Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter was emphatic in his response to claims that superstar Benji Marshall could be set to leave the Tigers at the end of the year.
“I’ve made my feelings known that I want him to stay,” Potter told the Adelaide Advertiser.
“It’ll just be whether we can squeeze him in (under the salary cap), and whether the deal’s acceptable. It’s a decision for Benji…but Benji’s a good guy and we’ll bend over backwards trying to keep him here at the club”.
On the surface, you’d expect nothing less from the coach.
Ever since a bright-eyed Marshall burst on to the scene as a wiry teenager and soon inspired the no-name Tigers to a fairytale premiership, it was clear that he was a special player.
Every game that he missed with injury or international commitments, it was clear just how special and important he was to the Tigers.
And it’d be a hard sell to say that he is any less important to the Tigers today.
In fact, given the players that the club have been forced to let go of in the past few years and the dearth of options in attack that the 2005 champions have sometimes, you could nearly make the argument that Benji is more important to the club than he was when he guided them to their maiden premiership.
Few would argue that Benji is not a crucial, crucial player to the Wests Tigers.
But is he worth fighting for? Is he worth “bending over backwards” for and doing everything for to ensure that he remains at the club?
Again, the instinctive reaction is yes.
Marshall is the marquee player and the big-name star that continues to drives fans to the ground and continues to put points on the board.
Without him, the Tigers would seemingly be taking a step in the wrong direction and perhaps undoing much of the hard work that he, Robbie Farah and Tim Sheens built in the wake of their 2005 premiership.
Without him, the club would seemingly be at a loss on the field as much as they would be in their marketing and sales department.
However, the reality is that Benji – like every player – is expendable.
And regardless of how much he might bring to the Tigers’ franchise, the superstar five-eighth has also created plenty of drama and problems for the organisation as well.
Perhaps the biggest issue is the matter that Potter hinted at in his quote – that of the salary cap.
Marshall is taking up a substantial portion of the Tigers’ cap room, and while that’s expected from a world-class player, it must be measured in light of what the Tigers are giving up to keep him at the club.
That is, how much is it costing the Tigers to try and keep Benji?
The answer is a lot.
Farah alluded to it in his post-match interview on Friday night when asked about the performance of several Cronulla players in their 36-22 win.
Speaking via Triple M, Farah spoke about his disappointment of seeing the likes of Andrew Fifita, Bryce Gibbs and Chris Heighington leave the organisation and was resentful of the strong forwards that they have become in their own rights.
In his mind, the club should have done all they could to keep those players, and there’s little doubting that the Tigers know that as well.
However, in order to stay under the cap, decisions have to be made. Players – like the three forwards mentioned as well as the likes of Beau Ryan, Gareth Ellis and many more – have to be lost regardless of how good they might be playing.
And regardless of how important they might be.
Now while it would be foolish to try and pin all of that directly on Marshall and his massive wage-demands, the reality is that he is attracting a substantial portion of the Tigers’ cap and that other players are being forced to leave the club as a result of that.
Because of their tight salary cap, the Tigers have been unable to land a genuine halfback to play alongside Marshall (who is still best in the No. 6 jersey) and continue to miss out in the chase for other players they might be interested in.
And it seems that dilemma is only going to get more complicated, with the Tigers reportedly offering Marshall around $750,000 per year for the next two seasons.
It’s not that he’s not worth that amount of money; rather, the contrary.
Because he’s worth that amount of money, any organisation would struggle to keep hold of him as well as all their other budding star players. Any organisation in any sport would be forced to try and juggle the impossible – which would no doubt leading to some poor decisions from time to time.
What the Tigers must measure of the final weeks this season as they begin contract negotiations once more with the New Zealand international is whether or not they are giving up too much to keep Marshall in their side.
What they must come to a decision on is whether Marshall – because he’s definitely worth fighting for – is worth fighting that hard for after all.
Without him, the Tigers would definitely be weaker in their halves combination, but would be able to use the extra cap space to good effect.
They’d be able to bring in a regulation halfback to guide their attack and give Farah something to work off around the ruck; they’d be able to stop their next batch of strong forwards from leaving the club due to salary cap restrictions and complications.
Yet with him, they could potentially get there as well – as long as they get a good run with injuries for a change and stop selling off their best players to other clubs.
The question that remains for the Tigers is which future makes more sense.
Which future is going to lead them back to a premiership the fastest and which is going to allow them to be a genuine contender for more than one season in a row.
Both are complicated and both have plenty going for and against them.
And regardless of what decision the Tigers and Marshall end up agreeing on, both have the potential to cause plenty of drama and talking points.
Interesting times lie ahead.
Luca
Guest
I am a Grandmother with a beautiful grandson named Benji and am very proud of this. I am sorry to hear of a maybe loss of Benji Marshall to Rugby Union. Please, please don't lose this wonderful player for he is the face of West Tigers! I agree with Haz's comments Benji is easily one of the top 5 most marketable faces of Rugby League.
Ra
Guest
Benji should go - after he wins back-back world cups !!!
nopuritan
Guest
750K for a touch footy player? take a 1k off for every tackle he misses and the tigers will have him for free!
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
Benji needs to go if he won't accept that pay cut. I would personally give him less money and want to keep him. But if Benjii can't accept that, then he is not being a team player, he doesn't love the tigers as much as he claims, and he is holding people to a delusion (the facts he bases on which he can't substantiate) that he is still playing his best. I love it how they all trump out the rugby card. Man, you want to play rugby, just go for it. I would be more lenient personally for benjii in terms of a bigger contract because of past service (which is what he is angling for, and thats fair enough but not entirely reasonable in all circumstances)....but the simple fact seems to be the money is not there to splash around so frivolously. These are the hard realities. I am surprised he is taking his time accepting that fact....but we must wonder how much media-driven this all is, and if accurately reported. There's the game, right and we all love that, but then there's the money, the hard cold facts that if the tigers pay him a big wage and he does not perform -- they DON'T get that money back. I guess he is not the sort to accept a performance based contract, he sounds like the kind of nice guy (he's made out to be) who likes people to cater to himself. Our system works in league with the salary cap and the increases in players payments, even if there is room for improvement. IF the price of that is to see a player like Benjii walk away to do something else - so be it. I will be sorry to see it, but we are not barrells and we should not be bending over one. Even personal relationships aside in which one would help a loyal guy out, I think we are already past the point where that slack has been taken up. How much more rope is the game meant to give for this thing?
Meesta Cool
Guest
Storm have a couple of prospective #6s coming through the ranks ,, the may consider signing Benji on a one year contract for appearance money only, capped at $150k .. this is well above his worth on this years performances.
Glenn Innis
Guest
My answer would be NO.Marshall was a sensation for his first couple of seasons in the NRL but opposition defenses worked him out long ago,He is still a quality player but no superstar.
Chris
Guest
Tim is right, he just isn't worth it. I have loved watching him play over the years, but he isn't red wine and there are plenty of kids coming through. Mistakes outweigh the brilliance every game. And can someone tell me why he is on holidays in Bali ad we are running third last?
Devout Saint
Guest
The news is that Marshall will most likely to be playing for the NSW Waratahs next year.
Matt_S
Guest
Ah Tuivasa Sheck actually played junior league for Otahuhu Saints and only played union when he went to a union playing school, like a lot of young league juniors. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/rooster-happy-to-play-at-home/story-fnca0von-1226598573615
The eye
Guest
How about sticking to the facts and leaving personal paybacks out of it damo.Whats all this whining and crying,vulnerable and weak purely on the basis of not wanting to talk to every stranger who comes up wanting a chat.You select your team on a no d##khead policy,you're not going to have much of a pool.Its been a tough season for him,no doubt,but he's still got a few very good seasons left in him,dump him and hope that your juniors realize their potential,too big a quantum leap of faith.
Matt_S
Guest
Yeah wrong, Tuivasa-Sheck played junior rugby league for the Otahuhu Saints, and attended the local secondary school, Otahuhu College where he started to play union. This is a major mistake most unionites make when making such claims. It must be remembered many of these so called union converts to league had in fact played league for junior clubs but attended schools were league was discouraged/not offered. Stop rewriting history.
yeah, right!
Guest
You do know that Roger Tuivasa- Sheck is a rugby union convert? As is Warea Hargreaves and many others. Weak and vulnerable?
Haz
Guest
I think this highlights the problem. The growing consensus seems to be that Benji, isn't worth what he's asking for, as a player. The problem is that Benji Marshall is more than just someone who plays football on a pitch. He's easily one of the top 5 most marketable faces in rugby league. And because he's the face of the league, he's the face of West Tigers, and therein lies the problem. Someone wrote an article here a while back arguing that Benji is representative of the 2005 Premiership, and the icon uniting the bitterly warring Western Suburbs and Balmain factions. So it's not just a question of letting a champion player go. People forget that Bobby Fulton and Paul Vautin played out their careers with Easts instead of Manly. Wally Lewis was let go by the Broncos, and so he played his last season with Gold Coast Seagulls. Des Hasler played his last season with Western Suburbs Magpies. At least Menzies had the option of playing in the UK. What's at stake is ten thousand West Tigers jerseys, the future of the West TIgers joint venture, and a bucketload of NRL marketing.
Devout Saint
Guest
I would let Marshall go if I was in charge of Wests. I don't like his persona and the comment above where someone asked him a question and he them told to F off or what ever is very poor persona, but for some reason it doesn't surprise me. He should be wearing the number 7 on his back and Sirro the number 6, but Marshall has to wear the 6. If it is only a number then tell Marshall. The main reason I would let Marshall go is because West have 3 good young halves to build their team around. Young Sirro, Luke Brooks who Andrew Johns has labelled a future superstar and Moses who has massive wraps on him too.
enrico
Guest
There's tigers fans with short memories! Benji should stay and retire in style with a premiership. he shown loyalty to tigers previously, tigs should reciprocate. obvious he doesnt want to play union otherwise he would have signed already.
jamesb
Guest
I remember in the early 2000's, the NRL lost players like Mundine, Sailor, Tuqiri, and Rogers, yet somehow the NRl has survived. Whether Izzy or K Hunt come back, or if Sonny and Benji leave, the game will survive again.
Meesta Cool
Guest
This is true James, I am afraid of part of the problem at WT is that the players (Or a couple of them) have been dictating terms too long at the club, I am sure that some day a coach will tell this to the fans. Their young guys are looking good, their purchase of Adam Blair was a huge mistake for everyone but Adam.. If I were in charge I would immediately allow Benji to move on and fine and tell Robbie to shut up or go as well..
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Like Sonny Bil Williams I don't care if Benji leaves. Both are very talented players but there are also plenty of talented youngsters out there waiting for a crack at first grade. If Benji thinks he is worth 750k a year well good on him if he can get it. His form this year doesn't warrant it. The problem with signing him to such a huge deal is that other talented players cannot be signed. At the end of the day it's a team sport and having one 'superstar' surrounded by a team of rookies isn't going to win you games, you need to be able to field a competitive team across the park.
damoinaus
Roar Pro
Or that arrogant shop owner that has an EFTPOS machine, but won't do card transactions for less than $10. Every day they watch customers walk out and not spend anything because they're "right". Benji needs to change his attitude big time to keep up in 2013. You have kids like Daniel Tupou and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck who are going to take the league by storm and leave fogies like Marshall in their dust. Can you call him a 'superstar' if he never delivers? Whinging like a child because he got dropped to the bench. Sobbing because the Tigers may or may not keep him. He's shown he's weak and vulnerable and can't take it like a man. Sounds perfect for rugby actually.
Marldon
Guest
He displays that attitude everywhere. Arrogance oozes out of his pores. He reminds me of a militant shop steward that always thinks he should be paid more for sitting back and delivering as little as possible.