For years I have been reading posts by supporters, whingers and sheep on this forum. I believe the only way to clarify opinions is to have an end of season football match between the armchair posters of the above mentioned groups. Only then, will we be able to determine the credibility of the constant whingers. Go Weststigers! Go Benji. By the way, I thought Adam Blair played better last night than in previous weeks. He is getting better and better every game.
I dont criticise Benji much on here. I defend his crazy plays because when they come off they win us games. He is always trying to win us every contest - sometimes on his own. That is something I will always have respect for him for.
However I always find myself dissapointed in his games for NZ. It is almost like he is overawed. Some players live for the big stage. Take GI for example. He cruises through the NRL rounds and then explodes during Origin, Finals footy and Test footy. He always shines in the big games. This is something that I have always wanted for Benji. You can blame short prep, new combos and inexperience till the cows come home….Benj is a 28 test veteran now. He should be running at the line and backing himself to get his side home. Look at the try JT scored last night...THAT is what Benji should be doing. Wrong footing the defence and scoring through sheer determination.
I cant even remember him taking the line on once last night. It is the same every test match.
However I always find myself dissapointed in his games for NZ. It is almost like he is overawed. Some players live for the big stage. Take GI for example. He cruises through the NRL rounds and then explodes during Origin, Finals footy and Test footy. He always shines in the big games. This is something that I have always wanted for Benji. You can blame short prep, new combos and inexperience till the cows come home….Benj is a 28 test veteran now. He should be running at the line and backing himself to get his side home. Look at the try JT scored last night...THAT is what Benji should be doing. Wrong footing the defence and scoring through sheer determination.
I cant even remember him taking the line on once last night. It is the same every test match.
@epictiger said:
No he's not. he is a 5/8 with good ball skills. He goes missing far too often for me to rate him as one of the best in the world.
Slater has him covered in every aspect. He's one of the best players in the world.
As for being overrated I stand by what I say. I don't blame Benji. He probably doesn't want the attention, and I do think it has alot to do with Ch9 talking him up as he is on their payroll but playing 1 blinder every so often does not make you one of the best. FULLSTOP.
happy_tiger
Well-known member
@stryker said:
Once in first half he did Stryker Close to the line and he almost came out the other side and scored
Yeah i don't think Benji should be captain. He seems to lose all ability to think straight when he has the "C" next to his name. He does some strange things that's for sure and i'm sure that other players do get frustrated with him at times.I hope that Chris Lawrence doesn't get himself injured in the city/country, i know that he hasn't shown his best yet this year but i worry about who we would replace him with if something does happen.Thank god Beau wasn't picked as we would be up shit creek if he was to be injured.
innsaneink
Well-known member
@stryker said:
Good post, hes been around for years now…people still making excuses for him, you can attribute those excuses to his halfback who was on debut...but Marshall really has no excuses
All the little errors, the poor kicks that find no distance , the kicks out on the full, the passes into touch, forward passes etc all contribute to putting pressure on his team, more defense, more fatigue, more errors....all those little things always add up....
Unfortunatley hes never really performed at the highest level.
Inconsistency is a major flaw in a professional athlete
foreveratiger
New member
Benji has a very incosistent game about him , some plays are just dumb e.g vs Souths where controlling the game in the last 5 minutes would of won us that game , not putting Beau Ryan out the touch line on the first tackle. I just feel that hes got an Ego thing, like when he sets up a try or does a good move that leads to a try he looks at the ground like an attention thing (like did you see what i just done), i just feel he thinks hes to good for his own good at times . He needs to find that consistency in his game week in week out , that what separates the true champions in the game like Slater, Cronk , Thurston ,Gallen etc cause they have that consistency week in week out. Bottom line is Marshall is a great player but his not whatever people make out to be, the best in the world so on . To hot and cold for me very erratic .
S
system
Guest
Had a poorish game.
NZ do not deserve to win games when Nathan Fien is selected though.
Has there ever been a dummy half who wants to exclude the halves as much as that muppet?
NZ do not deserve to win games when Nathan Fien is selected though.
Has there ever been a dummy half who wants to exclude the halves as much as that muppet?
@innsaneink said:
I am a Benji fan but it is hard to argue with this especially the last point. I reckon Benji has to start winning us games. You look at the Souths game - he basically did that but then at the end he made a couple of crucial mistakes. He wasn't the reason we lost but he could and should have won us that game.
Again when he played for NZ he simply made too many mistakes and didn't do enough.
