He was involved in controversy during the Melbourne derby on 6 January 2012 against the Shane Warne-led Melbourne Stars; during the Stars' innings, Samuels held back David Hussey at the non-striker's end when the batters were trying to take a second run off Samuels' bowling. Warne reacted angrily to this when he was later bowling to Samuels himself swearing and cursing; he continuously sledged Samuels, asking if he was going "grab hold of my shirt too, Marlon?" The incident escalated when Warne threw a cricket ball on Samuels, who responded by throwing his bat away. This led to an angry confrontation between the two mid-pitch. Both players were suspended, but Samuels missed the rest of the BBL season in any case, as he received an injury due to a bouncer from Lasith Malinga in the same game. The pair have been far from kind about each other in interviews since this incident.