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Guest
Guest
I owe it to my team to step up
August 26, 2012
Benji Marshall
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THIS is probably the most important match of the season so far for the club - but definitely the most important for me.
I feel like I owe it to the team and myself to produce a good performance. With Robbie Farah out, I need to put my mark on the team.
I feel like I've started to find a bit of form, but I'm still a little inconsistent. That needs to change against the Roosters today, because this is another early semi-final for us - we're going into this game thinking that we need to win no matter what.
I really believe we are improving. We learnt a lot about ourselves against the Bulldogs last round. We can match it with them and we can take a lot of confidence out of that. The Bulldogs are on top of the competition ladder, and have been the form team over the past 12 or 13 weeks, and probably for most of the year. It just goes to show that we can match it with the top teams.
The challenge for us will be playing against a team that is not in the top eight. That can be just as difficult at this time of year.
The Roosters have nothing to lose, and when a team has nothing to lose, they can throw the ball around a bit and have success.
We're very wary. They've got a big forward pack, and if they get some momentum through the middle, they have good offloaders in their team, while halfback Mitchell Pearce and fullback Anthony Minichiello are dangerous players.
They're a tough prospect. I thought they would have been in the top eight at this stage, but the season hasn't panned out as they would have liked.
But I know the danger they pose. Back in 2009, the Bulldogs needed to beat us to win the minor premiership. We were already out of the race for the finals, so we had nothing to lose, we threw the ball around, and we ended up hammering them. We need to guard against that.
We also need to make sure we do not get drawn into playing that sort of game. When we go set for set with other teams, it puts us in a better position than when we try and score from our own half or come up with low-percentage plays.
We've improved dramatically since we focused on grinding out the wins. If we need to throw the ball around we can, but this competition has shown that the team that wins the battle for possession wins the game. When we have done that we have won games.
Of course, it will not be easy without Robbie. We were just starting to build a good combination, along with Liam Fulton at five-eighth. Tim Moltzen will be five-eighth today, to give us another kicking option, and that can also be good for us. He can take a bit of pressure off me, when it comes to the kicking and organising.
He's played in the halves before and he can handle it. The key is, in the past, he was halfback and had to do all the organising, but now, he is five-eighth and can sit back and wait for the shifts.
A special mention for Chris Heighington, who is playing his 200th match for Wests Tigers. He's been at the club as long as I have. He's one of the best blokes in the team and one of my best mates. He's the heart and soul of our team. Everyone respects him and enjoys his company.
He's one of the best players I've ever played with - the way he turns up every week is inspirational. And his form over the past eight weeks has been better than most of the forwards in the competition. I'm honoured to play in his 200th.
I'm not sure whether other players are motivated by those milestones, but I'll certainly be rising to the occasion for him. I want to make today's game a memorable one for him, and I want to make the semis.
August 26, 2012
Benji Marshall
\
\
THIS is probably the most important match of the season so far for the club - but definitely the most important for me.
I feel like I owe it to the team and myself to produce a good performance. With Robbie Farah out, I need to put my mark on the team.
I feel like I've started to find a bit of form, but I'm still a little inconsistent. That needs to change against the Roosters today, because this is another early semi-final for us - we're going into this game thinking that we need to win no matter what.
I really believe we are improving. We learnt a lot about ourselves against the Bulldogs last round. We can match it with them and we can take a lot of confidence out of that. The Bulldogs are on top of the competition ladder, and have been the form team over the past 12 or 13 weeks, and probably for most of the year. It just goes to show that we can match it with the top teams.
The challenge for us will be playing against a team that is not in the top eight. That can be just as difficult at this time of year.
The Roosters have nothing to lose, and when a team has nothing to lose, they can throw the ball around a bit and have success.
We're very wary. They've got a big forward pack, and if they get some momentum through the middle, they have good offloaders in their team, while halfback Mitchell Pearce and fullback Anthony Minichiello are dangerous players.
They're a tough prospect. I thought they would have been in the top eight at this stage, but the season hasn't panned out as they would have liked.
But I know the danger they pose. Back in 2009, the Bulldogs needed to beat us to win the minor premiership. We were already out of the race for the finals, so we had nothing to lose, we threw the ball around, and we ended up hammering them. We need to guard against that.
We also need to make sure we do not get drawn into playing that sort of game. When we go set for set with other teams, it puts us in a better position than when we try and score from our own half or come up with low-percentage plays.
We've improved dramatically since we focused on grinding out the wins. If we need to throw the ball around we can, but this competition has shown that the team that wins the battle for possession wins the game. When we have done that we have won games.
Of course, it will not be easy without Robbie. We were just starting to build a good combination, along with Liam Fulton at five-eighth. Tim Moltzen will be five-eighth today, to give us another kicking option, and that can also be good for us. He can take a bit of pressure off me, when it comes to the kicking and organising.
He's played in the halves before and he can handle it. The key is, in the past, he was halfback and had to do all the organising, but now, he is five-eighth and can sit back and wait for the shifts.
A special mention for Chris Heighington, who is playing his 200th match for Wests Tigers. He's been at the club as long as I have. He's one of the best blokes in the team and one of my best mates. He's the heart and soul of our team. Everyone respects him and enjoys his company.
He's one of the best players I've ever played with - the way he turns up every week is inspirational. And his form over the past eight weeks has been better than most of the forwards in the competition. I'm honoured to play in his 200th.
I'm not sure whether other players are motivated by those milestones, but I'll certainly be rising to the occasion for him. I want to make today's game a memorable one for him, and I want to make the semis.
