Wallabies flyhalf great Stephen Larkham admits he’s very surprised the Benji Marshall experiment is already over.
Given sufficient time, Marshall would have definitely made it in the 15-man code, according to Australian rugby’s greatest modern day playmaker.
“He’s a talented player and you don’t lose that talent,” Larkham said.
“He hasn’t had many opportunities to play at Super Rugby level. But I certainly expected him to see it out.”
Larkham’s comments came as Marshall’s release from his Super Rugby contract with the Auckland Blues was confirmed in a joint statement.
Blues coach John Kirwin stated that Marshall: “felt like a league player playing rugby union, and that things weren’t happening as fast as he would have liked.”
However Larkham, who made the difficult transition from fullback to five-eighth after two years – not two months – believes such high expectations made it an uphill battle for Marshall.
“To chuck him into a playmaker role is very difficult. You need a couple of years to get your head around the game,” he said.
“There’s a fair bit of difference between a playmaker in rugby league and a playmaker in union. In other positions, not so much.”
Larkham pointed out that fellow-code hopper Sonny Bill Williams first played rugby union in France for a couple of seasons, then in New Zealand’s ITM Cup for Canterbury, before tackling the challenge of Super Rugby.
“So he pushed through,” Larkham said.