Dolphins boost as Marshall-King season far from over

Joel Gould | July 4, 2023

Jeremy Marshall-King’s season is far from over after the club received positive news about the extent of his ongoing shoulder injury which will not require surgery.

The 27-year-old, described by Dolphins prop Josh Kerr as “tough as woodpecker lips”, trained on his own on Tuesday and will be named to line up against the Gold Coast on Sunday after coach Wayne Bennett feared his season could be over.

Marshall-King scored a try and played through a labral tear in the 24-16 loss to Brisbane on Saturday night, an injury he sustained in the 26-12 win over St George Illawarra in round 13.

The star Dolphins hooker has played just twice since but after the Broncos clash Bennett said “we may have to go the rest of the season without him”.

Dolphins head of performance Jeremy Hickmans told AAP that Marshall-King’s shoulder had “settled down really well” after the Broncos clash. 

“Jeremy irritated it towards the end of the game, but he’s not out for the season,” Hickmans said.

“We will see how he goes this week and every week going forward.

“He has got a small labral tear but nothing that is requiring surgery at the moment.”

Kerr said Marshall-King’s toughness was inspirational.

“He is obviously a big part of this team and tough as woodpecker lips,” Kerr said.

“He’s been playing with a bung shoulder but rolled over the tryline (against Brisbane) and rolled his ankle at the same time.

“He is like Ray Stone. They have no quit in them.

“After the game they were a bit concerned, but all good news and he’s got just a bit of rest today and will build into the week.”

Marshall-King has been the Dolphins best forward this year but injury and suspension has impacted his season. His presence is vital for the Dolphins’ finals hopes.

“He just does his job really simply and doesn’t try and overplay his hand,” Kerr said.

“I think you can see the confidence that he is playing with that Wayne has given him and you can’t really buy that.

“He has come out of absolutely nowhere but I saw him doing this stuff in NSW Cup when he was killing teams.”