What would Potter be thinking now ??

[Justo]

A team needs to play to Marshalls style. Where as Thurston plays to the teams style - and why he orchestrates his club side, origin side and international side around the park so well and so successfully. Makes a massive difference in the results. Marshall looked lost out there. Most of the all stars have never played with him, and didn't know how to play with him - Marshall isnt an orchestrator, the players around him need to be.

 

[barra]

Happy, I understand what you are saying, guess I'm just not that hard core about, and I'm prepared to cut Benji a lot of slack - no doubt too much by your standards!

But that's how I feel about it, Benji has done more for this team and club than will ever be quantifiable, and for that I will always be thankful. On another thread someone said something about him being over-hyped rather than over-rated, and I tend to agree with that.

And I really think he does have an attitude to win games, but has been weighed down in the past with the expectations placed upon him by his coach and team mates.

I really hope that Potter sets up a good halves combo with one of the young guns, that is one of the things he should be thinking!

 

[tigsta]

This isnt even a Wests Tigers trial, while neither played fantastic i will wait & see how they go after the first round, no reason to panic yet.

And then after the trials it will be wait til the season proper we'll be fine ,and then it will be Round 8 and it will "Don't worry we have still have 16 games left" and all the sudden it will be "if we win our last three with a positive for and against of 80 we will scrap into the 8

Attitude is attitude , and Benji's attitude didn't look like it had changed

Look at many of the others who played , they put in , or because it Benji he lives by a different set of rules and we need to judge him differently because he wears a Tigers jersey

Rugby league is a team game. Could you name any player in Benji's team who did play well?

Ashley Harrison , Cam Smith

How about Willie Mason,, He was excellent. And he is what 7 years older than Benji. And we rejected him last year. Error.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

This isnt even a Wests Tigers trial, while neither played fantastic i will wait & see how they go after the first round, no reason to panic yet.

And then after the trials it will be wait til the season proper we'll be fine ,and then it will be Round 8 and it will "Don't worry we have still have 16 games left" and all the sudden it will be "if we win our last three with a positive for and against of 80 we will scrap into the 8

Attitude is attitude , and Benji's attitude didn't look like it had changed

Look at many of the others who played , they put in , or because it Benji he lives by a different set of rules and we need to judge him differently because he wears a Tigers jersey

very good post Happy. So true. It was really last Saturday night just another game of football that is becoming a tradition. **It is of yawning reality that Thurston, Barba & company went into this game with a alternative frame of mind. These types of players are far & few & cost big money. Their attitudes are unwavering.**

The simple fact of it is that the Indigenous team had something to play for and the NRL All-Stars really didn't…I would say if you asked the NRL A-S blokes they would probably just treat that game as if they were playing against the Cootamundra under-12's, win or lose makes not much difference to them.

A common cause can turn people into something extraordinary, it is why tiny countries like Afghanistan and Vietnam can defeat world superpowers in war.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

good point fade to black.
The uncanny difference for me is that Thurston & Barba play consistently- most games anyway. Dont you think?

 

[Fade_To_Black]

Barba has had one good season though AHX and that's it- will reserve judgement on him for a couple more seasons yet.
Thurston on the other hand is a champion who tries his guts out in every game he plays and is very consistent IMO….he can still have his bad days though where he and his team play bad and he spits the dummy when things don't go his way. That could either be petulence or competitiveness, I would say the latter.

Benji will go well this year :wink:

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

fade to black you cannot deny that all those 3 superstars we are talking about- judging from Saturdays night game - picked up from where they left off in 2012\. I know its only the first game. I dont know about anyone else but i was enthralled in our man Benji but it didnt happen. What a huge letdown. But thats me.

 

[tig_prmz]

Feel like this is going around in circles, frustration is one thing….but some on this forum have essentially written him off as a player and by extension, our 2013 season.

there are drama queens everywhere. first game of the season, everyone wants to skip to the end and predict what it's gonna be like. from what u saw this game.. that's how it looked.

 

[happy_tiger]

Feel like this is going around in circles, frustration is one thing….but some on this forum have essentially written him off as a player and by extension, our 2013 season.

there are drama queens everywhere. first game of the season, everyone wants to skip to the end and predict what it's gonna be like. from what u saw this game.. that's how it looked.

Go back and read all Benji's interviews this season Never trained harder , a change will do us good , learnt new things from Potter He should be as fresh as a daisy And then first game , a game that should be fun and played in all the spirit that should suit Benji and his game to a T

And all I saw was 2012 all over again

And if Benji plays like he did in 2012 in 2013 you can kiss our skinny butts goodbye

It's not being a drama queen , I'm dealing with cold hard reality and if some want to think that signing some fringe first graders from other clubs , a guy at 31 who won't play in his best position , and a new coach with no NRL experience at all will definitely turn our season around you could be slightly disappointed . Hope I'm wrong , but if we are to win the premiership in 2013 it will be more extraordinary than 2005

 

[innsaneink]

Feel like this is going around in circles, frustration is one thing….but some on this forum have essentially written him off as a player and by extension, our 2013 season.

there are drama queens everywhere. **first** game of the season, everyone wants to skip to the **end** and predict what it's gonna be like. from what u saw this game.. that's how it looked.

People watched and saw what happened most recently (all stars game) and see the past (his inconsistency)…..and fear the future will be like that what weve seen prior, theyre only relating what they know

THIS is the public perception of Benji marshall.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

thanks for explaining it the simple way Ink.
We all hope the best for Benji & our Wests Tigers.

 

[system]

Whilst I understand concerns I write off the All Stars sides performance.

Aside from Cam Smith who used it as a genuine hit out (limited trials before WCC) the All Stars side has nothing to play for.

In particular Benji Marshall had nothing to play for, he had no combinations to build, he had no upside at all as he is in the upper echelon of players, he has two full club trials to get combinations in practice. The only way that the All Stars game could effect his 2013 would be injury and he played that way.

Watching the trial footage of the first game I liken all of our players to a swimmer who is tapering training towards a competition date. They are a bit sloppy, and not anywhere near firing on all cylinders.

I get that Marshall has a history of this but we are willing to give other players a shot under a fresh coach and he deserves the same.

Marshall and Farah will make some of the old mistakes early in the season. It is instinct allowed to establish from years of non correction. If the same old problems are still around in Round 8 then we have a problem

 

[T-REXX]

i can tell you exactly what he is thinking..

"boy oh boy, the forum is going to be calling for my HEAD!!!"

fair dinkum…. what do you think he is going to think... let the team kick a ball to start the season and then worry bout it..
i hate to think what will happen if we loose the first round of the season....

He will be on the chopping block for sure...
by round 2... sacked by half of the forum

 

[Newtown]

Go back and read all Benji's interviews this season Never trained harder , a change will do us good , learnt new things from Potter He should be as fresh as a daisy And then first game , a game that should be fun and played in all the spirit that should suit Benji and his game to a T

And all I saw was 2012 all over again

And if Benji plays like he did in 2012 in 2013 you can kiss our skinny butts goodbye

It's not being a drama queen , I'm dealing with cold hard reality and if some want to think that signing some fringe first graders from other clubs , a guy at 31 who won't play in his best position , and a new coach with no NRL experience at all will definitely turn our season around you could be slightly disappointed . Hope I'm wrong , but if we are to win the premiership in 2013 it will be more extraordinary than 2005

Remember, the trainer of a horse set for the Melbourne Cup would never have a horse fully wound up for his first trials after a spell. The same goes for most footballers. The only exceptions are those very young footballers trying to impress the FG coach/selectors in the early season trials. They don't have any other choice if they want to be considered for the early season matches.

 

[andrew 474]

Mr Potter would be thinking wow how did i get this job , great club , good team roster , super strong juniors coming through , players training hard , some had to play in a game saturday night , no reference to my team , we are prepared for 2013 cant wait till my boys run on the field first time for me , robbie and benji have had sheens , potter , bennett in the last 6 months , potter wont be worried nor should we be , anasta will do kicking in play and he is very good at it , new buys will want to impress , young bulls will also be trying to impress Potter will be licking his lips , tigers top 4

 

[palms]

Yeah both Marshall and Farah looked quite flat so it may be a case of them having a heavy workload at club training which didn't allow for them to be 100% raring to go on Allstar game day. I am quite nervous about this season but regardless, i'm going to reserve praise or criticism on not only Marshall and Farah, but the team until I have seen both these lads playing with guys they have been training with for 5 months not 5 minutes. Again Marshall did look flat but it could of been because of a whole bunch of reasons that we are not savvy to. The reality is the scoreboard read 32-6, NRL completed only 62% of their sets and were far outplayed by a passionate Indigenous team that had far more to play for. Sure people keep reverting back to Thurston, Inglis and Barba but the common theme here is they are all from the Indigenous team, one is the Dally M medal winner from 2012 and the other two have been playing together at QLD for 7-8 years now. Please don't shoot the gun, at least give them a month at the Tigers to show some spark if not then let the criticism rain!

 

[2041]

There is virtually nothing that happens in trials, with the exception of injuries, that offers any realistic guide to the season ahead. I'd love to see data on trial performance and final season finishing order - I'd be prepared to bet there is so little correlation it's not even worth plotting.

Every team's pre-season routine is different and for professional athletes the difference of a couple of days in conditioning makes a huge difference after an offseason. Frankly I couldn't care less about the all star game* (we live in an era in which exhibition/all star games are dying out across sporting codes as a result of lack of interest and effort from participants and crowds, yet it is now that the NRL decides to add one - nice work guys) and the fact that neither of the Tigers players got injured (which seemed to be the main goal of Marshall's performance) is the only thing I'm taking out of it.

* This is where I have to make a note about the laudable goals of the fixture et cetera et cetera. Yes it is a nice idea, but unfortunately a completely redundant one that I doubt will make it into the next decade with any pretence of being a 'real' match. First all-star ACL and it'll be touch rugby played by the reggies.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

"Where can I find another front rower?"

 

[LCA]

Potter would be thinking: "at least one super-coach's (Bennett) reputation is shot. So not many more to go before I am seen as a super-coach". Seriously, I think the Bennett influence at the NRL level of contest is past its use by date. More than anything, that's what I took out of the game. The Indigenous team with Daley and Bellamy steering the ship were much more dynamic, decisive and cohesive. It reinforced (for me at least) what a great move it has been to ditch Tim Sheens and give some new (comparatively) blood a go. I don't think Bennett will see out his contract at Newcastle. Not really relevant to this forum, I know.

 

[pHyR3]

Okay, I wanna get a few things straight.

Benji is and has always been an amazing player, the only reason he got crap for 2012 is because people are comparing him to the Benji marshall who steered his team to two top 4 finishes, won the golden boot, the world cup and the four nations. He still got the TOP number of try assists IN THE NRL, beating out thurston and cronk and whoever. And that's something like the 3rd season in a row he's done that.

Secondly, benji's pace has barely fallen off at all. speed was NEVER the biggest part of his game, it was his AMAZING agility and stepping. I just looked at a 11min 2005 highlight reel, sure he was speedy but he created opportunities through his step and agility, not speed. Even with his grand final flick pass to pat richards he was caught up to by a cowboys player; that's at 19 years. He's probably a little bit slower in 2012/13, but nothing that massive. He was caught up to by tamou sure, but tamou has been working on his sprinting quite considerably, very speedy forward nowadays and in the all stars he was caught up to barba and unless your name is morris or koroibete, good luck getting away from benny.

I'm not even gonna get into him being forced to play halfback with 7 different halves partners by a senile old man.

Next, he played a poor all stars game. No questions, but he was playing for a side that lost by 30 points and had NO stake in that game. The indigs were playing for their culture and heritage so they gave it their all; that's why robbie/benji didn't give 100% cause they just wanted to get out of there uninjured. Also, don't try and extrapolate a 26game season from 2 player's half-hearted attempt in an exhibition game where one of them didn't even play 80 min.