Where does Benji Marshall fit in?

[Cult]

True story. I left home on my 15th birthday and got a job a couple of thousand kms away. It was too late in the season to sign on with a rugby league team so I joined a senior rugby union team. The winger in that team was definitely in the Ja-mie camp. In the first game I played for them he came out of a tackle with his arm swinging. He had obviously popped it right out. I watched him grab his wrist and pop it straight back in. If Roberts finds that kind of toughness I don't care if he wears a dress at home.

I'm not tough in the slightest. I hate pain! But adrenalin is a hell of a thing. I dislocated my shoulder playing volleyball a few years ago. I dived shoulder first into the ground. It was hanging and I walked over to the bench (where the whole women's team was sitting too) and our manager said harden up princess. I turned back onto the court and one of the lads who was becoming a doctor popped it back in whilst the crowd and players freaked out. I barely felt it until after the game where my whole life flashed before my eyes. I miss Uni Games.

 

[upthebroncs]

I'm warming to this line up. Would be entertaining at the very least

1. Darius Boyd
2. Jordan Kahu
3. Tautau Moga
4. James Roberts
5. David Mead
6. Anthony Milford
7. Benji Marshall
8. Josh McGuire
9. Ben Hunt
10. Sam Thaiday
11. Corey Oates
12. Matt Gillett
13. Andrew McCullough
-------------------------
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Alex Glenn
16. Adam Blair
17. Tevita Pangai Junior
-------------------------
18. Mitchell Dodds
19. Joe Ofahengaue

 

[Morkel]

I'm warming to this line up. Would be entertaining at the very least

1. Darius Boyd
2. Jordan Kahu
3. Tautau Moga
4. James Roberts
5. David Mead
6. Anthony Milford
7. Benji Marshall
8. Josh McGuire
9. Ben Hunt
10. Sam Thaiday
11. Corey Oates
12. Matt Gillett
13. Andrew McCullough
-------------------------
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Alex Glenn
16. Adam Blair
17. Tevita Pangai Junior
-------------------------
18. Mitchell Dodds
19. Joe Ofahengaue

So, so, so much wrong with that.

 

[Morkel]

Actually, I'll back that up with reasoning so I don't just come across as a prick:

* Oates needs to be on the wing. He's in the top 4 wingers in the country, can finish as good as any of them, has speed, and if he can bulldoze his way to within 8 metres of the line he'll score more often than not. He's had a couple of shaky moments under the high ball but it's a confidence thing and he's working on it. Let's get as long as we can with him, not shorten his career by making him do grunt work.

* Ben Hunt is a good halfback. Benji has slowed down to the point where his running game, which has been his career strength, has probably been overtaken by Hunt's. Hunt is missing a top-line kicking game and a bit of cunning, the latter of which Benji can hopefully instill in him.

* McCullough is a hooker. He needs to be going low on runners while the (much larger) middle forwards come in high and wrap up the ball. He'll get steamrolled at 13. In fact he got steamrolled repeatedly in the one game he played as #12. And he has very little running game besides 3-4 scoots per 80 minutes. He's a tough fucker, no doubt about it, but doesn't have anywhere near the size to be taking hit-ups.

* We finally saw Thaiday at his damaging best out wide. We'd be stupid to throw him in the middle. Again. For the 4th time.

* ****, if moving McCullough to lock doesn't weaken our defence, starting a game without Blair will. He is meticulous with all the things that Bennett values and the casual observer never notices. Pressuring kickers. Always being alert for the 1% clean-up tackle. And he's the only defender we've had in a long time that can not only stop a rampaging Bromwich, Klemmer or JWH in their tracks, he'll then dominate them and force them in to a slow play-the-ball. One-on-one.

* If having Blair on the bench was purely to add experience, you won't be disappointed with a hungry Dodds and his itchy shoulders. Just needs some ribs to scratch them with.

My opinion anyway.

 

[upthebroncs]

Actually, I'll back that up with reasoning so I don't just come across as a prick:

* Oates needs to be on the wing. He's in the top 4 wingers in the country, can finish as good as any of them, has speed, and if he can bulldoze his way to within 8 metres of the line he'll score more often than not. He's had a couple of shaky moments under the high ball but it's a confidence thing and he's working on it. Let's get as long as we can with him, not shorten his career by making him do grunt work.

* Ben Hunt is a good halfback. Benji has slowed down to the point where his running game, which has been his career strength, has probably been overtaken by Hunt's. Hunt is missing a top-line kicking game and a bit of cunning, the latter of which Benji can hopefully instill in him.

* McCullough is a hooker. He needs to be going low on runners while the (much larger) middle forwards come in high and wrap up the ball. He'll get steamrolled at 13. In fact he got steamrolled repeatedly in the one game he played as #12. And he has very little running game besides 3-4 scoots per 80 minutes. He's a tough fucker, no doubt about it, but doesn't have anywhere near the size to be taking hit-ups.

* We finally saw Thaiday at his damaging best out wide. We'd be stupid to throw him in the middle. Again. For the 4th time.

* ****, if moving McCullough to lock doesn't weaken our defence, starting a game without Blair will. He is meticulous with all the things that Bennett values and the casual observer never notices. Pressuring kickers. Always being alert for the 1% clean-up tackle. And he's the only defender we've had in a long time that can not only stop a rampaging Bromwich, Klemmer or JWH in their tracks, he'll then dominate them and force them in to a slow play-the-ball. One-on-one.

* If having Blair on the bench was purely to add experience, you won't be disappointed with a hungry Dodds and his itchy shoulders. Just needs some ribs to scratch them with.

My opinion anyway.

Boring

 

[upthebroncs]

Benji Marshall 2015 - The Constant Threat - YouTube

 

[Danoz Direct]

Boring

But true.

 

[Old Mate]

So, so, so much wrong with that.

Should have just left it at that, agreed.

 

[Unbreakable]

The stigma that Marshall has been awful since leaving the Tigers is a overstated, he was good in 2015 on a really bad Dragons roster.

Marshall 2015 - 23 games, 22 try assists, 3 tries, 5 line-breaks, 18 line-break assists, 31 tackle busts, 52 missed tackles.
Hunt 2015 - 26 games, 16 try assists, 12 tries, 11 line-breaks, 16 line-break assists, 51 tackle busts, 73 missed tackles.

These stats pretty much prove that Marshall is a far superior playmaker and that Hunt is a far superior runner of the football, 2015 was Hunt's best ever season by a massive margin, and Marshall still had him quite comfortably covered in the "important" Halfback statistics, in 3 less games, on a worse roster, under a worse coach.

2016 was basically a write-off for Marshall with the amount of hamstring injuries he had, I don't think he was ever at 100% health.

 

[noisetheory]

Everything Morkel said is correct.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

Actually, I'll back that up with reasoning so I don't just come across as a prick:

* Oates needs to be on the wing. He's in the top 4 wingers in the country, can finish as good as any of them, has speed, and if he can bulldoze his way to within 8 metres of the line he'll score more often than not. He's had a couple of shaky moments under the high ball but it's a confidence thing and he's working on it. Let's get as long as we can with him, not shorten his career by making him do grunt work.

* Ben Hunt is a good halfback. Benji has slowed down to the point where his running game, which has been his career strength, has probably been overtaken by Hunt's. Hunt is missing a top-line kicking game and a bit of cunning, the latter of which Benji can hopefully instill in him.

* McCullough is a hooker. He needs to be going low on runners while the (much larger) middle forwards come in high and wrap up the ball. He'll get steamrolled at 13. In fact he got steamrolled repeatedly in the one game he played as #12. And he has very little running game besides 3-4 scoots per 80 minutes. He's a tough fucker, no doubt about it, but doesn't have anywhere near the size to be taking hit-ups.

* We finally saw Thaiday at his damaging best out wide. We'd be stupid to throw him in the middle. Again. For the 4th time.

* ****, if moving McCullough to lock doesn't weaken our defence, starting a game without Blair will. He is meticulous with all the things that Bennett values and the casual observer never notices. Pressuring kickers. Always being alert for the 1% clean-up tackle. And he's the only defender we've had in a long time that can not only stop a rampaging Bromwich, Klemmer or JWH in their tracks, he'll then dominate them and force them in to a slow play-the-ball. One-on-one.

* If having Blair on the bench was purely to add experience, you won't be disappointed with a hungry Dodds and his itchy shoulders. Just needs some ribs to scratch them with.

My opinion anyway.

Probably one of the best posts I've seen in a very long time.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

The stigma that Marshall has been awful since leaving the Tigers is a overstated, he was good in 2015 on a really bad Dragons roster.

Marshall 2015 - 23 games, 22 try assists, 3 tries, 5 line-breaks, 18 line-break assists, 31 tackle busts, 52 missed tackles.
Hunt 2015 - 26 games, 16 try assists, 12 tries, 11 line-breaks, 16 line-break assists, 51 tackle busts, 73 missed tackles.

These stats pretty much prove that Marshall is a far superior playmaker and that Hunt is a far superior runner of the football, 2015 was Hunt's best ever season by a massive margin, and Marshall still had him quite comfortably covered in the "important" Halfback statistics, in 3 less games, on a worse roster, under a worse coach.

2016 was basically a write-off for Marshall with the amount of hamstring injuries he had, I don't think he was ever at 100% health.

Stats don't mean shit when as a half back you take your team to within 5seconds of winning a gf bud.

Not so much quantity, but quality of those "important stats"

I agree though that marshal being branded as shit and past it are a beat up. He's still got something to add. Just not as a halfback.

 

[Unbreakable]

Stats don't mean shit when as a half back you take your team to within 5seconds of winning a gf bud.

Not so much quantity, but quality of those "important stats"

I agree though that marshal being branded as shit and past it are a beat up. He's still got something to add. Just not as a halfback.

I didn't make the post to shit on Hunt, simply to say that Marshall might have a little bit more in the tank than people think.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

I didn't make the post to shit on Hunt, simply to say that Marshall might have a little bit more in the tank than people think.

Ok well fair enough.. but you did say you preferred marshal at halfback then tried to claim marshal was far superior to hunt just poorly on stats. So yeah.. kinda thought I'd point out that you can't really be superior if you didn't play finals at all let alone get your team to the gf

 

[Kelleher]

I believe too that Marshall has more in the tank than people think. He is also experienced and confident and will back himself. I am not saying he should replace Hunt either but he will teach both Hunt and Milford more than people know IMO

 

[Unbreakable]

Ok well fair enough.. but you did say you preferred marshal at halfback then tried to claim marshal was far superior to hunt just poorly on stats. So yeah.. kinda thought I'd point out that you can't really be superior if you didn't play finals at all let alone get your team to the gf

When did I say I'd prefer Marshall at Halfback?

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

I'm warming to this line up. Would be entertaining at the very least

1. Darius Boyd
2. Jordan Kahu
3. Tautau Moga
4. James Roberts
5. David Mead
6. Anthony Milford
7. Benji Marshall
8. Josh McGuire
9. Ben Hunt
10. Sam Thaiday
11. Corey Oates
12. Matt Gillett
13. Andrew McCullough
-------------------------
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Alex Glenn
16. Adam Blair
17. Tevita Pangai Junior
-------------------------
18. Mitchell Dodds
19. Joe Ofahengaue

[MENTION=8290]Unbreakable[/MENTION] Sorry bro. Thought it was you who originally posted this lineup

 

[upthebroncs]