Let's just sign him, what's the worst that could happen? He plays like shit, we turn him into Benchy Marshall, and he gets laughed out of town.. big whoop
the risk with someone like this is their presence upsetting team chemistry .. That risk is multiplied when its a personality like Benji Marshall ...
within the broncos squad there would be in-house rules / expectations / standards that the players themselves all agree to and uphold right from the get-go ... If a new player joins and doesn't buy into every one of those little rules the team has mapped out for itself, you get problems.
Benji Marshall, Shaun Johnson and Sam Tompkins at the Warriors - that would be an excitement machine.
I think the Scott Prince failure highlighted the dangers of fire sale purchases without proper thought.
Scott Prince wasn't a failure, at least not for the price he came. He was certainly the best half we had last year, even if on his last legs, which is not the case with Marshall.
Benji must know that after the way he left League, he needs to put his best foot forward and pull his head in, if he wants to be successful.
Getting him for the rest of the season will:
- Get rid of Hoffman at 5/8. That alone is more than sufficient reason!
- Cover until Milford is here, or alternatively, should the former renege on his contract, allow for the youngsters coming through to hone their trade in ISC without the pressure to come into FG and have a team such as the Broncos depending on them.
Of course, his defense needs to be addressed, and as said above, he needs to pull his head in, otherwise he would be nothing more than a Sandow, whose upside doesn't weigh up against the brain farts and poor defense.
I'd like to preface this by saying that at the end of last year, my answer would have been a definite no.
However at this time, many things have changed and now my answer is a resounding yes.
1 Benji has now lost his right to demand big dollars in the NRL
2 He needs a bridge contract for this year, show all that he is not washed up, and then at the end of 2014 get whatever contract he can. Anybody playing for a future contract is a good thing.
3 By moving to NZ, he most likely has less reason to require a club in Sydney. He can do the footy show or whatever from Brisbane.
4 We need a 5/8. To note here is that in recent times he is not the player he was 5 years plus ago. He is a lot more steady, he has a decent kicking game, can kick goals and would be a good foil for Ben Hunt. The days of him stepping half the defensive line and doing flick passes are long gone. At the same time, his defence is not horrible like it once was and his shoulders have remained in tact for many years now.
5 We are going fairly well currently. Given all these points, space in our cap and the unlikelihood of Benji staying on beyond this year ... I say sign him up for 2014 for sure. With teams like Souths, Roosters, Storm etc looking very beatable, wow we have an open comp right now. Could we win a premiership in 2014 ? Its not completely impossible. Benji might also see us as a good option to prove himself for the remainder of this year, given our decent form and strong pack.
6 Hoffman to the wing, Copley to the centres, Reed to the backrow or bench. Barba looks like he could break down at any moment. Hodges is a day to day proposition. Who knows what injuries are just around the corner.
Sign him up.
1
Oink ![/QUOTE. Spot on Oink. Other reasons to sign Benji for the rest of the year include: 1 He would be a more reliable kicker then Corey 2i I think he would play a moe conservative brand of football at the Broncs as he would not be expected to produce match winning plays as the Tigers fans expected him to do 3 We desperately need a kicker to get us out of trouble when we are pinned down in our own 25 4 At the very least he will help us through Origin time while Hodges and Parker are out 5 He might be just what Hodges needs to give him more opportunities to use his talents 6 As you mentioned we could drop Reed to the bench and use Copley in the centres which actually gives us real attacking potency.Hoffman of course to the wing where he was so good last year.
I'm somewhat surprised at White's attitude towards this. They cannot be so deluded down at the club to think Marshall would be worse than Hoffman in the 6.
He would be a truck load worse. At least Hoffman can tackle. Benji is not a good footballer any more. I'd rather play a pumpkin at 5/8 than Benji.