Benji Marshall to return to NRL

Discussion in 'Rugby Union Discussion' started by HeathDavisSpeed, Apr 21, 2014.

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  1. HeathDavisSpeed HT Davis

    Not a surprise. He's hardly been able to buy a playing minute for the Blues and he's been mediocre at best. Seems a little bit harsh to judge him on this though as SBW took a good while to find his feet. Should have let him run through the NPC season to see if he could at least find his feet at that level and give him more confidence leading into 2015.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/9963636/Benji-Marshall-to-return-to-NRL
     
    HeathDavisSpeed, Apr 21, 2014
    #1

  2. Hunter AD Hunt

    Would gladly welcome him back. Him being in the NRL is a positive for the game.
     
    Hunter, Apr 21, 2014
    #2

  3. JPA8 JP Anraad

    Quitter!
     
    JPA8, Apr 21, 2014
    #3

  4. Notsure SM Green

    Wasn't he crap in the NRL last season as well? The disappointing thing was not that he had no idea how to do the normal rugby union things like control a game rather he didn't even show any flair. You have to feel that the Super League is his best bet.
     
    Notsure, Apr 21, 2014
    #4

  5. morgieb MC Burridge

    Yep. Can't help but feel that he's lost it.
     
    morgieb, Apr 21, 2014
    #5

  6. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    Would love to have him in the Broncos #6. That is in no way a compliment to Benji Marshall.
     
    Boobidy, Apr 21, 2014
    #6

  7. Alec AD Funkotron

    Yeah, I'd sign him for the rest of the year for sure. Maybe he'll even rediscover his pre-2012ish form?
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2014
    Alec, Apr 21, 2014
    #7

  8. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    Broncos would be a top 6 side with him.
     
    Boobidy, Apr 21, 2014
    #8

  9. Old Mate M Perry

    No matter how shit he was last year he'd still shred Hoffman.
     
    Old Mate, Apr 21, 2014
    #9

  10. Hurricane JD Hurricane

    John Kirwan is a pleb coach.

    Forget NPC, he needed some club rugby under his belt just to learn the number 10 jersey. Most people who play that position have spent a life time learning it. That and half back probably the hardest position to learn.

    I blame Kirwan - he should have been put on a development program from the start.

    In the game I saw he didn't know where he was supposed to be.
     
    Hurricane, Apr 21, 2014
    #10

  11. The Boy Brumby ZJ Brumby

    It's a big ask for anyone new to union to ask them to go and control a Super 15 game straight off the bat, never mind a bloke nudging 30 with a checkered injury record.

    Would have been better served at inside or even outside centre as he could've used his superior offloading skills without the pressure of being first receiver.
     
    The Boy Brumby, Apr 21, 2014
    #11

  12. Hurricane JD Hurricane

    This. I should have said this instead.
     
    Hurricane, Apr 21, 2014
    #12

  13. Rocks DN Boland

    Has he been that bad? I only saw a little bit but he seemed pretty creative and the likes.
     
    Rocks, Apr 21, 2014
    #13

  14. HeathDavisSpeed HT Davis

    Kinda agree with what Hurricane said about John Kirwan. SBW was hidden away on transfer from the more technical positions. I think we had this debate on here when Marshall's transfer was originally mooted. Whilst first-five/half back might suit Marshall's x-factor, they are more technically difficult positions than, say, wing or full back.

    I saw him come on for a cameo at Eden Park against the Crusaders earlier in the season and he seemed to go alright, but recent weeks have not been good for him it's fair to say.
     
    HeathDavisSpeed, Apr 21, 2014
    #14

  15. Hurricane JD Hurricane

    He is getting panned because he looked like a noob standing in at 1st 5 in the last game.

    He looked ok for the ten minutes he played at 15 in one game I saw and even created a line break or two. So we will never know what he could have been in the right position as Brumby posted.

    It raises the question of whether he was roughly treated by being judged so much on his outing at 1st 5. But judged he was. There was an article saying Kirwan had tried to get him into a season of Japanese rugby in the last few days but it fell through. Then there was talk that they were going to send him down to some Super XV development team. I didn't even know they had a development team before I read that.
     
    Hurricane, Apr 21, 2014
    #15

  16. The Boy Brumby ZJ Brumby

    Quite so.

    Toulon actually first used the big fella out on the wing.

    &, obviously, from an NZ point of view, starting over in La France gave him a chance to learn his trade away from a critical hometown gaze.

    SBW a far more imposing physical specimen tho, obviously. It's no coincidence that the best league to union converts (Robinson, Thorn, Folau) are those with stand out physical as opposed to primarily technical gifts.
     
    The Boy Brumby, Apr 21, 2014
    #16

  17. Benny BS Read

    Benji was poor for 12 months before he left and the trend has merely continued he's cooked. Will probe get a good ESL contract and do ok at that level IMO.
     
    Benny, Apr 21, 2014
    #17

  18. Notsure SM Green

    The Blues already have Charles Piutau at 15 so I question how Benji would get into the team. Even 15 isn't an easy position to just put someone in. A fullback in rugby union has to do all sorts of technical things I doubt Marshall would be good at. You must be good under the high ball, have a long kicking game, strong positional play and good cover defence. Even inside and outside centre need a whole lot of positional understanding. Look at how average Ben Smith was at centre after being a star on the wing. He just had no idea how to play the position.

    Ideally, Benji would have played ITM Cup last season but I question how much that would have helped in.
     
    Notsure, Apr 21, 2014
    #18

  19. Hurricane JD Hurricane

    At least, to quote some b grade american movie I saw once
    "He had a snow ball's chance in miami at 15 instead of a snowballs chance in hell at 10 in his first year".
     
    Hurricane, Apr 21, 2014
    #19

  20. Droos JP Rhodes

    Droos, Apr 24, 2014
    #20
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