Benji Marshall involved in late-night incident

I hope he is just fined and we can get on with the NRL season, that said if the guy he punched fell over and cracked his head on the kerb like so many times we hear in the media this would be a really serious situation.

I remember watching those films (so may be all BS) where because an athlete has a conditioned body and superior strength to an average citizen they are deemd more dangerous in the eyes of the law etc.

Hope all is sorted out soon.

By the way SMEG your cosby pic is awesome lol
 
I started a poll and Jezz made a comment about it being premature considering it hasn't gone to court yet. I agreed with him and deleted it.
 
No third person in Benji Marshall assault case, police say

* From: AAP
* March 07, 2011 9:09AM

NO other person is being pursued by police over an incident in which rugby league star Benji Marshall allegedly punching a man in the mouth.

The West Tigers player was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm after he apparently punched a man early on Saturday morning at a McDonald's restaurant on George St, in Sydney's CBD.

Marshall's manager, Martin Tauber, told Sunday newspapers the incident followed Marshall being racially abused by a group of eight to 10 people, with one of the group calling him a "black c…" several times.

A 24-year-old man reportedly sustained a small facial cut during the incident.

Today, it was reported a second man who appeared to be with Marshall had stepped in and hit the alleged victim on the cheek.

But police said they were not aware that anyone else who was with Marshall had been involved in the incident.

"There is nothing to indicate that Benji was with another guy who was involved in the assault," a police spokeswoman said this morning.

Marshall is due to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on April 20.
 
So Marshall and the club want to distance themselves from the racial claims? This could change everything. If it wasnt racial what caused Benji to do it? I have stood up for him but if it wasnt a racial slur well I will be very disappointed that he reacted. I can understand why Benji did it if it was racial though he should of just kept walking but he has let our club and game down badly.
 
@jas83 said:
So Marshall and the club want to distance themselves from the racial claims? This could change everything. If it wasnt racial what caused Benji to do it? I have stood up for him but if it wasnt a racial slur well I will be very disappointed that he reacted. I can understand why Benji did it if it was racial though he should of just kept walking but he has let our club and game down badly.
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i think all that means is that the club and benji do not want to head down the road of publically announcing a racially provoked incident. Not to say that it did not occur but by distancing themselves from that part of the scenario it will make it less messy to deal with especially at the start of the season and that benji is so high profile, its already created so much media crap.
 
Does anyone know david gallops wmail or an email address that will get to him as i ( and hopefully a lot of us ) want to email him and let him see all the support that Benji has. if we all send him something at least we will have done something.
 
If I were Benji now I'd say, "ok punish me, vilify me, say whatever you like but you can stick your public appearances, you can stick your charity events and you can stick your fund raisers. I'll go to training, then go home. I'll go play football, then go home."
 
Its all about damage control, they dont want this thing dragging on and they dont want lots of "Benji headlines" except football related headlines. Go to court,plead provocation, take a rap over the knuckles and hopefully never get yourself in this situation again and learn a hard lesson.

What ever the provocation was, he should never have got himself into the situation in the first place and now he is paying the price. Maybe unfair but thats life
 
@tiger05 said:
There seems to be a complete lack of objective thought on this thread. It appears Tauber made up the racist remarks. If so Benji stuffed up even worse than what I initially thought.
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Well we don't know where Tauber got his info from. He offered a direct quote and account of what happened not a general explanation. I seriously doubt he made the whole thing up.

In any case Benji hasn't suggested there was NO racist comment, he has (apparently) backed away from a claim. There could be any number of reasons for this ranging from 'it didn't happen' to wanting to defuse the situation.
 
@supercoach said:
Its all about damage control, they dont want this thing dragging on and they dont want lots of "Benji headlines" except football related headlines. Go to court,plead provocation, take a rap over the knuckles and hopefully never get yourself in this situation again and learn a hard lesson.

What ever the provocation was, he should never have got himself into the situation in the first place and now he is paying the price. Maybe unfair but thats life
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Personally I still don't see this make it to court at least to the stage of a plea. My gut feeling is the "victim" will withdraw his complaint/statement unless it really is as he claims it happened.
 
I'd like to see the name of the alleged victim released.

This person should not be allowed to be anonymous
 
Just saw Danny Weidler from Channel 9 He made a good point that i had forgotten about Difference between Brent Stewart being stood was he had been thrown out of at least one establishment b4 the alledged incident Benji's behaviour had been exemplary before the alledged incident He thinks that the issues will be left to the club at this stage . I think (and many others) until it goes to court this will be the best way of handling at this stage .
 
@supercoach said:
What ever the provocation was, he should never have got himself into the situation in the first place and now he is paying the price. Maybe unfair but thats life
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You're 100% correct, the thing that angers me and frustrates me at the same time is the fact here we have a cleanskin who, for all intents and purposes, had a brain explosion because some imbecile got in his face. He was getting a bite to eat at the wrong place and the wrong time. Being the public figure he is, his minders should have done a better job and Benji himself should have walked away. By all reports he wasn't drunk and he wasn't looking for trouble. There are several versions of events that occurred that lead up to Benji punching the guy in the mouth but that's for the courts to decide which is true at a later date.

Let's face it, a guy got in his face and he got a smack in the chops for it. If you get in a bloke's face, usually you can expect a whack for your troubles. Whether it's right or wrong is entirely another argument. If we counted the amount of money Benji has help raise, I'm willing to bet it's well into the seven figure mark. Has any of it ever headline the major papers, the answer would safely be no. Have we, as a society, turned into a group of people who thrive on bringing public figures down by their indiscretions? Repeat offenders deservedly should expect that but when you come across a first time offender who's charitable work off the field far outweighs smacking an imbecile in the mouth, should be given the benefit of doubt instead of being lambasted the way Benji is at the moment.
 
@jas83 said:
he has let our club and game down badly.
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I wouldn't go that far. I totally agree that he did the wrong thing even if he was racially abused however he is a young guy who comes across extremely well in person and via the media. The comments regarding his behavior with other people that were out at night confirm this.

Benji is a good guy and deserves support from supporters, the club and the NRL. At the same time we should recognise he has had a small lapse of judgement.

His positive points should not be dismissed. I still view Benji as a great role model to my children.
 
There is an obvious bad guy and a good guy here. The bad guy copped a pretty fair response to his actions.

I hope the law doesn't get in the way here and punish the wrong bloke.
 
Surely Benji has learned from footy that you can't throw the first punch. This moron obviously wanted a reaction and no matter what was said Benji gave him what he wanted. It was a mistake from Benji… he will only receive a light punishment, but still a mistake.

Anyone who thinks punching someone is ok just needs to think back to the David Hookes incident.

Tauber probably also knows what he is doing, despite the Tigers apparently distancing themselves from the racial aspect of the incident, it gives Benji an angle of dispute until the dusts settles.

In light of the Carney response, I am sure Benji will be fined but escape suspension.
 
The clubs headship under Stephen Humphreys is most professional and very thorough. The report in which they present to the NRL today will assist the Police and the NRL in the opinion that this incident is minimal and been 'overplayed ' by many parts of the media.
I believe that by the end of the week David Gallop will conclude that the NRL will see fit that the West Tigers name the 'penalty' and that would be a mandatory fine, allowing Benji to prepare for round 1 next monday evening.
 
Just heard someone ring 2GB and said he was there when it happened and said Benji was signing autographs and also getting photos taken with anyone who wanted 1\. he also said there was racial comments made more than once and defied anyone to walk away after such abuse. unfortunately when you are a high profile person like Nenji there will always be some moron trying to bait you.
 
@Yossarian said:
@supercoach said:
Its all about damage control, they dont want this thing dragging on and they dont want lots of "Benji headlines" except football related headlines. Go to court,plead provocation, take a rap over the knuckles and hopefully never get yourself in this situation again and learn a hard lesson.

What ever the provocation was, he should never have got himself into the situation in the first place and now he is paying the price. Maybe unfair but thats life

Personally I still don't see this make it to court at least to the stage of a plea. My gut feeling is the "victim" will withdraw his complaint/statement unless it really is as he claims it happened.
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I agree 100% yoss!

Or the bloke simply won't turn up at court and the charge will be dismissed! In a case of this nature there is no grounds for prosecution unless the alleged victim follows it through to the climax!
 
@jirskyr said:
Surely Benji has learned from footy that you can't throw the first punch. This moron obviously wanted a reaction and no matter what was said Benji gave him what he wanted. It was a mistake from Benji… he will only receive a light punishment, but still a mistake.

Anyone who thinks punching someone is ok just needs to think back to the David Hookes incident.

Tauber probably also knows what he is doing, despite the Tigers apparently distancing themselves from the racial aspect of the incident, it gives Benji an angle of dispute until the dusts settles.

In light of the Carney response, I am sure Benji will be fined but escape suspension.
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Could not agree more, go up to St Vincent's any night of the week and you can see what damage one punch can do. Okay the guy was a first class D-Head, but if he had fell hit his head Benji could now be in the slammer. Their seems to be a mentality out their that its a normal and appropriate way to respond to the provocation and that he should be applauded for his actions–WRONG
 
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