Bye, Bye, Benji

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For me personally when i think of Benji it's a sense of disapointment. When he arrived and throughout his time with us he could have become anything, i'd go so far as to say in 2010, 2011 he was in contention as being the world's best back. But he squandered it all by begining to focus on his media and brand image instead of focusing on his football. The rest is history, it's just hard to see someone with unlimited potential in anything squander it by becoming distracted by other influences around them.

I think it's a bit tough to attribute this his focus on media and his brand, though. He spent far more time training and playing than he did on the TV.

There was similar comments made regarding Beau after he became a regular on the Footy Show, but I think his best season was the last one he played with us.

I also disagree about the media commitments. It's an easy aspect to blame but I really doubt Benji's lack of form can be attributed to something as simple as that.

As Softlaw and Defiant have pointed out the lack of a half-back and **Sheens continually wanting him to be the ball player more than the ball runner cruelled his career**, and has left me thinking "What if?"

Sheens has to take some of the blame but Benji was most at fault for this, he wanted to be the main man ALWAYS, was never just content to play a specific role for the team. It's in his nature and we will see it all again in his union games to come.

 

[tigertye]

I tend to agree with the above comments.

Benji had the potential to be anything. He reminded me of that one guy in a junior team who even when you were up by six with 5 to go would go for the "hero" play instead of playing it simple, kicking into touch, winding down the clock and defending your butt off, but he was just that sort of player. A defining moment for me was when Gus sat him down for a "master class" session on The Footy Show and Benji cried when Gus said he had become a complete player, he believed he had accomplished everything then and there and never went on to consistent brilliance. We can sit here and say coaches tried to change his game and he never had a controlling half, and to an extent that's true. But the truth is he lost his magic. He forgot what he was best at….running the ball. We made the right decision to let him go.

His best game this year was when he played centre in the Dragons game and was told to just run the ball, that's it. We saw the step and speed back in his game. I had a bit of concern about the decision at this point as he looked more like the Benji of old, but we'll never know.

He will always be a legend for the Wests Tigers in my eyes, his step and off the cuff plays helped bring the merger from nothing to a premiership side. He helped bring youth into the game and attracted them to the Tigers, every kid loved Benji. So he has done wonders for two clubs becoming one and the overall marketability of our club. He also did fantastic things for cancer research and children with disabilities.

The biggest shame is that he never learnt consistency, and didn't stick to his strengths. You look at Thurston, he just got better and better. Lockyer was in his mid 30's but knew when to get involved and do his thing even though he was getting on. It's as If Benji always thought he was the make or break of the team in every game. He couldn't take a back seat and let others control the game, this in my opinion is what was disappointing in his career and what saw him become a consistent "rocks and diamonds" type player.

The bloke is a champion in many eyes, and I have the upmost respect for him. He really developed the Wests Tigers brand and gave us some of the most exciting, brilliant days of our lives.

Best of luck Benji.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

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Well said mate, you hit the nail on the head. His flashes of brilliance will certainly be missed but the moments where you sat, watched and scratched your head while yelling "what the #*#* are you doing Benji?!" are gladly behind us. He is surely the most enigmatic player that perhaps has ever played 1st grade RL.

Good luck to Benji in yawnion, he will always be a Wests Tigers legend.

 

[Paris_Cobbs]

Thanks Delpy, a fine tribute well deserved by our greatest Wests Tiger.

Good luck Benji, always a champion.