Is Marshall a great player?

[God-King Dean]

Simple question.

 

[DJShaksta]

Better than average. Not great.
His sheer brilliance at times is balanced our by his sheer shiteness at other times.

 

[umina panther]

No he's a good player but most times he'd rather look flashy and throw a stupid flick pass when an easy ball will do the same. Can be great to watch as a neutral fan but the 9 wankfest is sickening.......yay 5 more years

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

Good, not great.

Has moments of brilliance, offset with moments of stupidity.

 

[betcats]

Naaaa.

He can be brilliant at times but not consistently. He also has some absolute howlers in his game.

I'd say he is a very good player who has probably suffered under Sheens a bit.

 

[dogslife]

Benji Marshall. Sunday football. Leichhardt oval. Sunday. Benji...

I'm going back to bed Rabbits

 

[BuffaloRules]

He has done some great things on the footy field....

But also some brain explosions...

How about this question...

Is our game better for his involvement?

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

He can be. He has also shown he can lose the plot in the big games when things get tight.

Better than most but not in the elite category. Fun to watch though.

 

[Clifferd]

He is the player who has had the most influence on our juniors.


He is too inconsistent to be considered a great player.

When he is on his game there isn't much better than him.

 

[juro]

He has done some things I have never seen any other player do. Breathtakingly good and asswipingly bad in every set of 6...

 

[AlwaysGreen]

He could be great. The best thing about Marshall at his peak was that he took the line on and caused doubt - would he step? Would he fire the short ball? Long ball? Flick pass?

Now he's a crab. He goes sideways rather than forward and his tricks can be shut down. He's not an organizer yet he tries to do that, whether by sheens direction or not, and the tigers look directionless.

He's not in my top ten best players in the game. Farah > Bunji.

 

[dogslife]

He's no Ben Kusto...

 

[AlwaysGreen]

He's no Ben Kusto...

Either are you.

 

[some11]

Can go missing/put on the worst play at the worst time.

 

[Zigwaa]

Yes, simple answer

 

[roarr]

He's definitely one-of-a-kind, and I probably wouldn't swap him for anyone, but he's probably a good rung or two below the "greats of the game". In saying that, you have to remember 2012 has probably been one of his worse seasons (see #7/sheens is a genius discussion).

He's probably in the Thurston category where if he wants to be a great, he's gonna have to bring home another Premiership, and he's gonna have to do it on his back.

 

[Front-Rower]

He could be great. The best thing about Marshall at his peak was that he took the line on and caused doubt - would he step? Would he fire the short ball? Long ball? Flick pass?

Now he's a crab. He goes sideways rather than forward and his tricks can be shut down. He's not an organizer yet he tries to do that, whether by sheens direction or not, and the tigers look directionless.

He's not in my top ten best players in the game. Farah > Bunji.

Of course it's all Sheen's fault. Taking the best running 5/8th in the game, putting him at halfback and telling him to organise the troops isn't working. Didn't work in '07, 08' and so far isn't working in '12.

It's nearly as good as Sheen's trying to turn Lawrence in to the next Laurie Daley by playing him at 5/8th

Can Canberra do us a favour and buy the super coach back?

 

[Stagger Lee]

I think sometimes we all get sick of the ch9 arse licking that goes on but if we only judge him on the 80 mins a game then yes he is a great player ..... but far from the greatest.

 

[The Rosco]

His highlights reel would be one of the best in history . . . . but that alone don't make him great.
He is the most mimicked player by junior players everywhere . . . but that alone don't make him great.
He introduced THAT step to the game, never seen before . . . but that alone don't make him great.
Some of the things he does on the field are sheer brilliance . . . but that alone don't make him great.
Some of the things he does on the field wanna make you puke . . . but that alone don't make him great.

So many of the wildly talented players in the past suffered the same "extremes" of game performances. Mundine, Lyons, McGrady, Walker, etc.
Is it a function of "having a go, and seeing what comes off ?"

And then to balance the discussion, you have the likes of Billy, snake, Farah, Barba etc etc who play at a consistently high level without the brain snaps.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Of course it's all Sheen's fault. Taking the best running 5/8th in the game, putting him at halfback and telling him to organise the troops isn't working. Didn't work in '07, 08' and so far isn't working in '12.

It's nearly as good as Sheen's trying to turn Lawrence in to the next Laurie Daley by playing him at 5/8th

Can Canberra do us a favour and buy the super coach back?

Pretty much sums it up.

Benjis best years have been when he can be 5/8 and has a genuine 1/2 doing all the organizing etc. his best years have been 05 with prince and 10/11 with Lui. This has been his worst year since 2008 as sheens has made him our sole play maker.

Is he a great player? Probably not, he could be though if the coach uses him correctly.