Benji: Too timid, too reactive: I've become a shadow of myse

[Black_n_White]

I dont know Stryker…. My only full blown Benji rant on this thread was a direct parody of your own rant at some of the members of this forum.... read it again, only for you to directly reply asking if I was sore from riding bandwagons, and branding people vicious. Why should Benji be afforded more lenience that you afford fellow members?

Ironic?

 

[tig_prmz]

people here are venting about others venting about benji, then telling them to get a life.

It is only aimed at some of you.

Others are quite capable of expressing themselves without labelling Benji a fat, lazy, money grubbing, fame [This word has been automatically removed] who doesnt give a crap about his team mates nor his club.
Some are able to get their point across that he doesnt deserve a pay bump at the moment without labelling him an arrogant thief and making up rumours that everyone at the Tigers hates his guts. Some are even capable of holding a civil discussion about our club legend without resorting to telling him to piss off back to NZ, go back to reggies where he belongs and calling him a disgraceful embarrassment.

For the record, I dont think Benji is playing well, doesnt deserve a new contract at the moment and on current form needs to lift ASAP or alternate routes should be explored. There how easy was that? Got my personal opinion out without bad mouthing the bloke, nor sprouting the same rubbish 50 different ways in 20 different threads….

have never called him to be dropped, go back to nz etc.
true, i may have gone overboard but frustration does that to you when you see him making the same mistakes over and over and over again. he is not a legend, never will be with the attitude he has.

i did hold a civil discussion with you in another thread if you remember. when fans get upset or frustrated, they have every right to let it out on a forum.

 

[Peaches]

The bloke is struggling and he doesn't need supposed supporters putting him down. I for one hope he gets his form back soon. He is a more then capable player in a more the capable team.

 

[happy_tiger]

Can someone explain to me how they rate Benji as a GREAT player

Has never stepped up and owned a Test Match

Only looks good when the Tigers are playing well Think about this ,when the Tigers have lost a game how often do you give Benji your 3 points for best Tiger on ground ??

Never has consistantly good seasons ,he might have a 5-6 game run ,but can be just as bad as he is good in 6 games

A great in my eyes is a Langer ,Fittler,Lockyer, Cameron Smith,Daley ,Slater ,Inglis, Lazarus

Benji shouldn't be even allowed to tie their shoe laces

How many shockers did you see the Lockyers,Fittler,Daley play a season ,or even a career

 

[Paris_Cobbs]

Benji turned a grand final on one extraordinary play. So did Andrew Johns, I agree. Benji won a World Cup final for NZ, practically single-handed.

He had great seasons in 2010 and 2011\. He won the forum's player of the year easily. He won the Golden Boot and was generally spoken of as the best player currently playing. By other people's standards, he played well in 2012, making more try assists than anyone in e NRL, including Cooper Cronk.

He is at the phase of his career where he should be relying less on bravoda plays and speed and more on experience and feeding tries to others. If he gets through this transition and plays well again this season, then, yes, I'd call him great.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

The same people who are saying "Benji will come good", "Stop criticising him", "He's done more for us than any other player" are probably the same people who defended Sheens last year and wanted him to be kept on.

This club and a large portion of its supporters continue to live in the past. Benji has not played at an acceptable level considering his pay packet for 18 months now. This isn't a simply form dip or a bad patch. He has not improved as a player in five years. This is a fact. I guarantee you in a few weeks he will again fail to find touch from a penalty. Or throw a stupid pass into row Z. Or kick on the 2nd tackle and give away possession when we have tackles up our sleeve. He has been doing it for years and does not learn from his mistakes. On Friday night he was indefensible. He doesn't want to be there. He never went looking for the ball. Last week he told us all that he was going to run the ball again, yet he just didn't try and get involved. And people expect sympathy when he publishes this crap?

I will always be thankful for what Marshall has done for the club. We unearthed him at a young age and at a time when our side was very poor. He grew into a fantastic player, helped us win a premiership and has been a great marketing tool for the club. I don't think there is any fan out there who does not appreciate what he has done for the club. But a professional sporting club can not live in the past. If a player is not performing for a consistently lengthy period of time, harsh calls have to be made. This is the reality of a professional business.

Anyway, the main reason I believe that his poor season is attractive so much negative reaction is because of the rumoured contract negotiations. He is still under contract until the end of 2014\. Why would the club even consider handing him a new five year deal when he has not played well for 18 months? When he has been stripped of the NZ captaincy? When he has been criticised inside and outside of the media for not performing?

To even THINK about a new contract given his current performances is an absolute joke. How about you perform at an acceptable level and then you can discuss a new contract?

 

[Chris]

I'm a little indifferent with what's happening with Benji now. I'm opposed to re-signing him now based on his current form. I'd be more comfortable for us to play the waiting game and see if he comes good again. There's still time for us to do that and also time for Benji to prove he's worth another contract. It's a shame that he wants to follow Robbie and be a Tiger for life and really, I don't blame him. I have a feeling he'll come good and everything will work out in the end but at this stage, I think the best thing that Wests Tigers could do now is to keep cool heads and let's see what happens before we start signing any contracts.

 

[westTAHger]

am curious to see, that if Potter does want relegate benji to a lower grade for a week or so, will it have same issues, like the Eels did, the Daniel Anderson wanted to drop Jarryd Hayne?

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

This is what grinds me. Marshall in his current state is more detrimental to the side than say a Jacob Miller or Braith Anasta, but he's always first picked. Even the best players become complacent and need a kick in the arse. The bloke is down on form by his own admission, give him a spell for a week or two to NSW Cup and let him rediscover the spark.

 

[tigsta]

Benji style of play is like gambling. You have winning streaks and losing streaks and sometimes a bit of both. He has very low percentage plays and when they do come off it is miraculous and it stands out. I'm not making any personal attacks on him and I'm not going to say he doesn't care or that he isn't trying. Because I think he is.

The question we all need answered is are we prepared to pay 4 mil over 5 years for this style of player.

We have very good halves coming through touted as future test stars. So that money should be spent on some size.

I'd be happy to give benji 400k a season butane more we are definately paying overs. If he isn't happy with that then he can try another club bum sure that would be there maximum as well.

 

[happy_tiger]

Benji turned a grand final on one extraordinary play. So did Andrew Johns, I agree. Benji won a World Cup final for NZ, practically single-handed.

He had great seasons in 2010 and 2011\. He won the forum's player of the year easily. He won the Golden Boot and was generally spoken of as the best player currently playing. By other people's standards, he played well in 2012, making more try assists than anyone in e NRL, including Cooper Cronk.

He is at the phase of his career where he should be relying less on bravoda plays and speed and more on experience and feeding tries to others. If he gets through this transition and plays well again this season, then, yes, I'd call him great.

Having a great game in a GF against a team he has owned to a degree doesn't make him great

The World Cup win was more a fact of Australia self imploding more than Benji's brilliance

I don't question he played well in 2010 and 2011 but I can remember some absolute shockers in those years as well

My points is a great player mightn't be on the top of their game every week ,but doesn't have absolute shockers like Benji does

People bring up the stats about most try assists ,he had the most errors as well and if you broke down Benji's try assists compared to attempts as a percentage he isn't the best playmaker ,in fact nowhere near it

I (as Hybrid mentioned thank Benji for his great games and for what he has done for the club ) but this isn't 2010 its 2013 and he can only be judged on what is happening now and he is nowhere near being a great footballer .

Most other clubs would of dropped him by now

Anyone wanting to judge Benji can only judge him on NOW and not get all sentimental and remember 2005,that was 8 seasons ago

 

[barra]

The same people who are saying "Benji will come good", "Stop criticising him", "He's done more for us than any other player" are probably the same people who defended Sheens last year and wanted him to be kept on.
Why would the club even consider handing him a new five year deal when he has not played well for 18 months?

That's not entirely correct; I am a supporter of Benji but also felt Sheens had to go.

And I think I read somewhere that there was a clause in Benji's contract for an upgrade when the new TV deal was finalised? If so, I would imagine that would be why they have been talking contracts.

I, as much as most have rued Benji's mistakes. Like many others I've screamed and shouted at him for the wrong reasons. And this year he has been abominable - only word for it. He looks overweight and injured.

But right now, the easiest way for WT to score points is for Benji to find some form, it's that simple. And we'll need it for any sort of short term success and to try to get off the bottom of the table. And he still has time to come good.

 

[bigsiro]

Can someone explain to me how they rate Benji as a GREAT player

Has never stepped up and owned a Test Match

Only looks good when the Tigers are playing well Think about this ,when the Tigers have lost a game how often do you give Benji your 3 points for best Tiger on ground ??

Never has consistantly good seasons ,he might have a 5-6 game run ,but can be just as bad as he is good in 6 games

A great in my eyes is a Langer ,Fittler,Lockyer, Cameron Smith,Daley ,Slater ,Inglis, Lazarus

Benji shouldn't be even allowed to tie their shoe laces

How many shockers did you see the Lockyers,Fittler,Daley play a season ,or even a career

What absolute rubbish. Benji has won a test match single-handedly - against a much better team.

He played well for us MANY times when the rest of the team didn't (including games where Robbie had shockers).

As far as your other greats go: Langer had a terrible season in early 2000's where Brisbane lost 7 in a row (or something like that) and he was sent to England as a result. Fittler was ridiculed for an age for being lazy. Daley played on way too long with injured legs and the King was well over the hill when he was playing in his twilight. He could barely even run at all.

happy tiger (and others), you have to give credit where it is due. Benji might be playing below average now but a few unbelievable seasons made him great (at least in my eyes). While he is certainly not Churchill, Wally or Slater he can at least be mentioned with players like Grothe, Kenny and Lamb. The list of greats at that level of greatness can go on. Benji is at least equal to them, if not greater. If you had found an Eels forum back in the day with people posting that Kenny should be dropped, well, you would have laughed and laughed. You would laugh even harder now, now that his feats and status are legendary.

Remember that Marshall was listed at 101 when the list of greatest league players ever was announced a few years ago. They said that Marshall is the most uniquely gifted player of his or any generation.

But desperate times and consistent disappointment can cloud memories and make people think in extremes, prompting them to say things that just are not true. That is happening on these forums a lot lately.

I understand that calls on these pages for him to be dropped, released or not immediately re-signed are rooted in good intentions. However, I have to say that a GREAT's own supporters calling for his head or demotion is shameful and gives me a much worse feeling than Benji ever playing badly.

 

[system]

If he had been reigned in, dropped when deserving and made to improve to keep his spot years ago I doubt we have this thread at all.

The Wests Tigers club has a culture that there are players bigger then the club and those players wholly buy into that

 

[westTAHger]

to the moderators, is it possible to merge all the threads on benji together.
so their is 1 instead of 2 or 3.

same with ones about Adam Blair.

thanks.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

You never see the truly great players speaking repeatedly over and over again about how they need to find form. When have you ever seen guys like Smith, Cronk, Slater, Thurston, Inglis and any superstar from the past repeatedly talk a big without delivering, let alone dedicate entire articles in the newspaper about it

As others have no one has forgotten about 05 and no one ever will, but there comes a time when you gotta call a spade a spade and be honest. The truth is he has delivered jack in 18 months, and for a guy of his calibre its simply not good enough, and the club has suffered as a result

 

[GNR4LIFE]

**The same people who are saying "Benji will come good", "Stop criticising him", "He's done more for us than any other player" are probably the same people who defended Sheens last year and wanted him to be kept on.**

This club and a large portion of its supporters continue to live in the past. Benji has not played at an acceptable level considering his pay packet for 18 months now. This isn't a simply form dip or a bad patch. He has not improved as a player in five years. This is a fact. I guarantee you in a few weeks he will again fail to find touch from a penalty. Or throw a stupid pass into row Z. Or kick on the 2nd tackle and give away possession when we have tackles up our sleeve. He has been doing it for years and does not learn from his mistakes. On Friday night he was indefensible. He doesn't want to be there. He never went looking for the ball. Last week he told us all that he was going to run the ball again, yet he just didn't try and get involved. And people expect sympathy when he publishes this crap?

I will always be thankful for what Marshall has done for the club. We unearthed him at a young age and at a time when our side was very poor. He grew into a fantastic player, helped us win a premiership and has been a great marketing tool for the club. I don't think there is any fan out there who does not appreciate what he has done for the club. But a professional sporting club can not live in the past. If a player is not performing for a consistently lengthy period of time, harsh calls have to be made. This is the reality of a professional business.

Anyway, the main reason I believe that his poor season is attractive so much negative reaction is because of the rumoured contract negotiations. He is still under contract until the end of 2014\. Why would the club even consider handing him a new five year deal when he has not played well for 18 months? When he has been stripped of the NZ captaincy? When he has been criticised inside and outside of the media for not performing?

To even THINK about a new contract given his current performances is an absolute joke. How about you perform at an acceptable level and then you can discuss a new contract?

So true. Don't worry they'll come to the party sooner or later. You can only wear your WT's goggles for so long before they start doing permanent damage to your eyesight

 

[bigsiro]

You never see the truly great players speaking repeatedly over and over again about how they need to find form. When have you ever seen guys like Smith, Cronk, Slater, Thurston, Inglis and any superstar from the past repeatedly talk a big without delivering, let alone dedicate entire articles in the newspaper about it

They probably would if they were honest with themselves and had the media profile of Benji.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

You never see the truly great players speaking repeatedly over and over again about how they need to find form. When have you ever seen guys like Smith, Cronk, Slater, Thurston, Inglis and any superstar from the past repeatedly talk a big without delivering, let alone dedicate entire articles in the newspaper about it

They probably would if they were honest with themselves and had the media profile of Benji.

I don't think any of them have any trouble matching up to him profile wise. How do you define ''media profile'' anyway, being a regular on a show, hosted by a guy whose career has been on life support for 10 yrs thats watched by about 500 people?

As bad of a form slump they might hit, i really doubt they'd make a spectacle out of it week after week

 

[bigsiro]

Have to disagree on your first point there: I think none of them match him profile-wise. Their interview skills suck and they have dead personalities. Benji is charming, speaks well and is clearly more of a media darling.
But on a side note I agree with you about the Footy Show (it sucks and I loathe Fatty).

I also wouldn't say that there has been a "spectacle" made per se. Until fairly recently Benji hasn't really come out and admitted to being in a form slump. Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it) Benji's own poor form slumps mostly go unmentioned, i.e. his peers don't seem to criticize him too much. Just my opinion.