Benji Marshall returns to league

FlukeArtist · Apr 22, 2014

Patchey said:
This has been coming really hadn't it?

Disappointed at Benji for seemingly throwing in the towel so early. However I read earlier that he was set to be dropped to the development squad for a few weeks, so maybe that was the final straw for him.

JK has handled him pretty poorly, just as he's made a hash of managing a number of players recently (add Nathan Hughes, who is currently tearing up the Premiership, to the list of Anscombe and Fekitoa). Benji should have been made to play ITM and he shouldn't have been punted around the squad like an old football. He's clearly not a 10 and why he would be played there over Hickey is a mystery to me. He should have had a run of games at 15 and been given some backing. It seems to be he's been asked to come up with the good apropos of nothing and understandably failed to do so.

As a result it looks like he's going to be an embarrassing waste of money for us. I guess we at least have Ihia West now.

Off topic but Auckland clubs (NOT the ARFU) had issues with Nathan Hughes too, so you can't blame management for that one.
From what I understand; Hughes is all about himself.

ABs2011 · Apr 22, 2014

I hope someone comes clean on who actually was in control of Benjis lead up to Rugby. All the talk on Radio sport today is that the reason Benji didn't play any Rugby prior to his attempt at Super Rugby was because the Blues wanted the to "announce" Benji as a marquee Blues player and not wanting him to play any rugby before hand, thereby trumpeting/showing off their major signing. If you buy into that argument then the Blues are complete fools! It wreaks of big egos coming before putting together a winning side if you ask me and I'd be really keen for them to get to the bottom of who ballzd this up so badly. I have in the past given the Blues the benefit of the doubt that they were not complete retards and was left with Benji being at fault by not getting his head around how hard the transition would be and how much work he would need to put in prior to playing Super Rugby. However, radio sport does tend to be on the money more often that not and the consensus there is that the Blues are mostly at fault here.

All of this is making JK, Henry, Andy Dalton, Garry Whetton and the rest of the Blues board and management look really really bad. People need to be held accountable here so that the ones not at fault can stop being unfairly implicated in this mess.

easy2288 · Apr 22, 2014

I think Blues coach John Kirwan has made a mess in the whole team. Why did he threw Benji to play at 10 when he is still learning the game. JW could have selected Ihaia West to play last weekend. Anyway since JW arrived, the Blues has not been playing well since last season. The results show the truth. This is 15 man game and not only Benji...

ABs2011 · Apr 22, 2014

easy2288 said:
I think Blues coach John Kirwan has made a mess in the whole team. Why did he threw Benji to play at 10 when he is still learning the game. JW could have selected Ihaia West to play last weekend. Anyway since JW arrived, the Blues has not been playing well since last season. The results show the truth. This is 15 man game and not only Benji...

To be fair on JK there was some improvement when he took over from Pat Lam. Finished 10th that season vs 12 the year before.

Im just not sure this is all JKs doing. I just wonder if his hand has been forced a bit by the money men in the Blues back office. Seems to me they thought the Benji signing would revive the club but forgot to put the rugby and the team first. For example it aways struck me as a bit strange that Benji was consistently on the bench yet all we were hearing was he was not ready. Was JK being forced into including him in the 23?

TRF Mr Fish · Apr 22, 2014

ABs2011 said:
To be fair on JK there was some improvement when he took over from Pat Lam. Finished 10th that season vs 12 the year before.

Im just not sure this is all JKs doing. I just wonder if his hand has been forced a bit by the money men in the Blues back office. Seems to me they thought the Benji signing would revive the club but forgot to put the rugby and the team first. For example it aways struck me as a bit strange that Benji was consistently on the bench yet all we were hearing was he was not ready. Was JK being forced into including him in the 23?

I think the improvement was a coincidence, to be honest, at least to the point where I don't think the finishing place would've changed much had Lam not still been the coach. The biggest change last year was that guys like Piutau, Saili and Luatua had all had a couple of seasons of professional rugby under their belts.

To be honest I don't know how JK got the job in the first place. Ignoring the fact that's he's an ex-winger (i.e. his comprehensive knowledge of the game probably isn't that good from his playing days), he's achieved little and less with all the teams he's been in charge of.

ABs2011 · Apr 22, 2014

Mr Fish said:
I think the improvement was a coincidence, to be honest, at least to the point where I don't think the finishing place would've changed much had Lam not still been the coach. The biggest change last year was that guys like Piutau, Saili and Luatua had all had a couple of seasons of professional rugby under their belts.

To be honest I don't know how JK got the job in the first place. Ignoring the fact that's he's an ex-winger (i.e. his comprehensive knowledge of the game probably isn't that good from his playing days), he's achieved little and less with all the teams he's been in charge of.

Fair points, and we can make assumptions as to what would have been the counterfactual, but we will never know so I prefer to work with the facts, those being an improvement, albeit a small one from 12th to 10th. I also felt in that first season there was some more cohesion in the Blues outfit than prior and thought at that stage JK had brought something good to the franchise. Now though that seems to have all gone to the point they look considerably worse off under JK than Pat Lam! The on field strategy has been appalling the last few games and presumably that is all down to JK.

austingtir · Apr 22, 2014

I think more will come out on this and it wont be good for JK or Benji but more so JK imo.

The main points are why didnt he play NPC?

I honestly dont think Benji is the type to just give up there is way way more to this than anyone is being told. But on the other hand I do think the guy is a bit of a primadonna so it wouldnt suprise me either way.

I am still not convinced he was given a fair go but that comes down to who's decision it was to not play NPC in the lead up to this years comp.

goodNumber10 · Apr 22, 2014

SBW played ITM and Top 14, i don't see why Marshall would find that a huge insutl.

I think the whole thing has been handled really badly, and i'm extrapolating here, but it just adds to my lack of respect for JK and the blues coaching team that they handled sucha quality players transition so badly - no garuntees he'd transfer well but chucking him at 10 for the pre-seasonw as a complete joke and scuppered everything.

nzlizard · Apr 22, 2014

I think the blame lies more on the Blues than Benji, their handling seems to be really poor, giving mixed signals and differing reports on his progress.

Why would you play him at 10 straight away, there seemed to be no clear development path and vision for him to slot in.

You wonder how much of it was influence by the guys above JK to use Benji as a marketing tool and to draw people through the gate, hence he was named in the team quite often, maybe Benji was told he wouldn't have to play club rugby or ITM cup and when moved in that direction didn't like the idea and thought it was not for him, so maybe that was part of it.

Maybe Benji didn't want to have to relearn and redevelop that much, I imagine the transition would be huge given he had so many years of league and he just thought he would switch straight into rugby mode and be starting team material after a few months.

I am reading JK's book at the moment, and one thing that sticks out is he does come across as arrogant and really into himself, he thinks very highly of himself and his ability, which us a great thing on the field when you are actually the man in the fire, however coaching is quite different, yet I wonder if those same traits are causing issues as he can't see past himself.

donmcdazzle · Apr 29, 2014

I don't think playing one season of NPC would have made a difference anyway, none of his skills that made him stand out in league translate to rugby (apart from a sidestep). Blaming JK and management for not picking him or not handling him properly is ridiculous, not much they could do about him not being any good. You can't pick players who aren't up to it just because they are on big money. The blame should lie with whoever made the decision to recruit him. Most people didn't think he would be any good in rugby so I'm not sure why the so called experts couldn't see what everyone else could.

nzlizard · Apr 29, 2014

Not picking him is a non issue as he wasn't ready, not handling him properly is.

When you read a lot of the opinions(not talking about Benji, but code swapping) of people who have swapped codes, having a plan and being introduced slowly at the right level and position was the key. Benji was never going to work as a 1st five at this level, too much too soon.

Amobokoboko · May 2, 2014

It's a pity he's not joining the Storm this year:

Benji Marshall was expected to make a decision today between St George Illawarra and Cronulla as his new NRL club after the Dragons sensationally re-entered the race to sign the former Wests Tigers playmaker.
Marshall, who has now returned to Sydney on a permanent basis, met St George Illawarra coach Steve Price on Wednesday and was considering a deal to join the Dragons until 2016.
He has also met Sharks officials and intended to make a decision quickly on where he would resume his NRL career after rejecting an offer from Melbourne.
While Marshall had been interested in playing under Craig Bellamy in a team featuring Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, the deal with the Storm was only for the remainder of the season.
Both St George Illawarra and Cronulla have proposed two-and-a-half year deals and Marshall was understood to be mulling over his decision on Thursday night.
With former Tigers teammates Andrew Fifita, Chris Heighington, Beau Ryan, Bryce Gibbs and Blake Ayshford at Cronulla, along with ex-chief executive Steve Noyce, who was in charge of the joint venture when Marshall began his career in 2003, the Sharks have been favourites to sign him since Fairfax Media revealed 10 days ago he was quitting the Auckland Blues to return to the NRL.
However, the Dragons also hold appeal and his signing would complete an all-star backline that includes England five-eighth Gareth Widdop, New Zealand test backs Jason Nightingale and Gerard Beale, Australian winger Brett Morris, NSW Origin fullback Josh Dugan and Indigenous All Stars centre Dylan Farrell.
Marshall also has close friends in Wollongong and he drove there to spend the night after flying into Sydney last Thursday afternoon for a weekend visit to consult manager Martin Tauber and begin sorting through his options.
Besides St George Illawarra, Cronulla and Melbourne, the Cowboys and Parramatta also expressed interest in the 29-year-old, but Fairfax Media was told he had ruled out all but the Sharks and Storm before returning to Auckland.
However, the Dragons re-emerged as a serious option mid-week and Marshall was understood to have met Price on Wednesday - but not at St George Leagues Club as was being reported on social media.
Before his return to Sydney on Wednesday, Marshall and wife Zoe managed to sell the house they had purchased in Auckland just six weeks ago after being approached by neighbours following the announcement he was returning to the NRL.
Zoe, who had television and radio work in Auckland, will follow Marshall to Sydney next week.
If he signed with St George Illawarra, Marshall's first game could be as soon as next Sunday against Canterbury at ANZ Stadium.
With the Mothers Day clash being a Dragons home game, the club could cash in as Marshall's presence would be sure to attract a lot of interest.
The Sharks play the Eels at Parramatta Stadium the following night, and then host Wests Tigers the following weekend in a match guaranteed to draw a big crowd if he played.
The Tigers were seeking compensation from whichever club signed Marshall as there was a clause in his deed of release at the end of last season in which he agreed not to play for anyone else in the NRL before 2016.<iframe src="http://tap2-cdn.rubiconproject.com/partner/scripts/rubicon/emily.html?rtb_ext=1&pc=8779/14417&geo=eu&co=be" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="NO" width="0" height="0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; height: 0px; width: 0px; "></iframe>Salford and Catalans Dragons also expressed interest in Marshall, but he did not want to play in Super League.
Article [video]http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/10001125/Benji-Marshall-NRL-club-decision-due[/video]

Larksea · May 5, 2014

time in NPS could have given him a chance to adjust his passing and kicking skills which are very league focused. I think this has obviously been a big letdown, But Benji had potential in rugby, I cant help but feel his transition has been done in the worst possible way

No Club rugby or NPC to get him going
very little game time
no set position or place in the squad for him to make his own
all the uncertainty and changes for the blues at 10

nothing has been done right, it was doomed to fail.

Amobokoboko · May 9, 2014

[h=1]NRL: Benji signs with Dragons[/h]Benji Marshall says he is keen to show he can again be a force in the NRL after signing a two-and-half year NRL deal with St George Illawarra on Friday.
The Dragons beat Cronulla to secure the signature of the former Wests Tigers superstar, after he severed ties with Super Rugby's Auckland Blues on Easter Monday after failing to successfully convert to the 15-man code.
Marshall's form was poor in his final year with the Tigers last season, and at one stage he was benched by coach Mick Potter.
Marshall admitted he became lazy at the Tigers and was keen to turn that around.
"I have a point to prove. Not to everyone else, but to myself. I left on a low. My form was terrible,'' Marshall said at a press conference to trumpet his signing.
"From my point of view I am ready to go.

"This move to the Dragons gets me out of my comfort zone.
"Do I think I am past my best now? No.
"Will it take time to get back? Yes.
"But I have the desire to get back to my best.
"I'm just pretty happy to be back in the NRL.
"It is a challenge, obviously there is going to be a lot of pressure on my performance.
"If that takes two weeks, three weeks, if I have to play reserve grade I'm happy to do that.
Dragons coach Steve Price said Marshall would be a dynamic acquisition.
"Benji is a quality player who I believe will bring that real x-factor, especially in our attack,'' Price said.
"I have met with him a couple of times, he is a very proud man who wasn't happy with how his rugby league career ended and is really determined to make the most of his second chance in rugby league.''
The Dragons are banking on Benji Marshall to form a potent halves combination with Gareth Widdop as they attempt to reinvigorate themselves as premiership contenders.
Widdop has been a revelation for the Dragons this season after his offseason move from Melbourne but he has struggled to find a regular halves partner with Michael Witt, Sam Williams and Adam Quinlan all used at halfback.
The joint venture started the season well, winning their opening three matches. But since then they have won just one of the next five.
Marshall could make his Dragons debut as soon as their round 10 clash with Parramatta at Pirtek Stadium on Saturday week.
He will face his former club in round 20 at ANZ Stadium.
On Tuesday England pivot Widdop said Marshall would be a good signing for the joint venture.
"As a young fellow, I played with some great players down at Melbourne so, to play with Benji - another great player - would be great too,'' Widdop said.
"Everyone knows what he has done for rugby league. He was a great player before he left for rugby union.
"Everyone watches footy to watch people like Benji and, to have him back, I'm sure it is going to attract a lot more attention which is great for rugby league.''

ABs2011

First XV

May 19, 2014

#35

Amobokoboko said:
NRL: Benji signs with Dragons

Benji Marshall says he is keen to show he can again be a force in the NRL after signing a two-and-half year NRL deal with St George Illawarra on Friday.

Mmmmm, you watch him on the weekend? Pretty god awful huh! Only one game I know, but I wonder if Benji's time is up?