Benji at half - question for Tigers fans

[Talanexor]

Quick question for all you Tigers fans - who here actually thinks Benji could make the transition to half successfully?

I think he's brilliant at 5/8, where he gets to pick and choose his moments. I think he's the logical choice to play halfback - John Morris is a joke, really.

Darren Lockyer was criticised a LOT when he made the transition from fullback to 5/8. It certainly took him time, but he has been regarded as one of, if not the best, five-eighth in the world for a few years now. And that transition is a lot bigger than 5/8 to halfback, especially in terms of defensive workload.

So is Benji just having teething problems, and will make a great halfback? Or is this another Sheens experiment doomed to failure?

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Teething problems is exactly what they are.

His kicking game is his biggest weakness at this point, and even then more is made out of it than needs to be. He kicked a couple out on the full last week, but his kicking game in the first half was pretty much excellent, found space on every long kick and had one or two decent attacking kicks. In the second half he kicked out twice, but one came when he was out of position, which should happen less and less as he gets used to playing 7. Both kicks incidentally came kicking to the open side of his body, i.e to his right, and I recall a kick at LO last year which went out on the full to the same side so hopefully that's been identified and he works on it.

Defensively, he was a mile improved last week, even from the trial against the Roosters. He slid off a tackle early on and was palmed by Bronson, but he also shut down the Raiders twice in the first half by moving up early, making contact and sticking in the tackle. He's good when the line is moving forward and bad when it's sliding, but that could be said about half our team (Halatau, Lawrence etc).

Biggest issue when he's passing the ball, and it's a problem with a lot of halves these days, is that few outside backs stand deep to receive the ball, they're all standing flat so passes that should be caught as the player runs onto the ball are being caught either behind the winger / centre or going behind them altogether. This will happen in every game you watch, not just Tigers games, so I'm not concerned by it.

He attacked the line once early on last week and that was about it, I'd expect that to increase as he gains more comfort in the position.

As you can tell, I'm happy with the move as I think he's the club's best answer at 7. He's still improving but all signs are positive.

 

[Tigers_are_Pro]

Benji could be a good 1/2, but will always be a great 5/8.

I'm willing to say that if Benji had never been so injury prone, he would easily be the best 5/8 in the world.
If we still had Prince, we'd be sitting pretty.

 

[Talanexor]

If you still had Prince you would have won another premiership by now.

 

[Marshall_magic]

If you still had Prince you would have won another premiership by now.

We had Prince, Laffranchi and Skandalis all in 2006, and we were awful.


Marshall at 7 is a mistake, he has an instinct that if nothing is on to run sideways, and when he runs the show we will have a lot of sideways stuff. When he plays direct he is lethal.

 

[matty-ducati]

we had a half in head who did the job, made our team look like they no what there doing on the field, but our brilliant coach decided he isnt for us... what i would do to have head on the field with benji and f**k off morris

 

[ozbash]

Benji could be a good 1/2, but will always be a great 5/8.

I reckon his talents are wasted at 7.
At 6 he is one of the best in the bussiness.

 

[Magpies Forever]

As others have said Benji great 5/8, at best, an average 1/2. This move was designed to try to protect him a bit more from injury but he does not lead a team around the field, he can inspire them with his individual attacking brilliance at times.

I admit he is still learning but he will never be a great 1/2. An indicator of how people value him is watch how NZ select him- will it be 1/2 or 5/8? I'm not sure of the relative strengths / options NZ have there but that will be a good indicator beyond the spin of Teflon and his thickheadedness over the 1/2 back role at WT.

 

[Tigers_are_Pro]

One way out would be putting Marshall at 5/8 and having Farah and Morris alternating in Hooker/ 1/2

 

[Big Mick]

hows JOsh Lewis going at Half? and Wade Dunley? any chance?

 

[Magpies Forever]

hows JOsh Lewis going at Half? and Wade Dunley? any chance?

No chance- Teflon Tim would have to admit he is fallible and eat humble pie. Unless Marshall is injured the others will not get a chance and even then they'd have to ovecome Sheens automatic first preference for Morris.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

We're one for one this year with the Moltzen / Morris / Marshall / Farah spine. When a few losses have piled up then we can look at alternatives. Personally I'd be looking at a new fullback before bringing in a rookie half but that's just me.

As for Benji running sideways - now we've got Ellis & Hino on the fringes, as well as Lawrence & (if the ball ever goes his way) Collis, maybe he'll actually be able to link up with some ball runners.

 

[851]

we had a half in head who did the job, made our team look like they no what there doing on the field, but our brilliant coach decided he isnt for us... what i would do to have head on the field with benji and f**k off morris

Spot on,how this visionary of a coach is not hauled over the coals for his selection and retention policies is a mystery to me.

 

[Eddie.]

Spot on,how this visionary of a coach is not hauled over the coals for his selection and retention policies is a mystery to me.

I was as dissapointed as everyone the way Head was treated.

However lets get one thing straight, Head was no Scott Prince. He had good organisational skills however he posed no threat at all in terms of a running game, was a liability in defence and we won 5 from 11 with him at halfback. I saw this morning he was running around for Shellharbour, not lining up for ST George this weekend.

I would of given Head the rest of last season to see what he could of done when our forward pack was on the field. However he was not the mesiah most people are making him out to be. To be honest i prefer benji at half, someone who gives us a genuine running option and unpredictability. Sure Benji' kicking game and passing skills can be wild, but it can also bebrilliant. It is early days, he will grow into the role.

I seem to be more optimistic them most about Benji at halfback. I muich prefer our most dangerous player to touch the ball 40 times a game and make 6 errors, then hanfg out at five eight off crumbs with 6 touches and 2 errors. He is our "franchise" player, at halfback he has a chance to dominate.

 

[matty-ducati]

Another thing im sick of hearing is it will take time, well is someone gonna put a number of weeks/months/years/seasons its gonna take? In my opinion he is being paid to do a job, and his specialist job is 6. We dont have time to wait for him to no the game from 7, we already struggling under salery cap, failed to fill the 25th spot, now we have 23 with fults gone. When is the club gonna wake up and put the foot down. The coach's job is to coach the team to win, his winning percentage isnt anything to be happy about. Failing to make the 8 three years running is a joke, and if we dont make it this year i can already hear something like... "the comp was the closest and tightest in history, benji's first year in the 7 so its been a good learning experience for him we looking to next year"

 

[matty-ducati]

I was as dissapointed as everyone the way Head was treated.

However lets get one thing straight, Head was no Scott Prince.

No one has stated head is a Scott Prince, but head is a halfback, and benj n morris aint - Thats the difference.

Since the departure of Prince the best our team has looked on the field was when head was on the field. He was our BEST option. And to be honest if there was a poll for our halfs combination i think 6. Benji 7. Head would be ther winner of any combination of morris and marshall.

The club has failed to retain and buy new players yet again. We have promoted juniors, but we have had more losses then gains.

 

[Eddie.]

Another thing im sick of hearing is it will take time, well is someone gonna put a number of weeks/months/years/seasons its gonna take? In my opinion he is being paid to do a job, and his specialist job is 6. We dont have time to wait for him to no the game from 7, we already struggling under salery cap, failed to fill the 25th spot, now we have 23 with fults gone. When is the club gonna wake up and put the foot down. The coach's job is to coach the team to win, his winning percentage isnt anything to be happy about. Failing to make the 8 three years running is a joke, and if we dont make it this year i can already hear something like... "the comp was the closest and tightest in history, benji's first year in the 7 so its been a good learning experience for him we looking to next year"

Im not going to be making excuses for Coach Sheens. Im not going to defend the recruitment and retuention. It has been ordinary. However people seem ot be looking through rose coloured glasses a little with Head. We won 5 from 11 with him at starting halfback. He set up some nice tries, but at times was poor in defence and had no running game. We didn't see much of his kicking game (probably Sheens fault) Ben Hornby is preferred to him as Dragons half.

My view is with our current unbalanced list , Marshall at 7 is our best chance to potentially go from bottom half also rans to making a return to the finals.

Thats not saying we shouldn't target a halfback for 2010 should it backfire. Anyway, im pretty confident Marshall will have a decent season. However with an average overall list it still might not be enough to gurantee success.

 

[dubopov]

No one has stated head is a Scott Prince, but head is a halfback, and benj n morris aint - Thats the difference.

Since the departure of Prince the best our team has looked on the field was when head was on the field. He was our BEST option. And to be honest if there was a poll for our halfs combination i think 6. Benji 7. Head would be ther winner of any combination of morris and marshall.

The club has failed to retain and buy new players yet again. We have promoted juniors, but we have had more losses then gains.

mate, as a long time saints supporter I can unequivically say that Head is f**king useless. I don't know why we bothered getting him back. Hornby is ordinary, Head is diabolical.

 

[super_coach]

Head would be okay in a super strong side, where he could direct trafic and didnt have to tackle or run, in our side he was a liability.

Benji will be a top no7 by the end of the season if the rest of the side goes okay. With the forward pack looking bigger and stronger than in previous years their should be a platform for Benji to show his tricks.I think the silly errors will decrease with experience

 

[chunk]

I think Head has serious defensive problems and didn't show enough improvement throughout the year.

Along side Farah, Marshall is potentially the best player in the club and you want your best player getting the ball as much as possible.

Remember when he had a big year at 5/8 no one new what he was about and no one had any expectations.

He has been through a lot and has matured and I reckon he has all the attributes of being a great halfback and we should give him some time to adjust.