Benji has lost the magic

[Eddie]

More then being out of form, to me he just looks past his past. Today was a match full of reserve graders, battlers and very inexperienced young players. Benji was the stand out player in both teams on past form and history. However all I saw was a player shuffling the ball along with out much spark or inspiration. He looked at the same level as most others on the field, not causing havoc or putting things on a string. He didn't stand out in a reserve grade standard match. Sometimes soccer strikers when they get past their mid 20s they lose that yard of pace which made them dynamite. All of a sudden they go from being a world class player, to a player that struggles in a mid table team.

I don't want to be to harsh on him because whatever happens he has been loyal and a club legend. Afterall he did captain the team to a very gallant win today against the odds. He has given all us fans some great memories and been a one man marketing machine for a number of years.

However im just weighting things up and the magic is pretty much gone and won't return. He has lost his best asset and you look at other aspects of his game that are hot and cold, never improving. His kicking game has always been more miss then hit. You could say his passing game has become more miss then hit. His defence over the years hasn't been a huge strong point. His pace and step were his big asset, his off the cuff brilliance..

With Sironen, Moses and Brooks on the books, Benji will be 30 in 18 months. Unless we offer him rolling 12 month deals based on his form (which a player of his reputation is unlikely to accept) I think it would be best to part ways. I think rather then this being a form slump, I think simply teams have worked out his game and he doesn't have the magic in the bag to get himself out of jail any longer.

 

[system]

He was pretty awful today.

The one guy you expect would stand up and he took a step back instead

 

[Guest]

Yeah disappointing. A game like today really should have seen Benji at his creative best - taking the line on. Didn't happen. I would not upgrade his contract beyond this one and I'd be looking to a halves combo of Brooks/Moses in 2 years time by which Sirro should have made the move into the backrow.

 

[Snake]

Looks disinterested to me …going though the motions .

 

[stevetiger]

I thought he was great but I think his game has changed a lot and people need to judge him differently. He isn't predominantly a runner of the footy.

He is a playmaker and has to do the little things well. His kicking game tonight and that pass to Nofo. He still has the ability to bust the line but it will happen less and less.

Put it this way - Farah was out, Benji stepped up and we won.

 

[Flippedy]

He was ok today, but certainly not the stand out he should've been in this situation. His kicking game was atrocious! I can't understand why all the kicks in play were left up to him, today. Why isn't Anasta doing some? He has always had had better kicking game than Benji.

 

[clontarfkid]

Seriously,Benji is a replica of Jaimie Soward,except Soward has a better kicking game,is a better goalkicker & is a bit more responsible with the pill.
..and oh,Jaimie is on about half the $$$..
He'll be lucky to see out his current contract (2015) let alone even contemplating an extension

 

[tigerstu]

I was thinking similar things of late. One thought crossed my mind… when was the last time we saw the old Benji step and shimmy? He copped a lot of flack years ago for doing it too much, yet now we don't see it at all. He doesn't seem to run with the ball much anymore either. Seasons past opposing players found it hard to predict what we would do, making them 2nd guess and Benji could skip past or slip a pass away. Now there is no guessing, he gets the ball and passes... sometimes still some magic passes and great plays, but that unpredictability (which often led to magic) we used to see, is no longer around.

Makes me sad. I love the bloke and think he has been amazing for our club. I can't even start to think about Wests Tigers without him. Where's his younger brother????

 

[tigerbenji]

I agree with Stevetiger, It hought he had a very good game, even Joey Johns said it . You blokes have me beat.

 

[Coastie_Tiger]

I would suggest he is still playing injured,but should still have taken the game by the scruff of the neck,this was his chance no robbie spoiling his mojo the sort of situation he should relish.
Like someone said looked a bit disinterested,he wasn't terrible but he certainly wasn't dynamic.

 

[Tigersmurf]

The only game where he really caught my eye was the one where he came off the bench. He added fair and impact. He can still set up tries but that makes him easer to defend against as he won't run it.

He took a couple of hits today but his kicking game was poor. Winning will take the attention off him.

Is our team ready for Brooks/sironen in the halves? Not yet but Brooks/Marshall could be his ast chance. However Sirro does not deserve to lose his spot.

 

[coopy]

I am pretty surprised by some of the comments here.

We have all watched benji over the past 10 years and when he tries to "control' the game and be all things to everyone he basically refuses to get tackled as he thinks he needs to control the next ruck. Benji has always played his best when he has the freedom to do what he wants and play what he sees. He is neither Scott Prince or Joey who "marshall" troops around the field.

I think we with Robbie out, benji felt that he needed to be the go to and as a result his own game suffered.

In relation to his kicking, I am prepared to cut him a bit of slack. Something must have been different as ALL Kicks just seemed to run and run. Benji was also kicking the ball 60-70 metres

 

[hybrid_tiger]

He was very average, and as Eddie says you expect more than average from your star player when the game is full of reserve graders on both sides.

The thing that most annoyed me was his horrible kicking game. He put in two good kicks all afternoon, one was the bomb to Sironen and the other was an almost 40/20 in the second half. The rest of the time he kicked it dead, kicked it straight down the wingers/fullbacks throat or even worse, we are trying to close out the game and he is putting up bombs. Why, why why oh why would you not just kick the ball dead for christs sake!?

 

[sheer64]

He is improving but he needs a kick up the backside from the coach to get him back to taking the line on again. Overall with the injuries we have he is here to stay so we might as well get used to Benji being Benji. I just hope he finds his mojo again.

 

[shane2801]

I am probably his biggest critic on this forum (if you read my previous threads) but I thought he played ok. His kicking is awful but his passing was pretty spot on, apart from the pass over the sideline.

Personally I still think he is not worth the $$ but I always give credit where it's due.

 

[bp_tiger]

its hard to believe that some people think he is going O.K. he is well past his best and he should be shown the back door not just the front door.
the broncos done it to wally when he started to go down hill and it kept them strong, we need to do the same , NOW.

 

[tigertye]

My greatest fear of extending Marshall is that we may lose Brooks or Moses - our future.

The only problem with not extending Marshall may be that Brooks or Moses don't kick on in first grade like players with potential at a young age like Miller, Mullaney, Moltzen to a lesser extent, etc.

I reckon Miller wasn't given enough time and he was pushed out of the game a bit by Farah and Marshall, but he needed to play his own game and play what he saw. He didn't, Siro has, and that's why he's gone well there.

But that's the risk I see with extending Marshall that we may be faced with.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[bp_tiger]

AGAIN WITH MILLER NOT GIVEN TIME THE KID DOES NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS RUN ACROSS FIELD AND OFFLOAD AND HAVE HIS SUPPORTS SMASHED. GET OVER IT AND MOVE ON.

 

[Luke]

Noway in hell would I be giving up on Benji just yet. Yes the Panthers team was average - but have you seen our team? Everything was left on Benji's shoulders to try and create something without Farah today. It's very difficult to take control when you don't have the players around you who you're familiar with and who are familiar with playing with you week in week out. I really do believe if we didn't have the injuries we've had this year Benji would not be this average. Another thing, Sironen isn't even a half - Benji needs a proper half so he can play his natural game instead of having to create everything himself.

 

[tigerbalm]

I agree with Stevetiger, It hought he had a very good game, even Joey Johns said it . You blokes have me beat.

No, johns said look for benji to control the ball once wests had a 2 point lead.

Cue cut out pass
Cue bomb with 1 minute 39 to go.

Benji offers nothing in attack. Fact.
Benji offers nothing in defense. Fact.

People need to stop living on past glories and live in the now, the guy is a has been but a has been that is now demanding a huge chunk of $ that could be better spent.
\
\
Thanks for the memories benji, best of luck, hope you have a long media career maybe write a book or two but please leave wests.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_