Benji Marshall: 'I would never walk out'

[Guest]

Benji Marshall: 'I would never walk out'
By Wayne Cousins
Wests Tigers

Tuesday 21 May 2013 6:24 PM
Benji Marshall: 'I would never walk out'

Benji Marshall has set the record straight – he would never walk out on the Wests Tigers.

The Kiwi international says reports of him possibly walking out on the Club after being dropped to the interchange bench for the match against South Sydney last Friday was off the mark.

Marshall returns to his starting five-eighth position this Friday night for the clash against the North Queensland Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval.

BUY TICKETS TO COWBOYS GAME

“I would never walk out just because I was upset. I rather prove myself right and everyone else right and that’s what I’m going to try and do,’’ Marshall said today.

“What makes me more keen is not to let my team-mates down, that’s the most important thing. Probably in the first eight rounds I was doing that.

“I felt a little bit of spark last week. Whether I was on the bench or not, I thought I was going to find that anyway. This week, I am looking to do the same and take control and play how I play.

“I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my career when it comes to injury and form. The best way I know how to get out of (this slump) is to play good and then it shuts everyone up.”

Marshall said he has gone back to watch footage of his running game.

“The rest comes off the back of that. If you can start with what actually made who you are and where you are, that’s a good place to start,’’ he added.

“I think I’ve gotten away from that.”

Marshall said he was more than happy to stay at Wests Tigers and stated talk of a contract extension was not a distraction.

“The reason why you try and do those things is not so much security and long term financially but it is more about being at the same club long term,’’ Marshall added.

“I’m sure there are a lot of other people who are jealous that they don’t get that opportunity to stay at the one club.

“I’ve said to everyone, including my closest friends and family, my main focus is to play well in the next couple of weeks.

“Anything beyond that is not on my agenda. I want to get our team in a position where we can still make the top eight. If you look at the table, we are not that far out of it.

“We just need to get some confidence and its start by winning this week. I believe we can win this week.”

 

[Snake]

This is like saying you have the full support of the Board just my take on it.

 

[westTAHger]

as Elvis put it, " a little less conversation, a little more action" 😛ray: please

 

[sameulcon]

Give the bloke a break. Sure he makes some stupid mistakes in a game. We finished 3rd and 4th in 2010 and 2011 and he was always one of our best.

In those 2 years he had props. Galloway, Payten, Woods, Groat. He had edge 2nd rowers to hit. Ellis and Dwyer and our centres were in good form. Lawrence and Ayshford and on top of that he had some good finishes. Lote, Ryan and Brown.

But lets bag Benji… Have a look at Thurstons form in the side he is in. Let Benji play behind that sort of pack and see how he plays. Dont get me wrong I rate Thurston very highly and he will probably kill us on Friday night and win man of the series in SOO but he will then be with Slater, Cronk and Smith.

Lets help Benji and not bag him. Sign him some decent players like Tim Lafai, Junior Sai, Marty Tapau, Roy Asotasi, Michael Crocker, Neville Costigan etc

 

[jinu84]

Give the bloke a break. Sure he makes some stupid mistakes in a game. We finished 3rd and 4th in 2010 and 2011 and he was always one of our best.

In those 2 years he had props. Galloway, Payten, Woods, Groat. He had edge 2nd rowers to hit. Ellis and Dwyer and our centres were in good form. Lawrence and Ayshford and on top of that he had some good finishes. Lote, Ryan and Brown.

But lets bag Benji… Have a look at Thurstons form in the side he is in. Let Benji play behind that sort of pack and see how he plays. Dont get me wrong I rate Thurston very highly and he will probably kill us on Friday night and win man of the series in SOO but he will then be with Slater, Cronk and Smith.

Lets help Benji and not bag him. Sign him some decent players like Tim Lafai, Junior Sai, Marty Tapau, Roy Asotasi, Michael Crocker, Neville Costigan etc

Totally agree with you. Halves need to run off a good forward pack to be effective as they can.

Might be looking too much into this but I did also notice the title of the article doesn't include the full statement Benji made "I would never walk out….just because I was upset" - He doesn't really say he wouldn't walk out of the club but rather he wouldn't because he is upset. If got offered more money at Penrith he would probably go for that reason and not necessarily because he is upset.

 

[snowleopard]

Whilst I agree on the 'go forward' excuse what I ca not get my head around is Benji's defence. Maybe I am missing something but can anyone tell me amongst the current crop of quality 5/8 who is not capable of reasonable defence?
I understand he has got 'shoulder' problems and we have historically covered this up by scoring more points than the opposition but the Coach/Game has changed to the point where no team can afford to carry a 'turnstile' in defence anymore and we don't have the firepower anymore to cover the deficiency.

 

[galahs]

I feel for Benji. He know he's struggling and he just gets bagged and bagged by his own supporters.

 

[Eye_Of_Da_Tiger]

No bagging if he plays good and he gets payed plenty for it. Needs to get back to basics and for goodness sack stop bloody talking and start bloody playing!!!

 

[innsaneink]

Well…..if youre prepared to accept the big bucks and all the pros that come with success....you gotta accept the crap when the opposite occurs.

I feel for kids in wheelchairs...Benji will be OK regardless

 

[STARK]

Potter has handled this so badly. I initially thought Benji was benched last week to shore up the early defence against the rampaging Rabbits. But Potter quickly made it into a "Benji needs to do better" kick up the arse. A week later, after a drubbing, Benji is miraculously back in the fold … what the hell has been achieved Mr Potter. Apart from sending all the scribes Benji's way. The team is going crap, the media should be on Potter's doorstep, not Benji's. Buck stops with the clipboard clutcher, and all that.

 

[Newtown]

Give the bloke a break. Sure he makes some stupid mistakes in a game. We finished 3rd and 4th in 2010 and 2011 and he was always one of our best.

In those 2 years he had props. Galloway, Payten, Woods, Groat. He had edge 2nd rowers to hit. Ellis and Dwyer and our centres were in good form. Lawrence and Ayshford and on top of that he had some good finishes. Lote, Ryan and Brown.

But lets bag Benji… Have a look at Thurstons form in the side he is in. Let Benji play behind that sort of pack and see how he plays. Dont get me wrong I rate Thurston very highly and he will probably kill us on Friday night and win man of the series in SOO but he will then be with Slater, Cronk and Smith.

Lets help Benji and not bag him. Sign him some decent players like Tim Lafai, Junior Sai, Marty Tapau, Roy Asotasi, Michael Crocker, Neville Costigan etc

Hear, Hear

 

[Newtown]

Potter has handled this so badly. I initially thought Benji was benched last week to shore up the early defence against the rampaging Rabbits. But Potter quickly made it into a "Benji needs to do better" kick up the arse. A week later, after a drubbing, Benji is miraculously back in the fold … what the hell has been achieved Mr Potter. Apart from sending all the scribes Benji's way. The team is going crap, the media should be on Potter's doorstep, not Benji's. Buck stops with the clipboard clutcher, and all that.

I often wonder whether our clipboard clutcher knows what he is doing.

 

[galahs]

What Benji needs is a decent halfback to direct traffic

 

[Goose]

Well…..if youre prepared to accept the big bucks and all the pros that come with success....you gotta accept the crap when the opposite occurs.

I feel for kids in wheelchairs...Benji will be OK regardless

good point, he has it alright and comparatively is going alright, he is living my dream.

I still think he is harshly treated by many, not so much judgements of his on field performance, but he is asked to make comments and it is for the good of the club he makes himself accessible, when you are playing bad, there is nothing you can say that people will be happy with, yet he keeps fronting up.

The soft option is to throw out the no comment or do an appalling Wayne Bennett or Darius Boyd interview, I know I d rather here Benji's rhetoric, look I know we have heard it all before, What is he supposed to say, im rubish dont turn up on saturday we are gooing to get flogged, we are not even going to try and get better.

I hate when people call Benji arrogant, i think he is far from it, he is definitely cocky and self confident, he doesnt disrespect people, has time for others including the media and especially the fans (which to meis arrogant), i have no association with Benji at all, but on the times Ive encountered him he has been outstanding

 

[happy_tiger]

I wonder if we offer Benji 80 k will he walk out then

He said it , not me I'd almost l keep Benji for 80 k a season

 

[TJL]

What Benji needs is a decent halfback to direct traffic

Yep and having a future second-rower do it ain't gonna cut the mustard.

A lot of blame this year has been on the forwards but apart from the Souths game it has been the entire backline at fault. When have the centres ever got the pill in a half decent position? As for the wingers who are pretend footballers anyway which one out of them can defend and catch a high ball?

 

[hybrid_tiger]

I didn't know you needed a halfback to tackle. Or avoid kicking out on the full, failing to find touch from a penalty etc.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Potter has handled this so badly. I initially thought Benji was benched last week to shore up the early defence against the rampaging Rabbits. But Potter quickly made it into a "Benji needs to do better" kick up the arse. A week later, after a drubbing, Benji is miraculously back in the fold … what the hell has been achieved Mr Potter. Apart from sending all the scribes Benji's way. The team is going crap, the media should be on Potter's doorstep, not Benji's. Buck stops with the clipboard clutcher, and all that.

I think it is still too early to make the call that Potter has handled this poorly. Firstly, there is no way the decision to bench Benji was to shore up defence. It was a call on Benji's form and a message to everyone in the squad - no one has a guaranteed spot.

I thought Benji looked good when he came on the field last week. Hopefully the message has sunk in. It is not a bad management technique, drop or blast your top player and it illustrates to the squad who is in charge and everyone must play to their best. Great example was a few years back is when Gould blasted an out-of-form Andrew Johns in a pre-origin camp. Johns spat the dummy, but then went away and realised what Gould was doing. His form improved out of sight.

Potter is caught in a tough place. He has inherited a squad that clearly was a little boys club and spots were held on popularity amongst other team members. Potter as coach is trying to instill a culture whereby the coach determines the team. A few egos need to be cut down to size, but with the injury crisis, he can only really conduct such management techniques with one player per match. Unless an outstanding performance occurs, expect Blair to be benched after this match, especially if Bell is close to being fit.

 

[system]

What Benji needs is a decent halfback to direct traffic

and, you know, not ignore and cut out anybody put there to do the job regardless of how capable they are.

 

[pHyR3]

What Benji needs is a decent halfback to direct traffic

and, you know, not ignore and cut out anybody put there to do the job regardless of how capable they are.

that wasn't benji, that was farah. Benji helped him out sooo much in his first few rounds, farah is the one who would cut him out given he is dummy half.