Tigers will fight for Benji: Potter

[tigersrule4life]

By Rob Forsaith
AAP
Thu 04th July, 10:46am

Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter says the NRL club will bend over backwards trying to ensure superstar Benji Marshall remains loyal and rejects an offer to play rugby union.

Marshall is contracted to the Tigers until 2015, but speculation continues to build he will walk out on the club if his management is unable to broker a new deal.

Talk of Marshall's future has been bubbling along since he was benched against South Sydney in round 10, and a report by Fairfax Media on Thursday said he was seriously contemplating a move to Super Rugby's Auckland-based Blues.

"I haven't read it, but if he is - that's for Benji to look at all his options and see what's best for Benji," Potter.

"I've made my feelings known that I want him to stay. It'll just be whether we can squeeze him in (under the salary cap), and whether the deal's acceptable.

"It's a decision for Benji. But Benji's a good guy and we'll bend over backwards trying to keep him here at the club."

Potter noted he'd like to be involved in less of a "protracted, long-winded negotiation" but that most player deals in the NRL were done that way.

The first-year coach added that the drama was not impacting Marshall or the team, with Tigers captain Robbie Farah agreeing on both counts.

"Either way, I just hope it's sorted sooner rather than later," Farah said.

"Hopefully it's a good outcome for the Tigers and Benji will be here for the rest of his career.

"He's handled it pretty well, I know he's kind of put it on the backburner and hasn't got too caught up in it.

"He's let his manager take control of that, and it's probably showed in the way he's played the last few weeks."

Farah credited Marshall, along with the side's talented young stocks, for triggering a resurgence that has netted four wins from the past five matches.

"There was a period there where Benji and guys like Adam Blair were getting criticised, but they've turned their form around now," the NSW hooker said.

The Tigers will aim to keep their hot run going on Friday night, when they visit Cronulla.

"As soon as we drop the next game, you're looking at the table and doing the what-ifs … we need to keep winning," Potter said of his 14th-placed team.

http://www.nrl.com/tigers-will-fight-for-benji-potter/tabid/10874/newsid/73271/default.aspx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[T-REXX]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

 

[T-REXX]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

 

[Pierre_M7]

hope he stays…

 

[T-REXX]

so do i…. he has been with the club for his entire career and has had some great years.. only ever struggled with no halfback.. has played well with one.

he stayed Loyal all those times when he was being courted by other teams and even when some members of the board wanted him gone still showed he is a Tiger..

with the new Hlafback coming up i think we can see Benji at his best again

 

[Basil_Tiger]

…i think there are things bubbling along in the background,another split in the board on whether to let him go or not.I understood there was a clause in his contract that it(his contract) only applied if Sheens was coach,either it was never there or Benji has chosen not to use it as lever to milk us for more money.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

Look, if Benji rediscovers his form and plays consistently good football for the remainder of his contract I don't see why you wouldn't offer a contract extension. However if he plays poorly, or he wants to throw his toys out of the cot because the club will only upgrade his deal so much, he can go. I don't think that is unfair, do you?

Don't forget the club has stuck by him as well through four severe shoulder injuries.

 

[T-REXX]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

Look, if Benji rediscovers his form and plays consistently good football for the remainder of his contract I don't see why you wouldn't offer a contract extension. However if he plays poorly, or he wants to throw his toys out of the cot because the club will only upgrade his deal so much, he can go. I don't think that is unfair, do you?

Don't forget the club has stuck by him as well through four severe shoulder injuries.

and that deserves the shit he cops from the so called fans on this forum and at games..

People can have an opinion which is fine but the comments aimed at him are outright pathetic… The guy bleeds Tigers, yet people dont think that is the case. You can say what ever u like about his form... and your probably right in some cases.. But still doesnt make it right what he cops form fans.... Simple..

About the upgrade he is after.. he was copping it WELL WELL BEFORE the contract talk started.... plus he made the deal BEFORE his form slump.. if the Board offered it to him.. he is entitled to it.. doesnt matter if you think he deserves it or not.. its part of the deal..

seems to me the forum is only interested in how the PLAYER IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW!!!.. Blair in the last month or so has played well and nearly no threads or mention of him anymore..Short memories i say... and typical Aussie way of doing things

 

[Pierre_M7]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

Look, if Benji rediscovers his form and plays consistently good football for the remainder of his contract I don't see why you wouldn't offer a contract extension. However if he plays poorly, or he wants to throw his toys out of the cot because the club will only upgrade his deal so much, he can go. I don't think that is unfair, do you?

Don't forget the club has stuck by him as well through four severe shoulder injuries.

and that deserves the s*** he cops from the so called fans on this forum and at games..

People can have an opinion which is fine but the comments aimed at him are outright pathetic… The guy bleeds Tigers, yet people dont think that is the case. You can say what ever u like about his form... and your probably right in some cases.. But still doesnt make it right what he cops form fans.... Simple..

About the upgrade he is after.. he was copping it WELL WELL BEFORE the contract talk started.... plus he made the deal BEFORE his form slump.. if the Board offered it to him.. he is entitled to it.. doesnt matter if you think he deserves it or not.. its part of the deal..

seems to me the forum is only interested in how the PLAYER IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW!!!.. Blair in the last month or so has played well and nearly no threads or mention of him anymore..Short memories i say... and typical Aussie way of doing things

I agree with T-REXX

 

[mike]

X2

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[thylacine]

x3

 

[VanillaThunder]

The board agreed to an upgrade in line with salary cap increases, which he got, not to an extension. The fact remains that he's contracted til 2015, and unless he was a boom youngster playing the house down, virtually no other player in the league would be talking about an upgrade that far out. I like Benji, and think he's got a lot more to offer the club, but he needs to ease up on the million dollar extension that's 2 years out. It wouldn't be good business for the club to agree to that.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[T-REXX]

The board agreed to an upgrade in line with salary cap increases, which he got, not to an extension. The fact remains that he's contracted til 2015, and unless he was a boom youngster playing the house down, virtually no other player in the league would be talking about an upgrade that far out. I like Benji, and think he's got a lot more to offer the club, **but he needs to ease up on the million dollar extension that's 2 years out.** It wouldn't be good business for the club to agree to that.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

i might be wrong.. but the only ones who have said that is the media.. Benji hasnt and wont mention the $$$ figure.. all u know it could be small as $100000 per year more. u dont know that so how can u judge him on it?

And from what i can see they have gone back on the amount of the upgrade.. they have cut it down a bit… Business terms its probably a smart move by the tigers.. BUT if he was promised that and given a figure the tigers should honor it

we dont know what happens behind closed doors. and we are not ever going to know..... so u cant judge

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

at least Benji is Loyal…. shame about some of the fans

Look, if Benji rediscovers his form and plays consistently good football for the remainder of his contract I don't see why you wouldn't offer a contract extension. However if he plays poorly, or he wants to throw his toys out of the cot because the club will only upgrade his deal so much, he can go. I don't think that is unfair, do you?

Don't forget the club has stuck by him as well through four severe shoulder injuries.

and that deserves the s*** he cops from the so called fans on this forum and at games..

People can have an opinion which is fine but the comments aimed at him are outright pathetic… The guy bleeds Tigers, yet people dont think that is the case. You can say what ever u like about his form... and your probably right in some cases.. But still doesnt make it right what he cops form fans.... Simple..

About the upgrade he is after.. he was copping it WELL WELL BEFORE the contract talk started.... plus he made the deal BEFORE his form slump.. if the Board offered it to him.. he is entitled to it.. doesnt matter if you think he deserves it or not.. its part of the deal..

seems to me the forum is only interested in how the PLAYER IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW!!!.. Blair in the last month or so has played well and nearly no threads or mention of him anymore..Short memories i say... and typical Aussie way of doing things

It's the harsh reality of being a big name player. When you're on the big bucks and you under perform you will draw the criticism. It may surprise you, but we're not the only fan base that questions the big name players when they don't perform either.

Blair is playing well at the moment, but he's got a long way to go before he'll change the minds of everyone. And people have been calling Marshall into question for the last **18 months** he has been out of form.

Not everyone shares the same opinion. I personally think Marshall has been poor for a long time, and while I'm not itching to drive him to the airport, if he doesn't want to take the upgrades on his current contract and run off to Rugby or whoever is offering the best deal of the week instead of knuckling down and working for the next extension, then I feel both the club and Benji are better off.

The notion of extending his contract **now** simply for the sake of loyalty, particularly when his run of form has been poor for a year and a half, borders on lunacy.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

This is the funniest article yet. He's contracted for 2 more yrs, the club has the power, yet they are going to fight for him? What is this, the twilight zone?

 

[LaT]

WT have been equally, if not more loyal to Benji during his injury plagued years, hot/cold performances etc.

The club gave him a national profile, and made him a millionaire.

I'm all for showing loyalty to players, and yes Benji shouldn't be disrespected by some of our fans the way he has been….but lets keep things in perspective here. Its been a give and take relationship between the club and Benji, so there is no need to drop everything to spend big as if we owe him some great big debt.

 

[T-REXX]

WT have been equally, if not more loyal to Benji during his injury plagued years, hot/cold performances etc.

The club gave him a national profile, and made him a millionaire.

I'm all for showing loyalty to players, **and yes Benji shouldn't be disrespected by some of our fans the way he has been**….but lets keep things in perspective here. Its been a give and take relationship between the club and Benji, so there is no need to drop everything to spend big as if we owe him some great big debt.

thats pretty much all im saying…

its all good and well that he is bagged out but he has done alot for the tigers as they have also for him.. As much as u say the Tigers have made him a millionaire. The exact same thing can be said about the WT.. The WT are one of the biggest clubs in terms of Sponsorship and YES this helps when BM is on the books. This is one reason why the WT and BM is so important to stay united..
1: He is worth it off the field as well
2: Proven time and time again when he has a HALFBACK, he fires on all 4 cyl... (Sorry V8s.. but cant stand them hahaha)..

 

[happy_tiger]

Rexx I have the utmost respect for you , but when you say that Benji bleeds for the Tigers I have to disagree mate

He may bleed with words ,but he isn't always bleeding with his actions and if he can't accept the criticism with the pay packet , he needs to toughen up mentally

Every Tigers supporter pray to see his best , but unfortunately he is not supplying that

And he should not expect top dollar if he is not supplying top performance And that's the way of the world

 

[VanillaThunder]

The board agreed to an upgrade in line with salary cap increases, which he got, not to an extension. The fact remains that he's contracted til 2015, and unless he was a boom youngster playing the house down, virtually no other player in the league would be talking about an upgrade that far out. I like Benji, and think he's got a lot more to offer the club, **but he needs to ease up on the million dollar extension that's 2 years out.** It wouldn't be good business for the club to agree to that.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

i might be wrong.. but the only ones who have said that is the media.. Benji hasnt and wont mention the $$$ figure.. all u know it could be small as $100000 per year more. u dont know that so how can u judge him on it?

And from what i can see they have gone back on the amount of the upgrade.. they have cut it down a bit… Business terms its probably a smart move by the tigers.. BUT if he was promised that and given a figure the tigers should honor it

we dont know what happens behind closed doors. and we are not ever going to know..... so u cant judge

Regardless of the overall price then, he's asking for an extension two years out, not many other players in the league would do that with his form. For all we know his upgrade may have been higher, like you said we're never going to know. All we can speculate on is the thinking behind the process, with you agreed was smart. I like the guy, and sure he's copped it from all sides, but at this stage of his career and with the way he's playing, we shouldn't be discussing extensions that are a few years out yet.

 

[T-REXX]

Rexx I have the utmost respect for you , but when you say that Benji bleeds for the Tigers I have to disagree mate

He may bleed with words ,but he isn't always bleeding with his actions and if he can't accept the criticism with the pay packet , he needs to toughen up mentally

Every Tigers supporter pray to see his best , but unfortunately he is not supplying that

And he should not expect top dollar if he is not supplying top performance And that's the way of the world

awwww i love u to man :slight_smile: haha

I do think he bleeds, but i think his actions are not to do with him not being interested.. anyway… i hope he stays :slight_smile: