel to be competitive." While Bulldogs pivot Ben Roberts appears to have the inside running on the No.6 jersey, Kearney said the Kiwis had a few options - although not "a heap". Marshall is not expected to return until the Tigers' round-10 trip to Newcastle on May 18.
© 2008 Sun Herald