Marshall unlikely to make
Tri-Nations

Benji Marshall is happy to play through the pain barrier to prolong the eye-catching Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) finals run, but his bravery is likely to be bad news for the Kiwis.

Marshall flinched at contact training yesterday when his tender right shoulder was tested, heightening the possibility of the elusive five-eighth opting for surgery rather than playing in the Tri-Nations campaign.

The Whakatane-born stepper has relayed mixed messages on his availability, but it now seems likely he will not be able to combine with Stacey Jones for tests against the Kangaroos in Sydney and Auckland on October 15 and 21 respectively.

Despite playing on "adrenalin" Marshall has upped his defensive effort in the play-offs, notably during the Tigers' 34-6 demolition of Brisbane last Sunday.

Marshall pulled off a desperate try-saving tackle to deny Darren Smith an early Broncos try by overturning the veteran as he sought to force the ball and never shied away from the traffic heading his way.

"A few weeks back I was holding back a bit," Marshall admitted.

"Now I'm going out like every game's my last. If it (the shoulder) goes it goes, what ever happens, happens."

The slightly-framed Marshall's defensive workload has proved an inspiration for the Tigers, touted as a pre-season candidate for the wooden spoon.

"The courage that he shows week in week out - his maturity belies his years," departing second rower Mark O'Neill said of the 20-year-old.

"It's inspirational stuff for the rest of the team, we can draw strength of that."

Meanwhile, though Marshall might be able to slice through the slimmest of gaps he is powerless to set up a preliminary final score for his nearest and dearest.

Marshall has extended family members flying in from New Zealand, the Gold Coast and Melbourne for Saturday night's showdown with St George Illawarra - though most look to be making the trip in vain.

His relatives will be among thousands of Tigers fans locked out of Aussie Stadium with the game sold out and the majority of the 40,000 seats already snapped up by Dragons' supporters.

"I asked Noycey (chief executive Steve Noyce) for a few tickets. He asked me how many - I said 24. You should have seen the look on his face," Marshall said.

Tigers fans are distraught the match cannot be switched to the 82,000-seat capacity Telstra Stadium - venue of Sunday's second preliminary final between Parramatta and North Queensland.