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Benji Marshall has announced a two-year deal with Super Rugby's Auckland Blues. Source: Matt King / Getty Images
RUGBY fans will not see Benji Marshall clash with Israel Folau live in Sydney next year unless the Waratahs strike a deal to play a pre-season trial against the Blues, or he makes the All Blacks.
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The 2014 Super Rugby schedule has not been released yet but it is all-but certain a blockbuster competition game featuring Marshall against the Waratahs in Sydney won't happen, given the yearly home-away rotation in Super Rugby.
The Waratahs played the Auckland side at Allianz Stadium this year, and as such, will have to travel to New Zealand to play the Blues in 2014.
Fans will miss the sight of Marshall back in Sydney and the Waratahs will lose out equally as much, with a potentially huge attendance and lucrative gate also out the window.
Waratahs CEO Jason Allen said he's due to meet with SANZAR boss Greg Peters at a meeting on Monday and will raise the idea of swapping the Blues' home game to a Sydney fixture, but he holds slim hopes.
"We would love to play that game at home obviously, but if I was them I probably wouldn't agree," Allen said.
"But I have a few things to request of Greg, and that's one of them for sure."
Peters agreed having Marshall return to Sydney as a rugby player would be a "wonderful idea" but said it would be highly unlikely, with the 2014 fixture list almost complete.
"It would be great to see him play in Sydney but it would be challenging," Peters said.
"It's the knock-on effect. That's one of the problems with our draw, it's very complex with travel planning and so on.
"If you take a home game off the Blues, who do you give them for another home game? And how does that impact that team, and so on. If you move one piece, the knock-on effect is quite significant. So unfortunately, the Blues playing in Sydney is probably unlikely without the agreement of a very large number of people."
Short of Marshall winning selection for the All Blacks in the opening Bledisloe Cup game in Sydney, the only chance of bringing Marshall back to Sydney next year would be a trial in February and the Waratahs are set to pursue an agreement with the Blues to make it happen.
NSW played the Blues in a trial in New Zealand this season, and Allen said the intention was to strike a deal to play next year in Sydney. A Benji-fest trial would bring a huge crowd and very welcome revenue, said Allen.
"We're in the process of trying to finalise our trial opponents, and the Blues are definitely one of the teams we would like to play against," Allen said.
"I am waiting for the coach and the team to get back from Argentina this week to talk it all through and finalise our plans."
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