Ash Marsters: The One of a Kind Wallaroo heading into the history books

Fri, Oct 11, 2024, 2:29 AM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson

In baseball, the term 'five-tool' is used to describe a rare player who excels at all five of the major physical tools. Ash Marsters is Rugby's true 'five-tool' player. 

Utility players are becoming more common in the sport of Rugby Union as coaches look to get the most out of their line-up such as Eddie Jones and the Springboks.

Watch the Wallaroos tackle Scotland to decide WXV 2 live and exclusively on Stan Sport.

We've seen goal-kicking forwards such as John Eales and more recently Sophie de Goede in the women's game.

But none have the versatility of Marsters as she prepares to head into the record books for the most capped Wallaroo at 34 on Sunday (AEDT) against Scotland.

Marsters started the tour as a hooker after a finger injury to Tania Naden before returning to the backrow for the remainder of the tour. She was selected for her first World Cup in 2014 as a scrumhalf and recently played the majority of the Super Rugby W season at centre for the Rebels.

"I think I've just been blessed to be able to learn quickly and adapt," a relaxed Marsters told reporters.

"I think also I've never really said no to anything.

"I kind of say 'yeah, whatever you want' and then I learn on the go. Just trust that the coach knows what they're doing and then I guess we'll just hope for the best.

"At the end of the day, footy is footy. Whether you're sticking your head in between a scrum or on the side of it, or you're just hanging out at the back, you're just going to play footy anyways."

There's a special connection between Marsters and current record holder Liz Patu, with the pair debuting together almost a year ago in Rotorua against New Zealand.

It's a credit to Marsters' longevity only heightened by the stat that when she takes the field on Sunday, she would've played in just over 40% of all Wallaroos games in their history.

"Nah, I'll reach out to her," Marsters joked about whether she'd been in touch with Patu.

"I think it's just a testament to how many games we've now been given, which means just more opportunity for the upcoming players to succeed our record at the moment."

Marsters is treating the moment like any other game, outside of taking slightly more precaution to make sure he gets on the field.

"I'm just pretty much cruisy until we get onto the field and then we flick the switch," she joked.

However, the backrower will still pull rank over the younger players as she helps guide the next generation of talent to make their own history at the international level.

"I don't think we really brag in that sense, but I'm pretty sure I'll abuse that with the little ones, to be honest," she said and laughed. "I say 'Hey go carry my bag, go carry my bag'  but there's not really much banters because I think we're all just trying to grow the game, especially here in Australia."

"You can see the difference between that being our top cap and then the likes of England playing with 100 caps plus. It's a really massive gap, so for us to grow, we want to help and develop our depth within the team and across our grassroots.

"...I hope that later on in the next coming years we'll be seeing like 100 caps or so."

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