Opinion: Benji doesn't deserve blame for Blues debacle

Benji Marshall

POOR old Benji Marshall, the guy was hung out to dry.

Now that the dust has settled from his Blues split, along with the emotions and knee-jerk reactions, you can see how much of a stuff-up it was.

While I'm not a fan of the "mis-managed" headlines that have been floating around, there still has to be an element of accountability. And I'm not saying one person should take the fall for it, like Sir John Kirwan has, because there is more than one person involved in these decisions.

There's no doubting Benji is a great athlete, he would not have represented and captained the Kiwi rugby league team otherwise, so it does make one wonder how someone with so much talent failed to take off.

For me, there seem to have been a few failings, and not even from Benji yet he is the one that looks like a bunny.

My take is that he was brought in with the blinkers on and those involved had their view narrowed. The only talk I ever heard about Benji was that he was to be a first-five, maybe a fullback.

But, why not a second-five, winger, or halfback? As a proud rugby nation I hope we haven't dumbed ourselves down to expect our midfielders to be predictable boof-heads who act as a fast forward. Dan Carter, Aaron Mauger and Pita Alatini jump to mind when thinking of second-fives who never had a big physical presence yet were quality All Blacks.

People will say Benji would have been exposed defensively in the midfield, but that's simply a work-on - the same as it is for Beauden Barrett.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no rugby league buff so I'm not up to play with terminology or positional aspects of the game but I feel Benji could have played a more natural game at second-five. Watching league though, the stand-off isn't exactly touching the ball every play and directing play the same as in rugby.

From memory, Sonny Bill Williams and Brad Thorn tried several positions before settling into their All Black jerseys. Hell, Sonny Bill was still being tinkered within the All Blacks as a winger.

If my memory serves me correct, Sonny Bill was tried in the forwards as a loosie before going into the backs and settling at second-five. It seems ridiculous to picture Sonny Bill lining up opposite Benji as inside backs but that's where sound tactics and technique can outplay even the biggest of players.

Thinking of Benji as a halfback was probably never an option at the Blues because of the presence of Piri Weepu, which seems short-sighted - who knows, Benji might have been better than him.

While the argument will probably always stem back to Benji's lack of involvement at ITM Cup level before entering into Super Rugby, his rugby "career" was a bit of birth by fire.

I feel for Benji, he's a nice guy who has been painted as an average sportsperson because he didn't live up to fans' hopes.

In recent weeks the former Wests Tigers playmaker has been keeping fans guessing about his return to the NRL, with the Dragons and the Sharks the two clubs left vying for his services.

On Thursday he apologised for not appearing on Australian Nine Network's The Footy Show. But in a clip - recorded earlier in the day - he said he had not decided on his next step in rugby league, saying he was yet to reach a decision.

"As you can imagine, I've been pretty busy lately trying to find a new home for the next step of my career. Pretty excited to be back in Australia and can't wait to be back on The [Footy] Show."

Then late last night it was announced that Marshall is set to join St George Illawarra after Cronulla said they were out of the running for his services.

And so a new chapter begins. Best of luck Benji.