Benji Marshall - Mega Thread

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Well at least Potter has taken the step to becoming a strong coach. He is showing that just because he is new it doesn't entitle the players (mostly senior) to an easy ride for the rest of this season.

You have to remember Potter's background. He played in those Warren Ryan coached Canterbury teams in the mid 80's. Ryan broke down the hold of Mortimer and the family run nature of the club. It secured two premierships and probably laid the foundation for the 1988 premiership.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

_"It was in 1985 that Ryan's fractious coaching style came to light, with Rugby League Week detailing the feud between himself and team captain, Steve Mortimer. Effectively, the players were split into two camps: Ryan's outsiders and the family club's disciples."_

Anyone see some parallels?

 

[pHyR3]

has anyone seen any shots of Potter during games this season? Often saw Sheens and other coaches getting upset or angry and whatnot but haven't seen the camera pointed his way at all… Curious to see how he reacts to stuff as he seems very calm otherwise.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

The aftermath of Benji axing will be known at around 9PM on Friday night. Period.

ohhh so you think you gonna see a change Friday night from benji?
I have to disagree with ya on this one.
But I hope you're right.

 

[Peaches]

Here's a good video with Phil Gould's take on Benji Marshall right now. He offers a different perspective altogether. You want the first 3-4mins of it. - http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/the-phil-gould-show-20130515-2jlxk.html

yeah that was interesting

That is the feeling I have at the moment. His career is at the crossroads.

 

[Peaches]

Sometimes players just don't fit in. I think this is the case of Miller. Good luck in England.

 

[barra]

has anyone seen any shots of Potter during games this season? Often saw Sheens and other coaches getting upset or angry and whatnot but haven't seen the camera pointed his way at all… Curious to see how he reacts to stuff as he seems very calm otherwise.

Poker-faced from what I can recall…

 

[851]

Potter was interviewed on FOX,said Benji is not happy and that is ok,as he doesn't have to be mates with the players he is doing his job.
He also said Sutton would be running over our 5/8th so that was also a consideration,but did say Benji was not a team player,and he had to learn to try and play to the game plan.
So I think this will really test out our Mr Marshall,we might get a better idea of what he is made of by friday night.

 

[supercoach]

You cant help to like the stance Potter has taken. People say he should have dropped Marshall to reserve grade and this is a soft option, I think this is the best call for both the team and Marshall. Marshall even out of form is the most likely to spark some attack,so the team has not been punished and Marshall has been given massive wake up call. I really dont think we will win or get that close to Souths, but I get the feeling we are going to see a lot of energy from our team and the players have a real dig

 

[hybrid_tiger]

You cant help to like the stance Potter has taken. People say he should have dropped Marshall to reserve grade and this is a soft option, I think this is the best call for both the team and Marshall. Marshall even out of form is the most likely to spark some attack,so the team has not been punished and Marshall has been given massive wake up call. I really dont think we will win or get that close to Souths, but I get the feeling we are going to see a lot of energy from our team and the players have a real dig

Agree, this has exactly the same effect as dumping him to NSW Cup. It's a wake-up call. We now see what he is made of and how he will respond.

I see it going two ways, either he will have a sook about it, feel sorry for himself and continue to put in poor performances like we have seen all season. Or we will see a player on Friday night who even though will be up against it in a well beaten side, put in a big effort and look like he actually wants to be there.

 

[jirskyr]

Has anyone stopped and thought for a minute that Potter may have benched Benji because he is still carrying an injury? It's not the first time he has played from the bench due to injury. Perhaps all this media hoo ha over Benji's 'demotion' is much ado about nothing!

Not many people "stop for a minute" when it comes to footy teams.

 

[happy_tiger]

You cant help to like the stance Potter has taken. People say he should have dropped Marshall to reserve grade and this is a soft option, I think this is the best call for both the team and Marshall. Marshall even out of form is the most likely to spark some attack,so the team has not been punished and Marshall has been given massive wake up call. I really dont think we will win or get that close to Souths, but I get the feeling we are going to see a lot of energy from our team and the players have a real dig

Agree, this has exactly the same effect as dumping him to NSW Cup. It's a wake-up call. We now see what he is made of and how he will respond.

I see it going two ways, either he will have a sook about it, feel sorry for himself and continue to put in poor performances like we have seen all season. Or we will see a player on Friday night who even though will be up against it in a well beaten side, put in a big effort and look like he actually wants to be there.

I hope he leaves Benji on the bench for the 80

 

[Abraham]

Benji isn't being given preferential treatment anymore so he runs off sulking. Please leave.

Who said he has been sulking?

Do you have inside info that the rest or us aren't privy to … Maybe a discarded tissue found outside concord oval will benji tears on it?

Potter said himself that Benji reacted by busting his arse on the training paddock...that's all we know. Anything written by someone called "The Lurker" (sounds like a sex offender) should be taken with a whole sack of salt.

 

[foreveratiger]

Benji is a has been full stop , no player is bigger than the club , so I would say thanks for everything and go and get yourself the best deal possible can't live on past Rep

 

[stevetiger]

Benji isn't being given preferential treatment anymore so he runs off sulking. Please leave.

Who said he has been sulking?

Do you have inside info that the rest or us aren't privy to … Maybe a discarded tissue found outside concord oval will benji tears on it?

Potter said himself that Benji reacted by busting his arse on the training paddock...that's all we know. Anything written by someone called "The Lurker" (sounds like a sex offender) should be taken with a whole sack of salt.

I don't get why people believe some of this stuff. Potter said he didn't take it well but he shouldn't. He also said he trained hard which he should. Benji doesn't sound like he has been sulking at all.

 

[Guest]

All the Benji Marshall threads have now been merged into one, so please discuss all Benji related info here.

 

[Guest]

Courtesy of the official Wests Tigers website:

Potter confident Marshall will bounce back
Wayne Cousins
Wests Tigers

Thursday 16 May 2013 12:44 PM

Wests Tigers Coach Mick Potter says the decision to put Benji Marshall on the interchange bench was one of the toughest of his coaching career.

Marshall will start tomorrow night’s match against competition leaders Souths at ANZ Stadium with the number 14 jersey on his back. The Kiwi international is set to still play a ‘significant role’ in the game when brought on.

Potter said the decision was discussed with the coaching staff who felt the team needed a change this week.

“I’m confident Benji will bounce straight back. I want him to be involved. I want him to take the line on, I want him to kick the ball and just do what a regular 6 or 7 does,’’ he said.

Potter denied speculation of a rift between the pair.

“We certainly are not the best of friends this week. I’m comfortable with that,’’ Potter said.

“I don’t have to be best friends with the players. I have a job to do here and I am trying to do the best for the team and the club. If I upset a few people, I upset a few people.

“It was a tough decision and I was willing to make it on behalf of the team.
It was discussed with the coaching staff and we thought it was the right thing to do for the team this week. It mightn’t be the right thing to do next week.”

Potter added the focus was not on how Marshall would respond but on the team itself.

“It is about what we do. It is about what we do to help him and what we do to help ourselves. It is about trying to change the game and getting the right result,’’ he said.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

“We certainly are not the best of friends this week. I’m comfortable with that,’’ Potter said.
>
“I don’t have to be best friends with the players. I have a job to do here and I am trying to do the best for the team and the club. If I upset a few people, I upset a few people.
>
“It was a tough decision and I was willing to make it on behalf of the team."

These are refreshing words to read.

Remains to be seen whether Potter will succeed as a first grade coach, but he has shown some fantastic qualities this week.

This is the exact attitude and leadership that is required from any first grade coach. It is long overdue and great to see. Kudos to him for having the balls to do it. I hope Marshall will respond.

 

[ragedmachine]

Just imagining a Channel 9 monologue when Benji is warming up on the bench getting ready to sub on…f*@k it's probably a setup for his ego to get stroked to feel better about himself

 

[seijai]

You guys ever consider that benching Benji was part of the plan for coach and Benji?

It serves two purposes -

1\. Souths has the largest forward pack and will be running at Benji if he started. Everyone, including Benji, knows his defence is not up to scratch. The first 20 mins of the game will be the most physical. So what do you do? Stick in Fulton who is defensively stronger to take the brunt of the force. Once the Souths forward pack settle down a bit, move Fulton for Benji. This protects Benji from being demolished in the first 20, and the tigers racking up multiple tries against them early on.

2\. Using strategy above will then make it appear as though Potter has the courage to bench Benji, sending a (false) warning to other players, and making a (false) bold statement to fans alike.

As Potter said in his interview in the DT ;

"Well, given the team we are playing against there is going to be some heavy traffic potentially coming at Benji," Potter said.

"That is not to say Benji can't handle that but I thought it would just take a little bit of sting out of it early and Fults defensively is very, very competent.

 

[pHyR3]

you mean souths in the last sentence of your first point seijai. tiger's wont be 'racking up' that many tries, i doubt.