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He is the next Benji Marshall out of Keebra Park High School even down to his initials. The only difference is Ben Murdoch's size. ''He's as explosive as Benji Marshall but he's twice the size,'' says the high school's coach, Greg Lenton.
Murdoch is considered by Lenton the best prospect out of the acclaimed school since Marshall, which means he could be even better than Robert Lui, Greg Eastwood, Ben Te'o and Corey Norman, the latter who starred on debut for the Broncos in round one.
So highly is Murdoch regarded that he is considered a potential first-grader this season - even though he has played just one Toyota Cup match for Wests Tigers.
''He'll definitely do that this year,'' Lenton said. ''He's a special one. When you think about Corey Norman and Greg Eastwood and Ben Te'o … Ben's a step ahead of all of them. He's there with Benji.''
The similarities are striking. Like Marshall, the Tigers five-eighth, Murdoch left his family in New Zealand to be schooled at Keebra Park on the Gold Coast. Murdoch was at the school for two years, helping it to its maiden national schoolboy competition title last year.
Now 19, he has moved to Sydney and made his debut for the Tigers on Monday night in the under-20s competition, in a loss to Manly.
But the similarities end there. When scouts first spotted him in Otahuhu, Murdoch was 150 kilograms. He moved to the Gold Coast at that weight and since then has lost a staggering 45kg in just two years.
''It was five or 10 minutes on the field and get off back then,'' Murdoch recalled of his bursts before he shed the weight. ''It was hard work trying to carry around that weight.''
''He's followed a similar path to Benji,'' Lenton said. ''A lot of people didn't rate Ben, just like Benji, because he was different. In his particular case he was massively overweight, but he's fought that battle and he's had other battles to fight. But he had character. I've always said, and it was the same with Benji, if they've got the character, I'll work with them.
''He's done it a bit tough, he's had some issues and he's made a couple of wrong decisions, but he's admitted to his mistakes and he's prepared not to revisit them,'' he said.
Murdoch said the combination of hard work and dieting was the key to his huge weight loss, while Lenton said: ''He couldn't do a lap of the oval when he first came here.''
But over 10 metres, Lenton said his explosiveness was ''incredible''.
Murdoch arrived at the Tigers as a second-rower but coach Grant Jones played him at prop against the Sea Eagles, in an attempt to get him closer to the action.
Murdoch said his football hero was Tigers prop Keith Galloway, which is ironic because he might be playing with him at some stage this year. And Tim Sheens, the Tigers' head coach, is known to be a big fan of his.
Murdoch is living with two Toyota Cup teammates at Burwood, but has his father in Blacktown for guidance. While many are getting carried away by the hype around this youngster, it appears that, importantly, he is not.
''Everyone's goal is to play first grade, I'll just take it slow and wait for my time,'' Murdoch said.
By Glenn Jackson
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/theres-something-about-big-ben-tyro-tiger-shapes-up-20100317-qfpp.html)
Murdoch is considered by Lenton the best prospect out of the acclaimed school since Marshall, which means he could be even better than Robert Lui, Greg Eastwood, Ben Te'o and Corey Norman, the latter who starred on debut for the Broncos in round one.
So highly is Murdoch regarded that he is considered a potential first-grader this season - even though he has played just one Toyota Cup match for Wests Tigers.
''He'll definitely do that this year,'' Lenton said. ''He's a special one. When you think about Corey Norman and Greg Eastwood and Ben Te'o … Ben's a step ahead of all of them. He's there with Benji.''
The similarities are striking. Like Marshall, the Tigers five-eighth, Murdoch left his family in New Zealand to be schooled at Keebra Park on the Gold Coast. Murdoch was at the school for two years, helping it to its maiden national schoolboy competition title last year.
Now 19, he has moved to Sydney and made his debut for the Tigers on Monday night in the under-20s competition, in a loss to Manly.
But the similarities end there. When scouts first spotted him in Otahuhu, Murdoch was 150 kilograms. He moved to the Gold Coast at that weight and since then has lost a staggering 45kg in just two years.
''It was five or 10 minutes on the field and get off back then,'' Murdoch recalled of his bursts before he shed the weight. ''It was hard work trying to carry around that weight.''
''He's followed a similar path to Benji,'' Lenton said. ''A lot of people didn't rate Ben, just like Benji, because he was different. In his particular case he was massively overweight, but he's fought that battle and he's had other battles to fight. But he had character. I've always said, and it was the same with Benji, if they've got the character, I'll work with them.
''He's done it a bit tough, he's had some issues and he's made a couple of wrong decisions, but he's admitted to his mistakes and he's prepared not to revisit them,'' he said.
Murdoch said the combination of hard work and dieting was the key to his huge weight loss, while Lenton said: ''He couldn't do a lap of the oval when he first came here.''
But over 10 metres, Lenton said his explosiveness was ''incredible''.
Murdoch arrived at the Tigers as a second-rower but coach Grant Jones played him at prop against the Sea Eagles, in an attempt to get him closer to the action.
Murdoch said his football hero was Tigers prop Keith Galloway, which is ironic because he might be playing with him at some stage this year. And Tim Sheens, the Tigers' head coach, is known to be a big fan of his.
Murdoch is living with two Toyota Cup teammates at Burwood, but has his father in Blacktown for guidance. While many are getting carried away by the hype around this youngster, it appears that, importantly, he is not.
''Everyone's goal is to play first grade, I'll just take it slow and wait for my time,'' Murdoch said.
By Glenn Jackson
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/theres-something-about-big-ben-tyro-tiger-shapes-up-20100317-qfpp.html)
