Sixteen years connected from his archetypal premiership decider, Benji Marshall's large expansive last concealed from 2005 tin present beryllium revealed.
Benji was the cheeky youngster who captured the imaginativeness of the league satellite when, playing astatine five-eighth, helium threw perchance the astir celebrated walk successful expansive last past for Pat Richards' effort arsenic the Tigers downed the Cowboys connected the large night.
Right?
Well - lone fractional so.
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Reflecting connected Benji's travel from lad to man, past Tigers manager Tim Sheens - the antheral who plotted the Tigers' intolerable imagination - has decided to travel cleanable connected the 16 twelvemonth aged secret.
"No 1 noticed and we kept it precise quiet, but Benji really played fractional of that crippled connected the helping and not astatine five-eighth," Sheens told Wide World of Sports.
"He was conscionable a flimsy kid past and had already undergone a mates of enarthrosis operations and we knew the Cowboys would people him.
"So we moved him to the helping erstwhile we were successful defence. We trained that mode each week and kept it hidden from the media due to the fact that we evidently didn't privation the Cowboys to know.
"That's however helium acceptable up that effort for Patty Richards. They kicked heavy to Brett Hodgson astatine fullback and helium passed the shot to Benji … and disconnected helium went.
"A fewer radical person asked 'what the bloody hellhole was Benji doing backmost there' … good present you know."
Sheens spotted Marshall arsenic a schoolboy playing connected the Gold Coast and rapidly realised the kid was the accelerated feet was thing special.
He signed Marshall to a agelong word woody successful 2002 and the pursuing twelvemonth - portion inactive astatine schoolhouse - Marshall made his debut for the Tigers.
By 2005, the NRL was gripped by 'Benji-mania' arsenic Sheens and his unheralded Tigers - 150-1 shots astatine the commencement of the play - scored a stunning premiership win.
Currently successful England waiting to instrumentality to Australia - and ironically backmost to the Tigers - Sheens has admired Marshall's 2nd coming.
"The crippled has changed truthful overmuch successful 16 years but kudos to Benji, helium has changed and adapted with it," the erstwhile Kangaroos manager said.
"He isn't the brash young kid with the blistering velocity immoderate much but helium is simply a mature subordinate with good shot skills and helium mightiness conscionable get himself a 2nd premiership connected Sunday - who would person thought?"
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