What am I missing about Ben Murdoch-Masala?

[NEDKELLY]

As a regional supporter who only gets to see the odd West's Tigers Toyota games on Fox I have failed to witness the hype that surrounds BMM! On the few occasions he has played first grade he hasn't demonstrated anything special that suggests he will cover the loss of Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and possibly Heighnington!

In fact I am really concerned that if Simon Dwyer does NOT make it back onto the field in 2012 and along with the above mentioned departures the Tigers forwards will be just a shadow of the current 2011 squad, and this is considerate of the imminent signing of Adam Blair. Surely no-one believes that Groat and Begovich will be mature enough to be regular first graders in 2012? As we know forwards don't really mature until they are about 23-24 with the odd exception such as Tariq Simms from NTH QLD.

Anyway I hope I am wrong about young Murdoch but I have watched the game of League for over 47 years and I believe I can pick out a special player from an average one and at the moment young Ben appears to be the latter. I am not sure whether there was a personality clash with Mr Sheens but for mine letting Andrew Fifita go to the Sharks may come back to haunt the Tigers down the track as in my opinion he is going to be SPECIAL!

What will the forward pack look like in 2012 without Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and possibly Heighnington and Dwyer (if he fails to recover)? The forwards left are as follows:
Galloway
Farah
Woods (I still believe he won't be at his best for another 2-3 years)
Ellis
Blair
Fulton

Who makes up the bench and what if the club has injuries such as Souths had this year with the loss of Asotasi, Burgess, Stuart, Lowe etc? The team is starting to have wooden spoon look about it unless we see the club unleash some major signings in the coming weeks/months?

 

[bigdamo]

i agree big slow a bit of a nuffie begovich and groat are the guns not this big loafer

 

[Blackandwhite]

He has enormous potential but He has an average attitude at the moment and is playing average..club needs to sort out his future and not bs to the kid. The mind games they play on these kids doesn't do anyone any good.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

BMM is better than Fifita. Give him some time, how many first grade games has he played? 4 or 5? That was his first start.

 

[biggest_tigers_fan]

Bmm put a good hit on last night and I am afraid that's his hilights package so far
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[barra]

He goes well in NYC although even there maybe not as dominant as I would have expected.

But you have to remember he is very young. If he can get to consistent NRL standard week after week is yet to be seen and may be an issue if we indeed relying on him for next year.

 

[system]

Missed the entire off season this year through injury and this has shown through in his conditioning at both levels he has played.

Excellent prospect and a real asset to hold on to

 

[boonboon]

Yeah excellent prospect but missing the off season and a while this yr with injury has left him a bit underdone -with a full off season with FG squad I think he will be a real standout next year and he is bigger and stronger and quicker then Fifita

 

[Icon]

NedKelly - i agree with your comments about Fifita…, one of the worst decisions i've seen and it will definately come back to haunt us.

 

[weststigerman]

I have serious doubts whether he will reach his potential.

Seems extremely lazy. When he hits the line he's hard to stop but his work rate is nowhere near good enough. I've seen him play 80 minutes in NYC and make less than 10 tackles.

He has all the ability in the world, but needs to lose at least 10 kg IMO.

 

[Blackandwhite]

I am not sure whether there was a personality clash with Mr Sheens but for mine letting Andrew Fifita go to the Sharks may come back to haunt the Tigers down the track as in my opinion he is going to be SPECIAL!

Off Topic..YES..Why you blaming Sheens ? Sheens didn't want Fifta or Moltzen for that matter to leave..he had them signed up for next year at least.

 

[bonstonker]

i don't know ned.
been talked up,but really hasn't shown one great trait in first grade.
and i agree with you about woods as well.

can't expect a group of kids to carry you at prop through a whole season.

 

[tiger05]

I rate BMM. I think he looks the goods but your right in that he hasn't set the world on fire in the top grade.

 

[NEDKELLY]

by Blackandwhite » Sat 09 Jul, 2011 2:04 pm
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NEDKELLY wrote:
I am not sure whether there was a personality clash with Mr Sheens but for mine letting Andrew Fifita go to the Sharks may come back to haunt the Tigers down the track as in my opinion he is going to be SPECIAL!
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Off Topic..YES..Why you blaming Sheens ? Sheens didn't want Fifta or Moltzen for that matter to leave..he had them signed up for next year at least.

Black and White I only asked the question was there a problem between player and coach? **I appreciate that you have inside information that suggests it was NOT coach Sheens and that other parties within the club were responsible for moving on Fifita**.

Do you care to share who at the end of the day let Andrew Fifita along with Moltzen both get out of their 2012 binding contracts as it quite amazing that the club coach just sat back and did not have any input whatsoever on his playing roster for 2012!

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Missed the entire off season this year through injury and this has shown through in his conditioning at both levels he has played.

Yes, he does not look as fit as maybe he could. I thought a few weeks back his condition was improving, but then he went back to 20's and looks like he has gone backwards.

Did he come off injured last night? He came off the field quickly after trying to shoulder charge Fui. I hope he was watching Lawrence when he put his hit on the powder-puff.

 

[TigerGene]

I rate BMM. I think he looks the goods but your right in that he hasn't set the world on fire in the top grade.

….........with the operative words "looks the goods"........

 

[Twodogs]

As a regional supporter who only gets to see the odd West's Tigers Toyota games on Fox I have failed to witness the hype that surrounds BMM! On the few occasions he has played first grade he hasn't demonstrated anything special that suggests he will cover the loss of Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and possibly Heighnington!

The only time i've ever noticed him is when he's droppping the ball :unamused: He has hands like the stony guy in the Fantastic Four :roll

Low workrate, poor hands, not sure what the fuss is about. I hope WT don't expect him to fill any shoes 😱pen_mouth:

 

[CocaCola]

BMM hasn't had the best of performances on field. I wont hold anything againts him with the limited game time he has had, but im sad to see Fifita go, he was the best young prospect out of the forwards to date.

But back to BMM, he hasn't shown anything to justify the hype he had prior to cracking 1st grade. Simona has shown more promise as a youngster with the 2 games he's started.

 

[smoking_gun]

U guys expect to much of 19 year olds. The kid has it, come this time next year u will be eating your words.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

that time that saw him walking in the carpark leaving Campbelltown Stadium as first grade was about to start. I lost a lot of respect for him in that moment - he has to earn it back. I prefer proffesional footballers in this day and age.