Magpies Forever
Juniors
- Messages
- 2,208
Secret plot to sack Benji Marshall
HE IS the player who can dismantle the Kangaroos. The kid who could sit the raging favourites squarely on their unbackable backsides - like he has before.
So it will shock you - not least if you're a Wests Tigers fan - to learn that some within Benji Marshall's club wanted to see the back of him this year.
When the off-contract Marshall was eyeing off lucrative rugby union deals in Japan and Europe, and he was struggling in the new gig as halfback, serious doubts were raised about whether he should be cut.
It is a revelation that comes from Tim Sheens. His coach in club land, but also the Kangaroos mentor who knows better than anyone the Kiwi captain must be shut down at Twickenham tomorrow night.
"I, more than anyone, have always had a heap of faith in the kid,'' Sheens says. "But there are elements in our club that wanted him gone. Because of a lack of value for what they saw and what they were paying him. Which is just ludicrous.
"He's more money to our club even when he wasn't playing. From the point of view of marketing and the number of kids that follow him, it's endless. He's changed our club completely.''
The coach and his prodigy square up against one another for the second time in their opening match of the Four Nations, but this time there's no playful trash talk, no tongue-in-cheek threats.
"That was a little bit of banter at the time - maybe I shouldn't have said anything,'' Marshall grins.
What's clear is that he's a reborn player since the Anzac Test in May, when the Kangaroos silenced the Kiwis.
From the outside looking in, it seemed Sheens' decision to move Marshall to halfback was the reason for the playmaker's sluggish start to the year.
On top of shoulder and knee injuries that had curtailed his influence in the previous two seasons, his erratic form added to the belief Marshall had burned brightly but faded as quickly as his mid-air sidestep.
Ask the player and coach, and they scoff at the notion. As they explain it, Marshall has been switching between first and second receiver all year. When Tim Moltzen came into the side as halfback and Marshall fitted snuggly into his No.6 jumper again, his job did not change.
To that end, Marshall's switch was nothing more than a media obsession.
In fact, when Sheens told Marshall before the round 10 match against South Sydney that he was moving him back to pivot, Marshall baulked.
"You don't have to do that,'' he told Sheens. "Don't let them get to you.''
As he recalls now: "I really didn't care if he did [moved him] or not. When he did, I think he was under the pump from a few people. I honestly don't think that my role changed at all.
"If you go through the tapes, I was doing the same organising, the same job. If anything, the pressure of not being the halfback was off.''
Sheens says: "I put six on his back again, but he has been playing exactly the same role.
"I don't care what anyone says, they don't know what they're talking about. He is playing the same.
"That was just a period of the season when he was trying too hard. We were losing a few games. I thought it would ease the pressure off our club.
"And it did - it got the media off our back.''
Whatever it was, it brought about a change in Marshall that turned around the Tigers' season. Indeed, towards the pointy end of the year, when the Tigers were gunning for the finals, he was certainly pulling out the same inexplicable plays that paved the way for the club's 2005 premiership.
It was never more evident than August, when that behind-the-back miracle flick pass against Parramatta put centre Blake Ayshford over and Tigers hooker Robbie Farah was standing dumbfounded in the middle of the Sydney Football Stadium.
"I said to him on the field, 'That is the greatest thing I have ever seen','' Farah recalls. "For him to even think about attempting it, I can't comprehend. But that's Benji.''
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/secret-plot-to-sack-benji-marshall/story-e6frexnr-1225790156814
My comments:
First- Old news. Yes, there were people quite rightly questioning Benji’s re-signing at the time – he had had a horrendous injury run and the question had to be asked was he worth it? Also the protracted media circus around his decision and options WERE NOT doing WT any favours.
Second- Teflon now continues the old news and makes into new news exposing ‘elements in our club’ versus his incredible vision, faith and expertise and his own followers.
Third- no reflection or even acceptance that the change worked and was the reason behind WT change of fortune in the later half of the 2009 season. Its all the media's fault................
Forth- the ego is incredible in this bloke. I have a horrible feeling he is going to tear the club apart in 2010 before he goes of his own volition at end of season / is punted at end of season / is extended.
HE IS the player who can dismantle the Kangaroos. The kid who could sit the raging favourites squarely on their unbackable backsides - like he has before.
So it will shock you - not least if you're a Wests Tigers fan - to learn that some within Benji Marshall's club wanted to see the back of him this year.
When the off-contract Marshall was eyeing off lucrative rugby union deals in Japan and Europe, and he was struggling in the new gig as halfback, serious doubts were raised about whether he should be cut.
It is a revelation that comes from Tim Sheens. His coach in club land, but also the Kangaroos mentor who knows better than anyone the Kiwi captain must be shut down at Twickenham tomorrow night.
"I, more than anyone, have always had a heap of faith in the kid,'' Sheens says. "But there are elements in our club that wanted him gone. Because of a lack of value for what they saw and what they were paying him. Which is just ludicrous.
"He's more money to our club even when he wasn't playing. From the point of view of marketing and the number of kids that follow him, it's endless. He's changed our club completely.''
The coach and his prodigy square up against one another for the second time in their opening match of the Four Nations, but this time there's no playful trash talk, no tongue-in-cheek threats.
"That was a little bit of banter at the time - maybe I shouldn't have said anything,'' Marshall grins.
What's clear is that he's a reborn player since the Anzac Test in May, when the Kangaroos silenced the Kiwis.
From the outside looking in, it seemed Sheens' decision to move Marshall to halfback was the reason for the playmaker's sluggish start to the year.
On top of shoulder and knee injuries that had curtailed his influence in the previous two seasons, his erratic form added to the belief Marshall had burned brightly but faded as quickly as his mid-air sidestep.
Ask the player and coach, and they scoff at the notion. As they explain it, Marshall has been switching between first and second receiver all year. When Tim Moltzen came into the side as halfback and Marshall fitted snuggly into his No.6 jumper again, his job did not change.
To that end, Marshall's switch was nothing more than a media obsession.
In fact, when Sheens told Marshall before the round 10 match against South Sydney that he was moving him back to pivot, Marshall baulked.
"You don't have to do that,'' he told Sheens. "Don't let them get to you.''
As he recalls now: "I really didn't care if he did [moved him] or not. When he did, I think he was under the pump from a few people. I honestly don't think that my role changed at all.
"If you go through the tapes, I was doing the same organising, the same job. If anything, the pressure of not being the halfback was off.''
Sheens says: "I put six on his back again, but he has been playing exactly the same role.
"I don't care what anyone says, they don't know what they're talking about. He is playing the same.
"That was just a period of the season when he was trying too hard. We were losing a few games. I thought it would ease the pressure off our club.
"And it did - it got the media off our back.''
Whatever it was, it brought about a change in Marshall that turned around the Tigers' season. Indeed, towards the pointy end of the year, when the Tigers were gunning for the finals, he was certainly pulling out the same inexplicable plays that paved the way for the club's 2005 premiership.
It was never more evident than August, when that behind-the-back miracle flick pass against Parramatta put centre Blake Ayshford over and Tigers hooker Robbie Farah was standing dumbfounded in the middle of the Sydney Football Stadium.
"I said to him on the field, 'That is the greatest thing I have ever seen','' Farah recalls. "For him to even think about attempting it, I can't comprehend. But that's Benji.''
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/secret-plot-to-sack-benji-marshall/story-e6frexnr-1225790156814
My comments:
First- Old news. Yes, there were people quite rightly questioning Benji’s re-signing at the time – he had had a horrendous injury run and the question had to be asked was he worth it? Also the protracted media circus around his decision and options WERE NOT doing WT any favours.
Second- Teflon now continues the old news and makes into new news exposing ‘elements in our club’ versus his incredible vision, faith and expertise and his own followers.
Third- no reflection or even acceptance that the change worked and was the reason behind WT change of fortune in the later half of the 2009 season. Its all the media's fault................
Forth- the ego is incredible in this bloke. I have a horrible feeling he is going to tear the club apart in 2010 before he goes of his own volition at end of season / is punted at end of season / is extended.
