Benji Returns?

[TITAN PETE]

This is part of what I don't understand about the NRL.

Benji left. He wasn't going that good, he is past his peak, he went chasing another dream, and although at least he waited until his contract was up etc, he wanted to go back to Union, and he left RL.

It hasn't worked out for him, but why do we care if he wants to come back to the NRL?

If he wants to come back, no worries, let him play park footy, and if he shows enough, then let some club pay him good money to play at about 75% of his best for the next 2 years.

Why is this RL news? He doesn't play RL!

Probably will be within the next few weeks though

[C-Whiz]

Probably will be within the next few weeks though

Yeah, and he will probably get a heroes welcome back too. Like others who jumped ship and came back.

Gus loves him, that's all you need.

TBH, I don't mind him coming back, he did it all up front, didn't let anyone down, and has decided he would rather come back to league. Just always find it odd that we focus more on guys who don't play RL than those who do.

[DIEHARD]

I think most defectors feel they can always return to the NRL, as a fail safe.

[shamus]

If the rumours are true, Storm have no more room in their Salary Cap. Then again, if they get him for 25k a season. It might be worth pursuing.

Hasn't stopped them before...

[TITAN PETE]

Warriors not interested in Marshall

AAP
12:35pm Tue 22nd April, 2014


Benji Marshall will have to leave Auckland if he wants a place in the NRL, with the Warriors saying they're not interested.

The former Kiwi Test skipper instructed his manager to open talks with NRL clubs after requesting an immediate release from his Super Rugby contract with the Blues.

A number of clubs have already ruled out approaching the former Wests Tigers playmaker, and New Zealand Warriors coach Andrew McFadden says his club hasn't talked to Marshall.

The Warriors have made a poor start to the 2014 season but McFadden said Marshall wasn't the man to fix their problems.

"He's a high quality player but he's probably not what we need right now," McFadden said on Tuesday.

"We've got our own things to work on and although it's disappointing for Benji for sure, I think he'll find somewhere to go, but at this stage we've got other things to focus on."

Marshall found it hard to adjust to rugby union with the Blues, playing just 212 minutes of Super Rugby, though he wasn't in peak form with the Tigers when he signed for the Blues.

However, McFadden said he was confident Marshall would be a handful for opponents if he returned to the NRL.

"I think he just needs to find his groove again, and rugby obviously wasn't that," he said.

"If he goes back to league, I'm sure he'll find his form again."

[Titanic]

I don't mind him coming back, he did it all up front, didn't let anyone down

Except the Tigers when he played so poorly last season.

[TITAN PETE]

Marshall could land in Melbourne
By James MacSmith and Melissa Woods
AAP
7:24pm Tue 22nd April, 2014


Melbourne is shaping as a last chance saloon for Benji Marshall as other clubs shy away from offering the fallen superstar an NRL lifeline.

Stand-in coach Andrew McFadden appeared to rule out the Warriors as a likely landing place for Marshall on Tuesday, which could leave just the Storm and Cronulla in the running for the services of the former Wests Tigers ace.

Cronulla continue to assert that they have not had any discussions with Marshall or his management, while McFadden says of the code-hopper: "He's a high quality player but he's probably not what we need right now.

"We've got our own things to work on and although it's disappointing for Benji for sure, I think he'll find somewhere to go. But at this stage we've got other things to focus on."

Marshall struggled to adjust to the 15-a-side code and the former Kiwi Test skipper has instructed his manager to open talks with NRL clubs after requesting an immediate release from his Super Rugby contract with the Blues on Monday.

Storm captain Cameron Smith spoke glowingly of Marshall at training on Tuesday and while the club says money is a problem it has not ruled out making a play for him.

"I'd welcome the idea of Benji coming back because he's a wonderful footballer and he's a great asset to rugby league because a lot of young kids and mums and dads, they love Benji and they turn up to matches just to watch him play," Smith said.

"I'm not sure what position we're in financially to have a guy like Benji here but we've put a lot of faith in the guys that we've got here at the moment, so I'm not too sure what the position of the club is.

"I'll just say that I'd welcome Benji back with open arms into our game, whichever club he decides to come back to."

Melbourne have struggled to adapt to the departure of five-eighth Gareth Widdop to St George Illawarra and Marshall's freestyling approach could make him a good foil in the halves for the structured Cooper Cronk.

"He's a similar style player to what Gareth Widdop was at our club and I think any club at the moment looking for a half would be looking at Benji," Smith said.

"But as I said we've invested a lot of time in guys like Ben Hampton and Ben Roberts."

But it appears the Warriors can't be completely ruled out.

Marshall reportedly bought a house in Auckland recently and his wife is said to be settled in the New Zealand hub with a burgeoning media career.

Marshall would be a very bankable face of the struggling franchise and reports out of New Zealand say Eric Watson is interested in the idea of bringing the star playmaker to his side.

- - - Updated - - -

Is Benji Marshall a good buy?
By Andrew Voss
NRL.com
9:45am Wed 23rd April, 2014


Has Benji still got it, are the Storm finished, and where to now for the obstruction rule? Andrew Voss tackles six big issues from the past week of rugby league.

1) Is Benji worth signing?

I say yes… but first I think a club would have to establish how motivated he still is to succeed in the NRL.

I'm delighted Benji Marshall is coming back to the sport of rugby league. As a commentator I first called him playing schoolboy football for Keebra Park State High in 2003. I still vividly recall interviewing this scrawny kid with a questionable hairdo after the match. His playing style was that of a freakish talent. My co-commentator that day was Phil Gould who stated we were all watching something extra special.

Not for one moment did I think he was a right 'fit' for rugby union. But I believe it is in the Super League that he can be great again.

I tend to think his time in the NRL finished having done it all, and at the one club, the Wests Tigers.

He was a genuine superstar of our game. But I don't believe he can scale those heights again nor can he draw the same measure of enjoyment from the challenges and rewards.

The Super League would be a new horizon. He'd kill it there as a star attraction.

Back in the NRL I can just see many making comparisons between the Benji in the here and now and the precocious untouchable talent he once was.

2) Where are we at with the Obstruction Rule?

I think we are somewhere between confused as hell and no idea. And to be honest, I don't know what we do next.

The league responded to calls last season of eliminating a process of a black and white rule applied by former referees in the video box, by adding a former player to make the decisions drawing on their experience.

In effect we invited subjective opinion into the process. And that was always going to be a surefire invitation for more controversy.

Would the 'bunker' system of the NFL help?

I do now concede it could achieve more consistent rulings given fewer people would be involved, but I would bet my life on there still being controversy.

Maybe it's time for the video referee to only rule on matters in goal and touch.

If two referees don't pick up the obstruction in the run of play, well so be it.

I must admit I do wonder how we ever 'survived' for all those years with just one referee and no video.

3) After a third defeat in four weeks, do we now write off Melbourne?

I stated in this column two weeks ago I would be prepared to take them on if I was framing a premiership betting market, whilst in the same breath acknowledging being wary of dismissing a champion.

But now consider these worsening defensive stats that had previously been unheard of under Craig Bellamy.

This time last year Melbourne were unbeaten through seven rounds and had conceded 20 points or more in a match only once.

In 2014, they have leaked at least 20 points in all bar one game, and if you add their finish to 2013, that run stretches to nine out of their last 11 matches.

It seems more and more Bellamy is questioning his players' desire. Maybe this really is the beginning of the end. Maybe it's even time for one of the modern day greats of coaching to move on to another club.

Even Wayne Bennett eventually quit Brisbane. Des Hasler has gone from Manly to the Bulldogs.

For Bellamy by the end of this season it will be 12 years… and nothing lasts forever.

4) Who is the biggest disappointment so far of 2014?

I suppose many would say the Roosters because after all they are the reigning premiers.

But my vote goes to the Cowboys, who may actually need coach Paul Green to "run nude up Pitt street" to distract pundits from how big of an under-achiever they have been as a team.

Their roster is chock full of big match players. A road trip to Townsville should be the toughest in the league for rival teams. The only injury they have had to contend with has been fullback Lachlan Coote, who had never played for them previously.

During the pre-season I had them in my top four.

Like Melbourne, the Cowboys face a real pressure match in Round 8. If they lose to Parramatta, with big games against Brisbane and the Roosters to follow heading into the State of Origin period, alarm bells will start ringing loud and long.

5) Who is Paul Vaughan?

Well he's not the guy from Dodgeball.

Canberra has a side that could best be described as hailing from the land of the giants, and in Vaughan they have a real big rough diamond.

Straight up and down props don't just score tries like the one he did to win the game for the Raiders against Melbourne last Sunday.

It had multiple steps, a swerve, speed, power and balance. A four-pointer Greg Inglis or Sonny Bill Williams would put prominently on their highlights reel had they have scored it.

But as it was, the moment was provided by a 22-year-old who in the corresponding round last year made his NRL debut, and along the way since has played a World Cup campaign with Italy.

With efforts like last Sunday, I doubt his next rep jumper will be the blue of the Azzurri.

6) Hey Vossy… have you got any better with your tips?

NOOOOOOOO!

That bloke I took hostage last week after he tipped eight out of eight in Round 6, only managed three right in Round 7… so he's no longer in the boot of my car!

This week I have done a crash course in tarot card reading to see if that will help.

Today, the first card I turned over had a sheep on it.

I guess then it's good luck to the Adelaide Rams this weekend!

For the record this is what I have come up with for Round 8: Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Sharks, Cowboys, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles and Titans.

[TITAN PETE]

Cowboys talk with Benji

The North Queensland Cowboys have entered the battle for Benji Marshall after sounding out the former Kiwi Test captain as a potential halves partner for Johnathan Thurston.

The Courier-Mail can reveal a Cowboys representative contacted Marshall’s manager Martin Tauber on Thursday morning to express interest in the ex-Tigers playmaker.

Marshall has been heavily linked with the Melbourne Storm and Cronulla Sharks after brokering a release from the Auckland Blues on Wednesday following his brief dalliance in rugby union.

But the Cowboys have emerged as a left-field contender after Tauber confirmed North Queensland’s approach for the man who shattered their title dream in the 2005 grand final.

Read more at the Daily Telegraph

[DIEHARD]

I reckon he will be a Cowboy. Wherever he goes, Im actually backing him to be a success.

[DIEHARD]

Everyone remember this? Nekminit...

[TITAN PETE]

Almost pissed my pants "Becoming an All Black"

[DIEHARD]

Press release - Cronulla Sharks

The Cronulla Sharks can confirm that Benji Marshall has made a decision to commit his playing future elsewhere.

“We made Benji a very good offer and are disappointed he won’t be joining our club,” Sharks CEO Steve Noyce said.

“We have strong values surrounding mateship here at the Sharks and with a collection of his good friends at the club thought that may have swayed him. As it turned out that obviously wasn’t the priority for him with his final decision. We can accept that and we wish him well.”

Noyce went on to explain, while he would certainly have complemented the current playing group, he is confident the Sharks possess more than capable personnel to cover for Marshall not joining the Cronulla club.

“It must be said in Todd Carney, who is on a long term contract here, and Jeff Robson who has been terrific for us this year, along with others we have coming through our lower grades, we certainly have quality players in the halves and confidence in their ability to do the job for us,” Noyce said.

http://www.sharks.com.au/

[DIEHARD]

Benji to Dragons.

[DIEHARD]

Benji Marshall has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the St George Illawarra Dragons

Benji Marshall will return to the NRL with the St George Illawarra Dragons after finally agreeing to a two-and-a-half year deal.

Marshall informed the Dragons of his decision just after 3pm today.

By linking with the Dragons, Marshall has ignored the opportunity to join Cronulla where the majority of his ex-Wests Tigers team-mates now play.

“We made Benji a very good offer and are disappointed he won’t be joining our club,” Sharks CEO Steve Noyce said.

“We have strong values surrounding mateship here at the Sharks and with a collection of his good friends at the club thought that may have swayed him. As it turned out that obviously wasn’t the priority for him with his final decision. We can accept that and we wish him well.”

Noyce went on to explain, while he would certainly have complemented the current playing group, he is confident the Sharks possess more than capable personnel to cover for Marshall not joining the Cronulla club.

“It must be said in Todd Carney, who is on a long term contract here, and Jeff Robson who has been terrific for us this year, along with others we have coming through our lower grades, we certainly have quality players in the halves and confidence in their ability to do the job for us,” Noyce said.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/

[C-Whiz]

TBH it is going to be pretty weird seeing Benji in a red V.
Might be a little while before we see it though.