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Benji still the benchmark, but brilliant Barba is razor sharp
August 15, 2012
Michael Chammas
Welcome to the freak show. Benji Marshall versus Ben Barba in a battle between the competition's premier entertainers.
When pre-season favourites Wests Tigers go head-to-head on Friday with the team that replaced them as premiership giants, all eyes will be on the Canterbury No.1.
It's not often the spotlight shines away from Marshall when he takes the paddock, but Barba's stunning season has seen him take over the mantle as the game's biggest crowd pleaser.
''It's just good to see those sort of players emerge, especially for how young he is,'' Marshall said. ''It'll be even better if he can stay at the same club for the whole time for his whole career. He'll have a legacy there that will be there forever.''
It's glowing praise from the player who once mentored the much maligned Barba when he burst on to the scene. Marshall is full of admiration of the way Barba overcame a barrage of criticism as a rookie to develop into one of the game's best players.
''I remember him a few years back as a kid, he used to come around to our place and hang out a little bit,'' Marshall said. ''I took him under my wing there a bit there for about six months and just hung out with him a bit. He's such a good kid and what's impressed me the most is he copped a lot of criticism earlier in his career with a lot of the way he played. The way he's played - even at the back end of last year and all of this year - he's been the best player in the comp.''
You couldn't possibly fit both Marshall and Barba in the same team under the current salary cap rules, but Tigers centre Beau Ryan knows whose team he'd rather be on come Friday night.
''I'd take Benji any day of the week,'' he said. ''Especially playing in the outside backs outside him. If he wasn't playing I wouldn't have half my tries. But Benny Barba, I thought we played well against him earlier in the year and we were smart. We clocked off for two minutes and he set up two tries. He's similar to Benji, probably just not as good in my eyes, but I've got to say that, though.''
While fullback Tim Moltzen is aware of the strike power Barba possesses, he is no stranger to Marshall's magic, either. Moltzen has warned the sceptics against writing him off, conscious of what the criticism brings out in his No.7.
''Benji has been around a few years now and he's proved it time and time again,'' Moltzen said. ''When people write him off, he's definitely the sort of player that will come out the next week and try and shut a few people up.''
The Tigers sit in eighth position but could slump to as low as 10th with a loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night. Tim Sheens's men have failed to live up to expectation this year but Ryan believes they have the arsenal to win the premiership from anywhere in the top eight. ''If you look at our roster, the plays that we put on and the teams that we've beaten in the past, we've got the confidence that we can win every game,'' he said. ''This week will be our first real big test.''
The last time the two teams met back in round 18, Barba scored a try and played a hand in two others to lead Canterbury to a 32-20 victory.
Marshall put the onus on himself and the kickers to limit Barba's involvement this time around.
''Last time we played them we bombed them a bit and had them a bit rattled in the first half,'' he said.
''We overdid that a little bit in the second half and it probably cost us the game. Kicking game is going to be very important for Robbie [Farah] and myself and even Timmy in there as well. If we can control that and limit [Barba's] opportunities, it will go a long way towards us winning.''
August 15, 2012
Michael Chammas
Welcome to the freak show. Benji Marshall versus Ben Barba in a battle between the competition's premier entertainers.
When pre-season favourites Wests Tigers go head-to-head on Friday with the team that replaced them as premiership giants, all eyes will be on the Canterbury No.1.
It's not often the spotlight shines away from Marshall when he takes the paddock, but Barba's stunning season has seen him take over the mantle as the game's biggest crowd pleaser.
''It's just good to see those sort of players emerge, especially for how young he is,'' Marshall said. ''It'll be even better if he can stay at the same club for the whole time for his whole career. He'll have a legacy there that will be there forever.''
It's glowing praise from the player who once mentored the much maligned Barba when he burst on to the scene. Marshall is full of admiration of the way Barba overcame a barrage of criticism as a rookie to develop into one of the game's best players.
''I remember him a few years back as a kid, he used to come around to our place and hang out a little bit,'' Marshall said. ''I took him under my wing there a bit there for about six months and just hung out with him a bit. He's such a good kid and what's impressed me the most is he copped a lot of criticism earlier in his career with a lot of the way he played. The way he's played - even at the back end of last year and all of this year - he's been the best player in the comp.''
You couldn't possibly fit both Marshall and Barba in the same team under the current salary cap rules, but Tigers centre Beau Ryan knows whose team he'd rather be on come Friday night.
''I'd take Benji any day of the week,'' he said. ''Especially playing in the outside backs outside him. If he wasn't playing I wouldn't have half my tries. But Benny Barba, I thought we played well against him earlier in the year and we were smart. We clocked off for two minutes and he set up two tries. He's similar to Benji, probably just not as good in my eyes, but I've got to say that, though.''
While fullback Tim Moltzen is aware of the strike power Barba possesses, he is no stranger to Marshall's magic, either. Moltzen has warned the sceptics against writing him off, conscious of what the criticism brings out in his No.7.
''Benji has been around a few years now and he's proved it time and time again,'' Moltzen said. ''When people write him off, he's definitely the sort of player that will come out the next week and try and shut a few people up.''
The Tigers sit in eighth position but could slump to as low as 10th with a loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night. Tim Sheens's men have failed to live up to expectation this year but Ryan believes they have the arsenal to win the premiership from anywhere in the top eight. ''If you look at our roster, the plays that we put on and the teams that we've beaten in the past, we've got the confidence that we can win every game,'' he said. ''This week will be our first real big test.''
The last time the two teams met back in round 18, Barba scored a try and played a hand in two others to lead Canterbury to a 32-20 victory.
Marshall put the onus on himself and the kickers to limit Barba's involvement this time around.
''Last time we played them we bombed them a bit and had them a bit rattled in the first half,'' he said.
''We overdid that a little bit in the second half and it probably cost us the game. Kicking game is going to be very important for Robbie [Farah] and myself and even Timmy in there as well. If we can control that and limit [Barba's] opportunities, it will go a long way towards us winning.''
