48 hours: Remember Benji at finals time for one-man teams

One-man teams tend to have one thing in common, if there even is such a thing as a one-man team.

They inevitably lose before the big day arrives because the weight of numbers will eventually overwhelm the number one man.

The Newcastle Knights have been portrayed as a one-man NRL team for many a day, that without Andrew Johns they are destined for the scrap heap.

Statistics poured forth this year about the Knights' winning and losing record when Johns was, and wasn't, there. There was a stark difference.

But numbers don't always tell the story and when hooker Danny Buderus was suspended last week for a dangerous tackle, it was likely that the Knights would be bundled out of the finals.

The Knights, for my money, have been a two-man team - if there is such a thing.

With Buderus and Johns, the Knights have a chance. Without either one of them, they are an ordinary side especially come finals time.

The Brisbane Broncos, who were wiped out by St George the previous week, gave weight - significant weight - to that argument with an extraordinary demolition job on the Knights in Sydney on Saturday night.

There is a prime basic ingredient in the recipe for teams playing Wayne Bennett's Broncos at the moment.

Make the Broncos do at least their share of defending in the early stages, and a massive and ageing pack is likely to run out of petrol.

But hand them the ball, and they turn into ugly monsters, with Darren Lockyer and a set of large outside backs able to tear the weak to shreds. The Broncos are an unusual team that is ripe both to give and receive a hammering.

Newcastle made such basic errors, with forwards like Clint Newton and Kirk Reynoldson turning the ball over, that even the taciturn Bennett might have found an early grin to replace his customary grimace. Led by Petero Civoniceva, the Broncos made the Knights pay.

Even a player as great as Johns has trouble running a match when he doesn't have the ball.

Brisbane's victory was part of an about-face by the NRL this season, and the name Benji Marshall keeps springing to mind.

The 2005 NRL season must go down as one of the most remarkable in history, when the Wests Tigers beat the North Queensland Cowboys in the grand final.

Both teams were built on magic rather than muscle, especially in the case of the champions Wests. They were a lightweight side inspired by a flyweight standoff in Kiwi Marshall.

The 2005 season was a revolution, but there is a counter-revolution under way this year.

The juggernauts of the Bulldogs, Broncos and Dragons are raining down on the NRL. In particular, this Friday's preliminary final between the Bulldogs and Broncos shapes as a rugby league slug-fest.

The 2006 season might be entitled Revenge on the Nerds. The jocks have retaken the playground and it makes what happened in 2005 even more remarkable, and Marshall more remarkable still.

As Luke Bailey, Jason Ryles, Civoniceva and Willie Mason etc have thundered ahead in recent weeks, it has been nice to recall what Wests and Marshall achieved last season.

Tim Sheens' side turned the game on its ear in 2005, although not for long, it would appear.

Marshall was the key. Bouncing Benji hopped, skipped and danced his way into history, firing the ball around like a kid pinch-flicking orange pips.

Without Benji, Wests are pretty much lost. When his shoulder gives way, their chips are down.

If there ever has been a one-man team in NRL history, then Benji Marshall's Wests might be the ones because he not only produced the match-winning deeds, but he fired their spirit and got a team to play to his unorthodox ways.

Wests found momentum through footwork. They counter-attacked their way out of almost any scrape once they got on a late-season roll.

Most importantly, this was not just the flight of the fancy. They weren't just contenders. They were champions.

The sad prospect is that Marshall will never truly beat his injuries, that we have already seen the best he has to give. Even so, what memories.

Wests were a classic rag-tag team of hopefuls, battered veterans, astute buys and second-time-round types who wrote a new rugby league script.

They may have been one-hit wonders, but their film is well worth a rerun. And for years, rugby league fans can say "Remember the Tigers".


An ordinary name but no ordinary game.

Auckland wing David Smith is setting the rugby world alight.

In his case, the New Zealand Rugby Union's determination to sideline 22 World Cup players in the first half of the 2007 Super 14 season might produce a dark horse selection for the world tournament in Europe.

It's a long shot, given the meticulous long-term planning of Graham Henry, and that the Samoan born and raised Smith has bypassed the national age-grade system.

But with Joe Rokocoko out of the way, Smith should get a royal chance on the Blues wing next year. And on the hard Super 14 fields, watch out.

The draw between Auckland and Waikato at Eden Park on Saturday night was a terrific provincial rugby stoush, and Smith was the star for my money. Not that he was perfect. He bites off more than he can chew in terms of ball security, and is still learning how to make the most of his brilliant breaks.

But what a prospect, and the young wing's willingness to look for work, his eagerness to get the ball in his hands, is a revelation.

He's making the established contenders - including the potentially brilliant Sitiveni Sivivatu on Saturday night - look old hat.

The pressure would have been on Blues coach David Nucifora to play both Doug Howlett and Rokocoko in World Cup year, but now the way is clear for Smith.

There is a lineup for the All Black wing spots, with Rokocoko and Sivivatu already ear-marked for the World Cup, and Rico Gear, Howlett and Scott Hamilton in the frame.

But Smith, on Saturday night's form, can make that impressive lot look ponderous. It will be interesting to see how he performs in higher company, if the Super 14 qualifies for that tag next year.


High

The Auckland-Waikato rugby clash. A stirring Auckland comeback against a tough old foe.

Low

The Hawkes Bay-Manawatu rugby match in Napier - diabolical, especially the first half. The soccer Knights - early optimism is disappearing fast.