PJ Marsh

PJ Marsh was born in Gladstone and grew up playing his junior rugby league with the Gladstone Wallabies and Blackwater Crushers.

Marsh finished his education at noted league school, St Brendan's, Yeppoon. He played for the Central Queensland Capras in the Queensland Cup, before he was signed by Parramatta Eels.

Marsh was an interchange player in the 2001 grand final loss to Newcastle, given he was equally at home at hooker or halfback. The following year he signed with New Zealand Warriors, playing hooker in the grand final loss to the Roosters.

I often tell young people that I was a kid from Blackwater who was fortunate enough to play NRL and Origin, and if I can they can too.

PJ Marsh FOG #131

Marsh had made his State of Origin debut earlier that year, and looked set to be the Maroons' long-term hooker. But he suffered a neck injury in Game I of the 2003 Origin series, and his career looked to be over.

Queensland turned to Mick Crocker as hooker for Origin II, before calling up a young Cameron Smith from Melbourne Storm, with Smith cementing the hooking spot.

In 2003, Marsh had dreams of touring Britain with the Kangaroos, but instead he was recovering from neck surgery. He defied the odds by returning to the NRL with Parramatta in 2005, playing three more seasons with the Eels, before moving back to Queensland, where he signed for the Broncos.

In one of the game's most courageous representative comeback stories, Marsh was chosen on the bench for Game I of the 2008 Origin series.

He retired at the end of the 2009 season, having played 158 NRL games and four times for Queensland.

In 2021, he was named hooker in an All Time Queensland Indigenous Team.

In retirement, he has worked in the mining industry.