Watching last year's NRL Nines from the lounge just months into his stint with the Auckland Blues, Benji Marshall could already feel himself being lured back to rugby league.

The exciting format with its wide-open spaces and ad lib football seemed made for him and - as he prepares to make a return to Eden Park for this year's tournament - Marshall is convinced his return to rugby league with the Dragons was the right move.

"I watched the Nines last year and really wished I was playing," Marshall said.

"The atmosphere was pretty unbelievable when you've got 50,000 to 60,000 people there.

"I was watching it on TV wishing I was at the ground."

The fact he's returning to Auckland as Dragons skipper 12 months later drives home what a whirlwind journey the past year has been for the former Golden Boot winner.

"I lived in eight different houses in two different countries in two years," Marshall said.

"Being unsettled last year was pretty tough, making the transition but I'm feeling really at home now. It was a tough decision but I think it was the right one.

"I've bought a house with my wife and we're just chilling now and really enjoying being settled. I feel like I belong here, being a part of this club and I'm just really enjoying my life."

Though Marshall is quick to point out that Ben Creagh is the true captain of the Dragons, the fact that Paul McGregor chose him to skipper a Nines squad that includes veteran Jason Nightingale and superstar Josh Dugan is indicative of just how quickly his leadership stocks have risen at the club.

It's nothing new for Marshall, who will turn 30 in February, after he captained the Kiwis at 25 and was the face of the Wests Tigers franchise for more than a decade. It's something he hasn't shied away from in his relatively short stint with the Dragons.

"I've always been that way," he said.

"I'm pretty new to the club but I try to be a leader in all facets of training, on and off the field.

"I'm pretty competitive and I've always said what I thought. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it wasn't good, but I'm always going to say what I feel. If something happens at training that's not good enough I'm going to say, 'That's not good enough'. It's just in me that I want to be [a leader]."

It's an attitude that is helping to drive a culture change from within a club starved of finals football for the past three seasons.

"One thing we have here is that we're really close and have a great bond as a team," he said.