We always fight: Marshall plays down Sheens spats
Glenn Jackson
July 19, 2011
"There's players that are not happy about having to go' … Benji Marshall. Photo: Getty Images
BENJI MARSHALL has held spirited arguments with his coach Tim Sheens over the prospect of players leaving Wests Tigers - but said any suggestion the pair were at loggerheads was false.
The Wests Tigers five-eighth said yesterday he had sat with his coach and debated the merits of the significant turnover at the club, which has resulted in Bryce Gibbs, Andrew Fifita and Tim Moltzen leaving, but maintained it was the coach's right to carry out his plan - just as it was his right as a senior player to query it.
''We always fight,'' Marshall said. ''Well, we don't fight, we have differences of opinion on things. As a senior player in the team, I feel like I can talk to the coach about these things. It was more of a talk to the coach about where we were heading and the players in our team. That's it. I don't know where all this other stuff comes from.
''It's none of my business at the end of the day. I just like to know about who we're having around. You plan being in there for five minutes, and you're in there for half an hour. That's just him. It's no different from every other week. I go in there every week and talk to him about my game, or what we can do better as a team. That's what senior players do.
''There's no unrest. There's players that are not happy about having to go, I suppose, but it's out of the way, and that's good for the club.''
Moltzen's departure to St George Illawarra next year caused ripples particularly since he is a flatmate of Marshall's. But he conceded Moltzen might now be better off.
''It's disappointing, but at the end of the day, it might be a good move for 'Moltz'; a new start, at a team that needs a fullback,'' Marshall said. ''With the form he showed on the weekend [against North Queensland], there are promising signs of what he can offer to the club.
''As a mate, it's sad to lose him. I just won't see him every day now.
''In my opinion, he's a representative player of the future without a doubt, and he showed glimpses on the weekend of what he can do.''
The Tigers did likewise, beating the Cowboys 38-18 and showing there was life in the side yet, having come through their off-field turbulence. The Tigers face Sydney Roosters on Saturday night at Leichhardt Oval with Marshall hoping the club has turned a corner.
''We hadn't scored more than six points for three weeks,'' Marshall said. ''It was just our completions. We completed under 50 per cent against Parramatta, the week before something like 60 per cent. When you give the opposition teams too much ball, you're never going to win. We addressed that on the weekend. We really turned our completion rate around. Our attitude was always there - we just weren't executing the way we should have been.
''We're still in the eight … anyone in the eight can win it.''
Marshall said the fact that the Tigers had yet to show their best made them confident they could still trouble the top sides in the finals.
''We have to be,'' he said. ''Our execution's been poor for three weeks, but we turned it around in one game. We've just got to keep doing that. There's plenty of improvement. We're far from our best.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/we-always-fight-marshall-plays-down-sheens-spats-20110718-1hlql.html#ixzz1SSzjkuad
Glenn Jackson
July 19, 2011
"There's players that are not happy about having to go' … Benji Marshall. Photo: Getty Images
BENJI MARSHALL has held spirited arguments with his coach Tim Sheens over the prospect of players leaving Wests Tigers - but said any suggestion the pair were at loggerheads was false.
The Wests Tigers five-eighth said yesterday he had sat with his coach and debated the merits of the significant turnover at the club, which has resulted in Bryce Gibbs, Andrew Fifita and Tim Moltzen leaving, but maintained it was the coach's right to carry out his plan - just as it was his right as a senior player to query it.
''We always fight,'' Marshall said. ''Well, we don't fight, we have differences of opinion on things. As a senior player in the team, I feel like I can talk to the coach about these things. It was more of a talk to the coach about where we were heading and the players in our team. That's it. I don't know where all this other stuff comes from.
''It's none of my business at the end of the day. I just like to know about who we're having around. You plan being in there for five minutes, and you're in there for half an hour. That's just him. It's no different from every other week. I go in there every week and talk to him about my game, or what we can do better as a team. That's what senior players do.
''There's no unrest. There's players that are not happy about having to go, I suppose, but it's out of the way, and that's good for the club.''
Moltzen's departure to St George Illawarra next year caused ripples particularly since he is a flatmate of Marshall's. But he conceded Moltzen might now be better off.
''It's disappointing, but at the end of the day, it might be a good move for 'Moltz'; a new start, at a team that needs a fullback,'' Marshall said. ''With the form he showed on the weekend [against North Queensland], there are promising signs of what he can offer to the club.
''As a mate, it's sad to lose him. I just won't see him every day now.
''In my opinion, he's a representative player of the future without a doubt, and he showed glimpses on the weekend of what he can do.''
The Tigers did likewise, beating the Cowboys 38-18 and showing there was life in the side yet, having come through their off-field turbulence. The Tigers face Sydney Roosters on Saturday night at Leichhardt Oval with Marshall hoping the club has turned a corner.
''We hadn't scored more than six points for three weeks,'' Marshall said. ''It was just our completions. We completed under 50 per cent against Parramatta, the week before something like 60 per cent. When you give the opposition teams too much ball, you're never going to win. We addressed that on the weekend. We really turned our completion rate around. Our attitude was always there - we just weren't executing the way we should have been.
''We're still in the eight … anyone in the eight can win it.''
Marshall said the fact that the Tigers had yet to show their best made them confident they could still trouble the top sides in the finals.
''We have to be,'' he said. ''Our execution's been poor for three weeks, but we turned it around in one game. We've just got to keep doing that. There's plenty of improvement. We're far from our best.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/we-always-fight-marshall-plays-down-sheens-spats-20110718-1hlql.html#ixzz1SSzjkuad
