Marshall puts himself on open market

Benji Marshall admits he’s playing to put himself in the shop window in 2016 with the off-contract St George Illawarra playmaker unsure if he’ll be offered a new deal by the Dragons.

The former Wests Tigers and New Zealand superstar is keen to stay with the joint-venture, but understands that, not for the first time in his career, he might be cast aside for young legs.

“I’m a realist and knowing that rugby league’s a business and there’s always going to be a chance that you’re going to have to move on,” Marshall said.

“In my situation, coming on 31, there’s a lot of younger guys around the club that can lead this club in the future.

“My priority is to stay here but I’m understanding that there might not be a chance of that happening.”

Marshall maintains he has 2-3 more years left in him at NRL level and plenty to offer young playmakers such as Drew Hutchison, who’ll partner him in the halves in Saturday’s Charity Shield.

“The good thing about the kids here is everyone’s willing to learn and listens and takes on board anything you say,” he said.

“I do enjoy the coaching side of things and mentoring side of things. This is my 14th season – it’s not like I’ve just started – I’ve got a lot to offer.”

Former Wests Tigers teammate Chris Lawrence recently called for Marshall to return to the club he left in 2013 as the club looked to blood prodigious pairing Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.

Marshall said the expectations on the young duo was unfair.

“With the amount of publicity and raps around how good they were going … it does put a lot of pressure on them,” he said.

“You’ve got to look for guys like Robbie Farah and a few of the older guys to step up and take the pressure off.”

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