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@Saber said:@stryker said:@Black'n'White said:Stryker, as fans people have a right to feel aggrieved. Without them, a professional footballer wouldnt be on big bucks, but playing on the weekend after pulling a 9-5, 5 days a week.
He was a touch footballer plucked from obscurity, "developed" if thats how you choose to view Sheens babying, was persevered with during several injuries… we rode the highs and wallowed in the lows... we are the folk who the advertisers are aiming at when the television deals are struck.
This club nurtured Benji into the monster he is now, more worried about his profile than his football. He is now more persona than player, somehow his highly qualified Mrs is writing football articles and commentating games... yet we are expected to sit silently as he flexes his media profile to drag our club through the mud to inflate his contract in negotiations? Somewhere between the vitriol his manager spews and the retorts from the club and league is where the truth lays, and for many it is unpalatable.
There is a lot of truth to this and I certainly do not mind debating with someone who isnt calling this man a money grubbing dog or gutless, lazy coward. Unfortunately many on here are and it is infuriating me. Forget about his on field exploits for a minute, to me, Benji is and always has been a stand up bloke. He could have left years ago and really set himself up. He chose not to. He chose us. He has given himself to charities for years. He has always made himself available to the public. Remember the little kid he was so close with? That was a couple of years ago and this place was 95% to unanimous that he was a great bloke and we were all very proud of him. We were proud he was a Tiger.
His form has dropped, dont get me wrong, but I believe this venomous vitriol he has endured through 2012 and 13 has a lot to do with his rise as a personality on that stupid footy show. He was upset about his mates leaving and that is when this campaign of hate really kicked into gear. It didnt matter that he was scoring tries or setting them up. If he made mistakes, thats all people remembered. The truth is, 2012 is how Benji has always played the game…sometimes brilliant, sometimes mediocre, mostly in between. The reason he stood out was he was playing within a p!ss poor side who had lost faith. He wasnt our worst by a long shot last year but you wouldnt know that reading the pages on here after a game.
This year he has been aweful...but look at our squad for god sakes. One of the worst rosters going around. It has got better as the season has progressed and he along with it but he is still the only whipping boy. I can understand peoples anger with him walking out, but can also understand him doing so. I do not believe he has done it for the reasons many on here claim and will voice that opinion every time some "nobody" calls him a useless dog.
What your saying would have much more substance if he was leaving at the end of his contract, as opposed to with 2 years left.
@stryker said:What is the point of slamming a bloke after he has left? Get a hobby for christ's sakes.
@alexaki said:Chill Pills everyone?….let Marshall and his manager do and say what they want...its time to move on...Marshall first them the rest of us!
@stevetiger said:@stryker said:What is the point of slamming a bloke after he has left? Get a hobby for christ's sakes.
I don't understand why people are doing this. The guy has been a great player. He has carried us numerous times.
His manager is a fool and yes Benji is a fool for allowing people like that into his life but lets give the guy some credit for what he has done for the club.
@MightyMaggy said:While I am not really a big Gordon Tallis fan, I thought he got it right a couple of nights ago.
He suggested a player of some stature approaching the end of his playing days would possibly accept a salary drop and remain at the club to mentor the up-and-coming young players. This is what he thought Benji should have done.
It would have been nice for Benji to do this on his $1 million annual salary, if he cared as much for the Wests Tigers as he claimed.
@Tigerpete said:What's done is done. Calling Marshall spineless or whatever is purely reactionary. We as fans should be thankful for what he did do for this club. It's sorry that it has come to this but if that's what he wants to do then why stop him? His form has suffered in recent years and there's always been hints of an unhappy Benji, especially when his mates departed. Could he have handled this all better? Absolutely! However, what's done is now done. Time to move on.
