Liam Marshall’s outrageous finish is try of the season: Wigan Warriors’ winger deserves more credit

Aaron Bower
Liam Marshall

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen something like that.” When Bevan French of all people is saying something like that, you know you’re discussing something absolutely extraordinary.

Perhaps the biggest credit you can pay Liam Marshall is that these days, when he does the ridiculous, we almost shrug our shoulders. Not because it’s boring: because it’s quite simply what he does.

But this, by any standards, let alone the significant ones he has set in recent years, was on another level.

It is a try that is well worthy of a frame-by-frame breakdown, and Love Rugby League is likely to provide just that over the weekend. To have nowhere to go and decide to hurl yourself almost upside down, with your entire body in mid-air and out of the field of play and then.. ground the ball with relative ease.

We see these kinds of finishes so often that we’re fast becoming immune to them. But in order to fully appreciate this one, go back and watch it again. And again. And again. And savour the technical ability required to do something like this while under extreme pressure.

It is a feat of brilliance that needs shouting about.

If IMG are serious about marketing rugby league to new audiences, then this is the clip they should be showing. It has left one of the competition’s best players in French in awe, and he sees it on the training ground every day. Imagine how casual or new supporters of the game would react.

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It all leads to a wider question about Marshall, too. In a competition filled with elite wingers – Tommy Makinson, Tom Johnstone, Tom Davies, Ash Handley, Matty Ashton, and more – Marshall never truly fully seems appreciated by many outside of the Wigan Warriors bubble.

Make no mistake about it, Matt Peet and the Warriors‘ players are well aware of just how good he is. But once again this season, he sits atop of the try-scoring charts and contributes highly in so many other metrics. Ask any Wigan player, and they would tell you Marshall is one of their most crucial assets.

And yet, here he is at the age of 28 – still without an England cap to his name. It is remarkable to consider, given how long Marshall has been among the very best wingers in Super League.

That will surely change in the months and years ahead. His form under Peet is astonishing; in 2022, 26 tries in 26 games. Last year, 24 in 29. And now, no player in Super League has more than him this time around too.

He may not look like a superstar – but Marshall is one of Super League’s real elite talents. He is a human highlight reel and as far as this season’s try of the season is concerned, that race has just been settled, you would argue.

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