The slowly unfolding car crash that was the Blues' Benji Marshall experiment skidded to a final and dramatic halt yesterday, but the main damage was done on Friday in Wellington.
Marshall appeared out of his depth at first-five when replacing Chris Noakes shortly before halftime. During the 55 or so minutes he was on the field his kicking tactics were poor and he offered zero threat with the ball in hand.
It was his big chance and he failed the examination. It is understood that coach John Kirwan, keen to give Marshall a decent run after a recent diet of substitution appearances, was planning on playing him against the Waratahs at Eden Park on Friday and probably at fullback.
Instead, Marshall was forced to come on at No 10, was poor, and the Blues slumped to their 12th successive away defeat, the 39-20 loss consigning them to the bottom of the New Zealand conference.
Marshall will now return to the NRL, his rugby union switch a failure. The blame game will now start - the Blues say they can't officially comment other than to confirm they are negotiating a release with Marshall due to contractual reasons, but the franchise must take its share of the criticism.
His agent Martin Tauber told News Corp yesterday: "It just hasn't worked out, it is disappointing.
"He's not had the game time he'd like. This has all happened over the last 36 hours."
Marshall played 212 minutes in six appearances for the Blues. Initially signed as a first-five on a contract estimated at $500,000 a year, it was felt he was better suited to fullback after the Blues' three defeats in pre-season.
He played only one full game - a good performance in the No15 jersey in the narrow defeat against the Lions in Johannesburg, a match in which he scored a fine individual try.
However, Kirwan soon after raised concerns about Marshall's positional play in that match and gave him limited opportunities until the Hurricanes defeat.
Kirwan, who was coy about Marshall's immediate future on Sunday, wasn't available for comment last night but told One News earlier in the day before the news broke: "We've had a conversation and we've spoken about where we're at, we've had an honest conversation.
"We're processing that stuff now, it's frustrating.
"He's an incredibly good team man, a very honest man, we've having honest discussions and moving forward."
Marshall didn't train with the team yesterday. His absence was put down to illness and personal issues.
Many questions remain but the Blues will want to put it behind them as quickly as possible. The whole Marshall issue was turning into a massive distraction, one which they could clearly do without.
