Benji has lost the magic

I think his role in the team has changed. He is no longer our go-to for brilliance.

Everyone is raving about how Sironen has broken out over the past few weeks, and how he looks the goods moving the team around and calling shots. This is no coincidence. Benji gives Siro room to breathe, something he didn't do with Miller. Benji has is slowly moving into a mentor role, in my opinion, helping the new blokes find their feet, and it has worked a charm so far with Sironen.

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We won in spite of him and not because of him. His kicking game was awful and made some real dumb decisions in attack and defence. Anyone who thinks he has a mentoring role or any of that rubbish is silly, thats a coaches job. He should of stood up today and been the most dominant player on the park and he simply wasnt. When you consider his best kick was a maybe 40/20 that went dead in goal it gives you an idea of how poor he is going. One minute to go and you are up by 2 and he puts a bomb up…really? For anyone who thinks we should keep him on and extend his contract, consider what others on his money at other clubs are giving their team and what we are getting.
 
@tigerstu said:
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?
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Round 2 vs the Panthers. Made a great break, him and farah combining. Ball back on the inside to benji he flicks it perfectly to koro who steps to his left (opposite direction of ball) and tries to change his course again when he sees where the ball is and knocks it on 5 out with no one to beat.

I dunno, i think he can do it…or maybe i just hope he can. He's contracted till the end of next year, perhaps he will have 1.5 solid seasons before retiring from shoulder issues or something. Then the Brooks/Moses era can begin :slight_smile:
 
He directed an extremely young team around the park. I thought we were pretty organized.

He threw one try assist and if Sironen grounds the bomb he has a second.

His kicking game was good with many high kicks coming down just inside the field of play. Compare that to the Panthers and how many Reddy took in-goal.

Some people are just unrealistic. He has played either injured, out of form or both this season. He'll be right, he'll come good. It's not always smooth sailing in ones career.

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@Eddie said:
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.
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On the money as usual Eddie. Benji has to rethink his asking price if he wants to be a one club man. Alternatively, he may want to look at Japanese rugby for more $$$$. Moses, Brooks and Sirro will be our scrum base trio for years to come and we can pay all three and have change left over for the upgrade Benji wants. Moses seems to have the most talent of the three but still needs to mature physically for first grade, so Benj is still needed at the club. He must know however, that he has much fewer bargaining chips nowdays.
 
I think Benji was great out there and the last couple of weeks he has really been a key player in our wins.

In saying that I think the time is getting close for him to move on. We have some great young players coming through and Benji is not the player who is going to bust the line like he once did. I'm not sure how many more years he will be here for but we shouldn't be paying overs for his services.

I think though that if we bring in some youngsters and get a quality pack and outside backs on the park Benji and Robbie can win another premiership.
 
Put it this way - Farah was out, Benji stepped up and we won.

He stepped up? Must have blinked and missed it..In any case, class players, on average, perform at their best in every game. I, for one, am sick of Benji still looking to discover form, to get back to his best, which, let's face it, dates back to 2005..
 
He needs the team around him firing…he's much more consistently good when the teams going well - which has been rare of late.
 
I though he played OK, showed some improvement, As Ink said he needs the team around him to perform, he's slowly getting his confidence back and I think we will see some steady improvement from him.

I believe his kicking game was OK, I actually think the game plan was to put the ball over the dead ball line. This allowed the Tigers to set a defensive line and try and keep the Panthers at their end of the field.
 
he has lost his magic, but i can see what some of the comments here are saying as far as his role as an older/organiser go.

time will tell.
 
Agreed guys. I think criticism of Benji this weekend is wrong. His kicking game was off but the intent was there. It was a more purposeful performance. His vision to pick out Nofa early for his second try was class. There was also one top kick that found touch in the final 10\. His execution as I said was a little off but his intent was good. He directed the team along side Braith very well in trying circumstances. Someone mentioned earlier than Benji's game has changed. That's true. We shouldn't be judging him on the things he was capable of doing 5 years ago.
 
I agree with those who said that he played OK vs Penrith, especially his passing game.

The other thing is that he looks to be playing injured, for the good of the team. I think this is why he is not running the ball as much as we'd all like. He went down injured once and the trainer was on quickly, seemed to be working on his back.

On the field he has become a leader - if we make the playoffs it will be because he Robbie and maybe Anasta led a group of raw but talented youngsters there.
 
Geez you guys just love to dig in.
Every single victory this year he has played a part in…. We would have beaten the Dragons as well if he was there.
We wouldn't have scored the last try against the Cowboys without him and probably 2 more tries if Pettybourne could catch them.
YES HE IS NOT A KICKER. Stop playing the broken record. If Farah is playing vs Penrith and does half our kicks then Benji would have run the ball.
Team has a hope when he plays and no hope when he doesn't. We don't have anyone else that gives us anything in attack if you didn't notice. Simona's try is probably the only exception to that. Well worth the gamble to have him in the side
Good luck getting Siro to take kicks... He's a lot worse.

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He played a good game.. He is enjoying playing with siro in the halfs you just tell. Through the middle siro usual is giving it to the forwards and benji is asking for it more so in the other teams 40, it is starting to work. I love how siro can get the ball and benji is outside him and the defence doesn't know what to do because if you leave siro he runs over defenders with ease but I you gang up on him you leave benji..

I feel if siro runs (which he usual does and I love it) I think benji needs to get the ball next and run the ball or give out wide.. Straight after. Imagine just defending siro and then benji works his magic.

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Benji's flashes of brilliance have all but disappeared.
Too often he is a liability to the team.
Plays like he does not care if the team wins or loses.
Don't know what his problem is but an early release from his contract could be the best outcome for the Tigers & Benji.
Rumour # 1000 has him sounding out Japanese rugby.
 
Poor form is poor form. When is it ever pretty? Lockyer was getting bagged big time at one stage.

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