2003 Rookie of the Year

[Bobby DIGital]

I came in here just to vote for Benji 14 years after the fact, and when I first posted in this thread.

 

[dogz08]

i wasn't surprised who voted for michael witt lol

 

[moffla]

I reckon Slater will turn out alright

 

[Someguy]

So who wins Benji or Slater?

Slater has been consistently one of the top fullbacks in the comp for the majority of his career

Benji was 'the best player in the world' for many years according to channel 9

 

[Alex Murray]

aqua_duck, post: I'd go for Firman for sure, although if Benji Marshall had played more games, who knows. I don't really rate Billy Slater, he's got abit of pace and abit of footwork but there have been plenty of players like that who have come to nothing, eg Brad Watts. In 5 years time Firman will be recognised as a better player than Slater without doubt.

So is this the biggest blunder you’ve said?

 

[DeeJ]

Benji is the only one still playing in the NRL so he wins by attrition.

 

[Timmah]

Quality bump. @aqua_duck

 

[_snafu_]

Chris Nero.

 

[mozza91]

Voted Firman. Nothing better than a bow legged footballer.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Benji is the only one still playing in the NRL so he wins by attrition.

Insane when you consider his injury record early in his career.

 

[DeeJ]

Insane when you consider his injury record early in his career.

Maybe have helped him in the long run, sitting out a few seasons maybe saved his knees. He also went to union for a year which must of been cruisey for him.

Sonny Bill was pretty injury prone early on as well if I recall correctly.

 

[Knuckle-dragger]

 

[Someguy]

Debutants for 03

Ian Henderson
Lelea Paea
Tevita Metuisela
Steve Skinnon
Henari Veratau
Todd Olliver
Lopini Paea
Ben Willington
Chris Armit
Michael Witt
Nathan McMillan
Justin Tsoulos
Chris Heighnington
Adam Tippett
Gray Viane
Luke Covell
Robbie Farah
Dene Halatau
Benji Marshall
Clint Hall
Bryce Gibbs
Dean Collis
Liam Fulton
Brett Firman
Chris Nero
Dean Byrne
Dean Young
Ryan Tandy
David Howell
Ian Donnelly
Matt Head
Ashton Sims
Michael Henderson
Ben Creagh
Brett Olliver
Dayne Neirinckx
Brett Kearney
Stacey Katu
David Fa'alogo
Damon Alley-Tovio
Jess Caine
Troy Robinson
James Storer
Brenton Bowen
Jason Barsley
Aaron Morgan
Daniel Sorbello
Jacob Lillyman
Jason Bulgarelli
Michael Weyman
Ben Cross
Nick Youngquest
Don Tweedle
Matt Hilder
Shaun Wessel
Andrew Emelio
Nathan Vagg
Jarrad Anderson
Daniel Dumas
Andrew Dallalana
Russell Aitken
Dale Newton
Keith Galloway
Roy Friend
Dave Simmons
Reece Williams
Billy Slater
Dallas Johnson
Jake Webster
Ryan Hoffman
Dustin Cooper
Antonio Kafusi
Matt King
Luke Swain
Frank Pritchard
Craig Frawley
Tony Duggan
David Stagg
Sam Thaiday
Neville Costigan
Mark Robinson
Thomas Leuluai
Vince Mellars
Tevita Latu
Jerome Ropati
Matt Kennedy
Todd Bates
Craig Hall
Andrew Price
Reegan Tanner
Gavin Quinn
Blake Mueller
Todd Lowrie
Michael Ennis
Sam Harris
Alex Moore
Brett Stewart
Craig Hayne
Glenn Stewart

Pretty decent list.

From memory the stands out were: Slater (major favourite), Firman, Marshall, Witt and Sims.

Tigers actually done really well out of that list! Also storm slater Johnson Hoffman, did king debut with storm? Or did Cronulla give him a run?

 

[Big Pete]

Tigers actually done really well out of that list! Also storm slater Johnson Hoffman, did king debut with storm? Or did Cronulla give him a run?

It highlights what a new coach should do when they take over a struggling club. Identify the promising talents, slowly ease them into first grade and phase out the senior players who can no longer get the job done. Both Melbourne and Wests who for my money had the best debutants of the lot are a testament and would of course go onto achieve greater success. On the other hand, you've got Chris Anderson who blooded a lot of talent at Cronulla, but very few went onto make a great impact at the NRL level. It's a very interesting case study in terms of building a roster.

King made his debut with Melbourne. I wasn't following the lower grades at the time, but would be curious to know whether he was a gun at Premier League and the Sharks missed the boat, or if he was somebody basically picked out of obscurity and was transformed into a Test player while at Melbourne.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Just before the Dally Ms were canned for that year, reports were saying Firman and Slater were the favourites for rookie of the year. I wouldve backed Slater considering how many tries he scored that year. Firman was ok but I remember towards the end of the year he put in a lot of dud kicks particular against us at Parra Stadium.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Maybe have helped him in the long run, sitting out a few seasons maybe saved his knees. He also went to union for a year which must of been cruisey for him.

Sonny Bill was pretty injury prone early on as well if I recall correctly.

True, Benji had about 4 shoulder recos from 2004-2007. In round 1 2008 he did his knee which may have helped him, as it gave him a couple of months to properly rest up. The lighter schedule he had after leaving the Tigers (half a season in Rugby as well as being a squad player at the Broncos) probably gave him a few more years on his career.

 

[Sphagnum]

Slater is about to win his 16th rookie of the year in a row

 

[myrrh ken]

Firman had an almost telepathic relationship with Matt Johns

 

[stormbati]

King made his debut with Melbourne. I wasn't following the lower grades at the time, but would be curious to know whether he was a gun at Premier League and the Sharks missed the boat, or if he was somebody basically picked out of obscurity and was transformed into a Test player while at Melbourne.

IIRC King was coming off the bench in reserve grade and was about to call it but got a call from Matt Orford to go to Melbourne.
Or something like that but no one saw him coming. No hype between Storm fans either.