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BENJI Marshall says he bears no grudge towards the Wests Tigers despite admitting he was short-changed by his former club.
Reacting to recent claims from retired Tiger Braith Anasta that he and other players were left out of pocket, Marshall conceded: “In order for me to play last year (at the Dragons) I had to forfeit money that I was owed from (the Tigers)”.
The St George-Illawarra playmaker was reluctant to bag his former club but said he took pay cuts on several occasions during his decade at the Tigers to help keep other players and ease salary cap pressure.
Anasta made claims on Sky News’ Sportsnight last month that the contract he agreed to with the Tigers “was not fully honoured”.
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Anasta said: “I know for a fact they haven’t paid a few players that have been on the roster the last couple of seasons — and I’ve been one of them.”
Asked if he was one of the players Anasta was referring to, Marshall said: “There were a couple of years where I took pay cuts for other players where we were over the cap and they would make me take a pay cut and say we would add it on to next year.
“And there were years when I didn’t get paid but then they would say they would add it on to next year.
“I think when I left the game I was still owed a little bit of money.”
Asked how much, Marshall said: “I don’t really want to say.
“I don’t want to put anyone on show but I think they were just in a bit of financial drama at the time obviously with the Wests and the Balmain thing happening … but in order for me to play last year (at the Dragons) I had to forfeit money that I was owed from them.
“I don’t know the full terms but the money I was owed I didn’t end up getting for me to be able to play last year.”
Marshall added: “It has never been about the money for me. I will never get that back but like I said playing has never been about the money for me.
“Everyone speculates about what they think you are on but it is never what anyone says and for me, this phase of my career, is about being the best, not being paid the most.
“If I wanted to get paid the most I would have went elsewhere.
“I have always made it about the boys and wanting to play with the boys and wanting to play for everyone else. But now I still want to be everyone’s mate but it is about me trying to be the best on the field.
I don’t have any other goals but making sure I’m week in, week out, the best on the field.”
By his own admission, Marshall was “too comfortable” in his final years at the Tigers and said tough love from Dragons coach Paul McGregor has him convinced he can get back to his best in 2015.
“I think the biggest thing for me was the honesty,” he said in relation to McGregor and the new Dragons coaching staff.
“I never really had the people around me (at the Tigers) telling the truth about what was actually happening. It wasn’t about power. Everyone assumes I have got power but I am just one of the boys.
“But as a player, if you don’t get told the truth and the people around you don’t identify it for you, it is hard for you too look at yourself and say you need to do this and you need to do that because sometimes you don’t know.
“I was just comfortable thinking ‘I’m going all right’ and wondering why people were saying ‘he is looking slow, he’s looking overweight’. This is people on the outside and people on the inside weren’t telling me things and I needed to hear it.”
He said reality started to set in at the end of last year when he arrived to play Super Rugby in Auckland.
“I went to the Blues and they told me everything straight up, that I needed to do this and I needed to do that,” he said.
“So when I came back (to the NRL) I just wanted to prove, not to anyone else, just myself, that I can be the best again and that is what it has been about.
“The further I got into the season the better I was getting and to be honest I didn’t want the season to end because I felt like I was getting back to where I wanted to be.
“The good thing was I was learning every game and if something went wrong on the field (McGregor) would be the first one to tell me, ‘look, you need to cut this shit out’ ... he just told me whatever I needed to get better.
“That is what I thought I’d been lacking, just that bit of honesty. That is probably what I lost over the last couple of years at the Tigers. I fell into the trap of just being the ballplayer and trying to organise everyone else and I forgot about myself.”
He said he feels fitter and sharper then he has been for years working under the guidance of the Dragons new head conditioner Cherry Mescia.
He explained: “I have worked with Cherry before and he just said the same things, ‘that I want you to get a bit of speed off the mark again so when you get your hands on the ball people are actually fearing how quick you are going to be off the mark, not just worrying about your
ball playing’.
“He emphasises a lot of fitness around game specific sort of fitness. So it is not just running around the field, it is a lot off the mark and getting a bit of speed back. It just feels like the training I have done this year has been a bit different to the last few years.
“I am feeling good. I haven’t felt like this for a while. Even with the ball I just feel a little bit sharper.”
He said his eventual goal was to win back a spot in the New Zealand Test team who recently claimed the Four Nations title on the back of a brilliant halves partnership between Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran.
“Yeah, and they are going great. For me, I want to be back in that frame,” he said.
“And that is probably the end goal after winning a premiership.
“I will do whatever I can to get back in. I feel like I am training hard and doing all the things I need to do to get back to where I need to be.
“I want to be on top.
“If you don’t strive to represent your country or be the best in the game then you may as well not be there and I think that is what I lost over a few years, probably being too comfortable.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/benji-marshall-opens-up-about-money-his-relationship-with-wests-tigers-and-his-love-of-rugby-league/story-e6frf3vc-1227162998598
Reacting to recent claims from retired Tiger Braith Anasta that he and other players were left out of pocket, Marshall conceded: “In order for me to play last year (at the Dragons) I had to forfeit money that I was owed from (the Tigers)”.
The St George-Illawarra playmaker was reluctant to bag his former club but said he took pay cuts on several occasions during his decade at the Tigers to help keep other players and ease salary cap pressure.
Anasta made claims on Sky News’ Sportsnight last month that the contract he agreed to with the Tigers “was not fully honoured”.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Anasta said: “I know for a fact they haven’t paid a few players that have been on the roster the last couple of seasons — and I’ve been one of them.”
Asked if he was one of the players Anasta was referring to, Marshall said: “There were a couple of years where I took pay cuts for other players where we were over the cap and they would make me take a pay cut and say we would add it on to next year.
“And there were years when I didn’t get paid but then they would say they would add it on to next year.
“I think when I left the game I was still owed a little bit of money.”
Asked how much, Marshall said: “I don’t really want to say.
“I don’t want to put anyone on show but I think they were just in a bit of financial drama at the time obviously with the Wests and the Balmain thing happening … but in order for me to play last year (at the Dragons) I had to forfeit money that I was owed from them.
“I don’t know the full terms but the money I was owed I didn’t end up getting for me to be able to play last year.”
Marshall added: “It has never been about the money for me. I will never get that back but like I said playing has never been about the money for me.
“Everyone speculates about what they think you are on but it is never what anyone says and for me, this phase of my career, is about being the best, not being paid the most.
“If I wanted to get paid the most I would have went elsewhere.
“I have always made it about the boys and wanting to play with the boys and wanting to play for everyone else. But now I still want to be everyone’s mate but it is about me trying to be the best on the field.
I don’t have any other goals but making sure I’m week in, week out, the best on the field.”
By his own admission, Marshall was “too comfortable” in his final years at the Tigers and said tough love from Dragons coach Paul McGregor has him convinced he can get back to his best in 2015.
“I think the biggest thing for me was the honesty,” he said in relation to McGregor and the new Dragons coaching staff.
“I never really had the people around me (at the Tigers) telling the truth about what was actually happening. It wasn’t about power. Everyone assumes I have got power but I am just one of the boys.
“But as a player, if you don’t get told the truth and the people around you don’t identify it for you, it is hard for you too look at yourself and say you need to do this and you need to do that because sometimes you don’t know.
“I was just comfortable thinking ‘I’m going all right’ and wondering why people were saying ‘he is looking slow, he’s looking overweight’. This is people on the outside and people on the inside weren’t telling me things and I needed to hear it.”
He said reality started to set in at the end of last year when he arrived to play Super Rugby in Auckland.
“I went to the Blues and they told me everything straight up, that I needed to do this and I needed to do that,” he said.
“So when I came back (to the NRL) I just wanted to prove, not to anyone else, just myself, that I can be the best again and that is what it has been about.
“The further I got into the season the better I was getting and to be honest I didn’t want the season to end because I felt like I was getting back to where I wanted to be.
“The good thing was I was learning every game and if something went wrong on the field (McGregor) would be the first one to tell me, ‘look, you need to cut this shit out’ ... he just told me whatever I needed to get better.
“That is what I thought I’d been lacking, just that bit of honesty. That is probably what I lost over the last couple of years at the Tigers. I fell into the trap of just being the ballplayer and trying to organise everyone else and I forgot about myself.”
He said he feels fitter and sharper then he has been for years working under the guidance of the Dragons new head conditioner Cherry Mescia.
He explained: “I have worked with Cherry before and he just said the same things, ‘that I want you to get a bit of speed off the mark again so when you get your hands on the ball people are actually fearing how quick you are going to be off the mark, not just worrying about your
ball playing’.
“He emphasises a lot of fitness around game specific sort of fitness. So it is not just running around the field, it is a lot off the mark and getting a bit of speed back. It just feels like the training I have done this year has been a bit different to the last few years.
“I am feeling good. I haven’t felt like this for a while. Even with the ball I just feel a little bit sharper.”
He said his eventual goal was to win back a spot in the New Zealand Test team who recently claimed the Four Nations title on the back of a brilliant halves partnership between Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran.
“Yeah, and they are going great. For me, I want to be back in that frame,” he said.
“And that is probably the end goal after winning a premiership.
“I will do whatever I can to get back in. I feel like I am training hard and doing all the things I need to do to get back to where I need to be.
“I want to be on top.
“If you don’t strive to represent your country or be the best in the game then you may as well not be there and I think that is what I lost over a few years, probably being too comfortable.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/benji-marshall-opens-up-about-money-his-relationship-with-wests-tigers-and-his-love-of-rugby-league/story-e6frf3vc-1227162998598
