Benji 2025

Letā€™s look at Friday nights backline
2x halfā€™s that are teenagers
2x Centreā€™s that are reserve graders at best

2x Wingers (1 leaving & 1 imposter)
1x fullback that is not NRL ready

I donā€™t care who the coach is with that backline no one is going to succeed.

Iā€™m happy to support Benji as the coach for the next 2 years and I will be expecting to be reminded of this after any big losses next year in and around the winning games.
Donā€™t speak too much sense mate, youā€™ll wake up the haters.
 
Iā€™d add heā€™s silly (cocky) enough to think he can pull it off without doing the work.
Thereā€™s confidence - but thatā€™s not confidence, itā€™s negligenceā€¦

Also wonder how much of moving on Sheens was the higher ups and how much as the under studiesā€¦
They did it to him once, I reckon they got him againā€¦
So Lee and Pascoe appointing Fulton for McDonell's role had nothing to do with Sheens spitting it and walking?
There are three outcomes for all coaches - including Sheens - survive on good results, get sacked on the back of poor ones, or walk. Some are philosophical about it and own their part and then there are those don't.
 
I'm in the not sold bucket on Benji. Ill give it a few rounds next year with Luai to see how the shape improves because we were running around like headless chooks with seemingly no game plan.

Where does he go to with our defence because that is the number one headache and has been for some time. That is a mentality where I can fault Benji and assistants..look at how the Bulldogs have improved with no superstars in their pack bar potentially Kikau.
If we don't have at least 2 wins in the first 5 rounds next year we are bound for the spoon. Starting slow will kill us. Injuries, origin period, and teams getting better in final rounds will be against us
 
Just reading through everyones posts. Most have good points. Dont stress about Galvin. He is here forat least another 2 years 100%. He also loves playing under Benji.

Sacking Marshall now would only benefit us if a Flanagan esq type coach was ready to jump in. That horse bolted thanks to Stapleton. I do agree if we are 1 and 8 to start the season then the drums will start.

I was never a fan of Benji's appointment and knew the whole Sheens/Benji thing would be a disaster. Ive also stated on here numerous times that the sooner anybody associated with 2005 is gone from this place the better. At times I beleive winning that comp has become more of a hindrence that a feather in our cap.

We struggled with and have always struggled with depth. This year usually when we have our best 17 out there we have gone ok. Suspensions, injuries not only killed us but also the Magpie side this year.

I believe we have seen enough from some of our kids this year to show that our near future is not all doom and gloom.

Over to you Benji........
 
I think Benji and Richo knew the season was over from very early on (I think Richo said they started planning after round 7?). The high amount of debutants to me was like an investment for the future - see who looks like a first grader and who will be in our future plans. In that area, Mason, TDS, Lualili, Johanssen all showed potential. Couple that with an aggressive recruitment campaign and Benji should be better of next year in terms of cattle.
In my mind, heā€™s getting the team he wants but needs to prove himself as a coach. He does seem to follow the Wayne Bennett formula and in doing so needs talented, strong voices around him. I think the real sign of how we will go next year is who we recruit in the coaches box.
 
I think Benji and Richo knew the season was over from very early on (I think Richo said they started planning after round 7?). The high amount of debutants to me was like an investment for the future - see who looks like a first grader and who will be in our future plans. In that area, Mason, TDS, Lualili, Johanssen all showed potential. Couple that with an aggressive recruitment campaign and Benji should be better of next year in terms of cattle.
In my mind, heā€™s getting the team he wants but needs to prove himself as a coach. He does seem to follow the Wayne Bennett formula and in doing so needs talented, strong voices around him. I think the real sign of how we will go next year is who we recruit in the coaches box.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Great post.
 
I think Benji and Richo knew the season was over from very early on (I think Richo said they started planning after round 7?). The high amount of debutants to me was like an investment for the future - see who looks like a first grader and who will be in our future plans. In that area, Mason, TDS, Lualili, Johanssen all showed potential. Couple that with an aggressive recruitment campaign and Benji should be better of next year in terms of cattle.
In my mind, heā€™s getting the team he wants but needs to prove himself as a coach. He does seem to follow the Wayne Bennett formula and in doing so needs talented, strong voices around him. I think the real sign of how we will go next year is who we recruit in the coaches box.
Good post, and when they both keep referring to ā€œthe planā€ I donā€™t doubt this is what they are referring to.
 
Just on Benji's approach to this game and how wrong he got it. I was thinking this is a great trial run for how he can get a team up for a finals game. Yes I know it's slightly different, but you could have really amped up the importance of this game and treat it like a finals match. Full on do or die preparation all week. Instead, he took the easy option and said "have fun". It's concerning. He didn't test himself, he didn't test his players. He went on holiday again.
 
Just on Benji's approach to this game and how wrong he got it. I was thinking this is a great trial run for how he can get a team up for a finals game. Yes I know it's slightly different, but you could have really amped up the importance of this game and treat it like a finals match. Full on do or die preparation all week. Instead, he took the easy option and said "have fun". It's concerning. He didn't test himself, he didn't test his players. He went on holiday again.
And so did his players, schoolies.
 
It was a terrible tackle. One on one. He deserves to go for the simple facts that heā€™s supposed to be a leader, and it killed off any hope we had in that game.

He also runs the risk of making that tackle every game with his style. Latu has a similar "hit low and lift with a flipping action" style of defence too. That needs to be put out of his game asap.

This style of tackling is why Api misses so many. It's odd no one has ever pulled him up on it. It's frustrated me immensely the past 2 years.
 
He also runs the risk of making that tackle every game with his style. Latu has a similar "hit low and lift with a flipping action" style of defence too. That needs to be put out of his game asap.

This style of tackling is why Api misses so many. It's odd no one has ever pulled him up on it. It's frustrated me immensely the past 2 years.
I might be a dinosaur but that was just a great tackle gone slightly wrong.
 
He lifts nearly every tackle. It's a recipe for disaster. Terrible tackle IMO
Yeah I donā€™t really agree with the new lifting interpretation but again, I put my hand up as being a dinosaur.

Still maintain Gutho landed on his shoulder haha
 

Members online

Back
Top