A GLANCE at the statistics over the past four years is all you need to understand the sharpness of Benji Marshall’s decline.
The Tigers could see it. The Blues could see it.
The Dragons have been sucked in by the player he was and now they’re stuck with the player he is.
As recently as 2011 and 2012, the Wests Tigers kingpin had every right to be considered an absolute superstar, in the very top bracket of the game’s elite.
Combine his numbers from 2011 and 2012 and he averaged more than two try assists per game.
In 2011 he crossed for 13 tries of his own and broke the line at least every second game.
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His biggest weapons were his burst of acceleration and his sharp change of direction. Bells and whistles like his famous flick pass were just the cherry on top.
So when he lost his frighteningly quick top gear — the stats indicate this was probably in the 2012 season — his game started to unravel.
His 2012 season was still very good but he was unable to glide through holes with the same ease — his linebreaks were halved and he managed just five tries of his own.
By the 2013 season he was a shadow of his former self, producing roughly one third of the try assists and linebreak assists he managed in 2012.
Having lost the sharpness in his step and the sudden burst of acceleration, Benji lost his threat to the defensive line.
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Opponents could afford to hang off him, which in turn closed down the space his outside men had enjoyed since the fresh-faced teenage Marshall burst into the NRL in 2003.
All of a sudden the opportunities dried up for Benji’s teammates as well as the man himself.
It would be enough to suck the confidence out of any player and by his own admission, Benji’s motivation went with it.
He put on weight, became unfit and his demands for a $1 million-a-season contract extension with the club that made him a star quite rightly fell on deaf ears.
All you need to know about Benji’s brief and disastrous cross-code adventure is that he returned to the NRL with absolutely no bargaining clout.
Apart from his obvious value to a club’s marketing department, as a player Benji was returning to the NRL more as a question mark than an answer.
Yet for some unexplained reason the Dragons decided to go all-in on their bid rather than going with the more sensible, circumspect approach of offering Benji a six-month contract on a base salary.
If it went well for both parties, the next step was an upgrade and a contract extension.
Instead, the Dragons offered Benji a generous two-and-a-half year deal a
The Dragons have found themselves in a hole. Is Benji Marshall helping them dig it?
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and now they’re staring into an abyss that’s only likely to get deeper by the end of 2016.
That’s not to say that Benji is to blame for the Dragons past two losses, and certainly not for the sacking of Steve Price.
The problem runs far deeper, it’s just that on the available evidence it’s impossible to mount the case that Benji’s the solution.
In his two games, Benji is yet to produce a moment that reminded us of his former genius.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor believes his side showed positive sides in the 19-point defeat to South Sydney on Monday night but insists there is still plenty of work to do for the Dragons.
His try assist on Monday night is the only positive to be found on the stats sheet and his seven errors surely counteract that.
But how can Paul McGregor possibly drop him without the Dragons losing face?
They've got Benji for two-and-a-half years so there’s no way they could abandon the experiment and call it a failure after just two games.
How long is too long? When has Benji had enough time to gel with his new teammates before he can be judged on the player he’s become, rather than the player he once was?
The Tigers could see it. The Blues could see it.
The Dragons have been sucked in by the player he was and now they’re stuck with the player he is.
As recently as 2011 and 2012, the Wests Tigers kingpin had every right to be considered an absolute superstar, in the very top bracket of the game’s elite.
Combine his numbers from 2011 and 2012 and he averaged more than two try assists per game.
In 2011 he crossed for 13 tries of his own and broke the line at least every second game.
\
\
His biggest weapons were his burst of acceleration and his sharp change of direction. Bells and whistles like his famous flick pass were just the cherry on top.
So when he lost his frighteningly quick top gear — the stats indicate this was probably in the 2012 season — his game started to unravel.
His 2012 season was still very good but he was unable to glide through holes with the same ease — his linebreaks were halved and he managed just five tries of his own.
By the 2013 season he was a shadow of his former self, producing roughly one third of the try assists and linebreak assists he managed in 2012.
Having lost the sharpness in his step and the sudden burst of acceleration, Benji lost his threat to the defensive line.
\
\
Opponents could afford to hang off him, which in turn closed down the space his outside men had enjoyed since the fresh-faced teenage Marshall burst into the NRL in 2003.
All of a sudden the opportunities dried up for Benji’s teammates as well as the man himself.
It would be enough to suck the confidence out of any player and by his own admission, Benji’s motivation went with it.
He put on weight, became unfit and his demands for a $1 million-a-season contract extension with the club that made him a star quite rightly fell on deaf ears.
All you need to know about Benji’s brief and disastrous cross-code adventure is that he returned to the NRL with absolutely no bargaining clout.
Apart from his obvious value to a club’s marketing department, as a player Benji was returning to the NRL more as a question mark than an answer.
Yet for some unexplained reason the Dragons decided to go all-in on their bid rather than going with the more sensible, circumspect approach of offering Benji a six-month contract on a base salary.
If it went well for both parties, the next step was an upgrade and a contract extension.
Instead, the Dragons offered Benji a generous two-and-a-half year deal a
The Dragons have found themselves in a hole. Is Benji Marshall helping them dig it?
\
\
and now they’re staring into an abyss that’s only likely to get deeper by the end of 2016.
That’s not to say that Benji is to blame for the Dragons past two losses, and certainly not for the sacking of Steve Price.
The problem runs far deeper, it’s just that on the available evidence it’s impossible to mount the case that Benji’s the solution.
In his two games, Benji is yet to produce a moment that reminded us of his former genius.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor believes his side showed positive sides in the 19-point defeat to South Sydney on Monday night but insists there is still plenty of work to do for the Dragons.
His try assist on Monday night is the only positive to be found on the stats sheet and his seven errors surely counteract that.
But how can Paul McGregor possibly drop him without the Dragons losing face?
They've got Benji for two-and-a-half years so there’s no way they could abandon the experiment and call it a failure after just two games.
How long is too long? When has Benji had enough time to gel with his new teammates before he can be judged on the player he’s become, rather than the player he once was?
