General Benji To Look At Japanese Rugby

[Pozza]

Marshall may seek Tigers release for Japanese rugby

Wests Tigers' off-season from hell may get worse with reports suggesting Benji Marshall may seek an immediate release from the NRL club to pursue opportunities in Japanese rugby during league's off-season.

BENJI Marshall's manager Martin Tauber has dropped a bombshell by declaring he will seek an immediate release from Marshall's contract so he can pursue opportunities in Japanese rugby.

Tauber revealed yesterday that he is waiting for the star to return home from pre-season camp with the Wests Tigers before he approaches chief executive Stephen Humphreys about securing a release.

Marshall is contracted until the end of 2015 but Tauber, in the wake of the NRL accepting Sonny Bill Williams' return to the game, is keen to explore Marshall's opportunities to earn additional income in the rival code.

Tauber first tried to have Marshall playing summers in Japan when he came off contract in 2009 but then NRL chief executive David Gallop immediately rejected it.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...r-stint-in-japan/story-e6frexnr-1226516963667

 

[Sup42]

Personally i think this will be good for the World cup. Marshall is one hellishly talented flake , but a flake none the less.

Leiuluai and Foran will be a more stable combo.

 

[shuffle]

I would like a Foran and Johnson combo. Good for the Future.

 

[Danpatmac]

I would like a Foran and Johnson combo. Good for the Future.

I would like a big mac combo, not better for my future, but I still want it.

 

[Sup42]

Well Johnson so far is a baby Benji.

So as far as the future goes , we've seen it already

 

[Pete]

Personally i think this will be good for the World cup. Marshall is one hellishly talented flake , but a flake none the less.

Leiuluai and Foran will be a more stable combo.

Leiuluai is a better option than Marshall? LOL Hope you arent a Warriors talent scout. That guy has made some majic plays. Somedays he is unplayable.

 

[Sup42]

Leiuluai is a better option than Marshall? LOL Hope you arent a Warriors talent scout. That guy has made some majic plays. Somedays he is unplayable.

Glad you had a laugh. Seriously life is too...well serious.

No Marshall is a much more talented player than Leiuluai. That's not the point , those un playable days are for the tigers , for the kiwis he's un playable for his own team mates.

The kiwis are about more than one single game breaker , the future looks hot with players like Beale Hoffman and Whare coming through.

Foran doesn't do much besides Marshall , either they are not a good combo or Foran is a shit player.

Your argument could be twisted too...Manly fans wouldn't swap Marshall for Foran , Pete you won't get a Selection job with them either.

 

[mode81]

The standard of competition in Japanese rugby is not that high but the money is very rewarding that's why so many choose to go and play their. Fraser Anderson wasn't an NRL superstar but he'd be on a way higher pay probably on a $175'000 - $200'000 a season in NRL now earns up to $600-$650'000 a season in Japan Omar Sleimankhel has just earnt himself a huge contract without even proving himself in NRL he's the most recent example. You can see why players like Benji would look to Japan it's less taxing on him physically but rewarding financially without having to do much because they can only play two foreigners a team every game.

 

[charlie bobmarley]

He'd go well imo. No one can expose the chinks in the opposition teams armour like Benji can
The real meaning to the song Turning Japanese is just so Benji

 

[Pete]

 

[Danco]

Glad you had a laugh. Seriously life is too...well serious.

No Marshall is a much more talented player than Leiuluai. That's not the point , those un playable days are for the tigers , for the kiwis he's un playable for his own team mates.

The kiwis are about more than one single game breaker , the future looks hot with players like Beale Hoffman and Whare coming through.

Foran doesn't do much besides Marshall , either they are not a good combo or Foran is a shit player.

Your argument could be twisted too...Manly fans wouldn't swap Marshall for Foran , Pete you won't get a Selection job with them either.

Totally agree.

 

[Moz]

doesnt he just want to go in the off season? have to say I was waiting for an announcement that he would try to leave the tigers seemed all was not happy there last season

 

[smc]

I can't understand why he needs to get out of his whole contract with the tigers now to do something in the 2013-2014 Japan season. Would that not leave him unemployed for 2013 nrl season?

 

[ToiletDuck]

Well, the Kiwis aside, he'd be a big loss for rugby league in general. Much like SBW, he's high profile and flashy, and hence will cop criticism - but he's great to watch and puts bums on seats. I don't care if his form isn't absolutely incredible week to week, he's capable of stuff most others aren't. My interest in watching Tigpies game without Benji is substantially lowered. The Tigers have since come out and said there's no way it'll happen, but if he wants out bad enough he'll get his way.

 

[fanrrior]

Who, in his contract, is actually stopping him from going? Is it the Tigers or the NRL or both?

The reason I ask is because when he tried to play Union last time, it was the Gallop who rejected the proposal. From what I understand the NRL also recently stopped Danny Buderus from coaching part-time once a week during this year's off-season for the brumbies in union too. I suppose the Tigers would also want to stop him for obvious reasons.

Another thing. Japanese union is during our off-season. The article says he needs to get out of his full contract, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wouldn't be playing for the tigers in 2013. It could be just that he needs to renegotiate in order to play for union. By seeking an immediate release that could just be so he can get around the rules. After being released from the Tigers he could agree to play for them once the Union season is over. He wouldn't be breaking the rules because he wouldn't be under contract.

 

[scottyb]

Never gonna happen, when Buderus announced a couple of weeks ago he was going to be an assisstant coach at the Brumbies in the off season the NRL stepped in and said "no way Jose" you cant be signed to a NRL club (he still has 1 yr to go on his contract in Newcastle) and play or assist another code at the same time.
In 2009 Benji's Manager asked Gallop if he could play rugby in Japan in the off season if he cancelled the contract at the end of the season then play rugby then re-sign with the Tigers before the next season, Gallop told them that would be manipulating the system and he would never allow it.
Personally i can see the commission stepping in and vetoing any plans by anyone to do this, SonnyBill's situation is completely different because he came from another code and there is the possibility that he could stay longer than the year. This situation can only lead to player burn out which i'm sure no club would be happy about.
But in saying that, Benji would go well in union, if Quade Cooper can look like a superstar in union, then Benji with all his skill plus the bonus of being a solid defender, (well better than cooper anyway) should be a success but its the short period of time he'd have that might make it a pointless exercice

 

[ToiletDuck]

Another thing. Japanese union is during our off-season. The article says he needs to get out of his full contract, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wouldn't be able to play for the tigers/ in the nrl. It could be just that he needs to renegotiate in order to play for union. By seeking an immediate release that could just be so he can get around the rules. After being released from the Tigers he could agree to play for them once the Union season is over. He wouldn't be breaking the rules because he wouldn't be under contract.

Well that's essentially what his manager went on to talk about, players in future signing one year contracts for that exact reason.

"The day could come when players only want to sign one-year deals so they can take advantage of the enormous amount of money they can earn in places like Japan and Europe," Tauber said.

Full article at NRL.com

 

[Tonbridge (Swanley)]

This could be the start of 1 year comtracts for top players. Which in thoery I can not see being an issue. It might mean players gettng paid more if the top bods con compliment their meagre wage with some Yen. Hats off to SBW, he may have started a trend here...

 

[fanrrior]

Well that's essentially what his manager went on to talk about, players in future signing one year contracts for that exact reason.

"The day could come when players only want to sign one-year deals so they can take advantage of the enormous amount of money they can earn in places like Japan and Europe," Tauber said.

Full article at NRL.com

Thanks for the article, TD. T'was an interesting read. It also answered my other question in that it is the Tigers who want to stop him from leaving(understandable)

 

[ToiletDuck]

Never gonna happen, when Buderus announced a couple of weeks ago he was going to be an assisstant coach at the Brumbies in the off season the NRL stepped in and said "no way Jose" you cant be signed to a NRL club (he still has 1 yr to go on his contract in Newcastle) and play or assist another code at the same time.
In 2009 Benji's Manager asked Gallop if he could play rugby in Japan in the off season if he cancelled the contract at the end of the season then play rugby then re-sign with the Tigers before the next season, Gallop told them that would be manipulating the system and he would never allow it.
Personally i can see the commission stepping in and vetoing any plans by anyone to do this, SonnyBill's situation is completely different because he came from another code and there is the possibility that he could stay longer than the year. This situation can only lead to player burn out which i'm sure no club would be happy about.
But in saying that, Benji would go well in union, if Quade Cooper can look like a superstar in union, then Benji with all his skill plus the bonus of being a solid defender, (well better than cooper anyway) should be a success but its the short period of time he'd have that might make it a pointless exercice

I can also see the commission trying to stop it, but if faced with a player saying they will walk away completely, will they really follow through with disallowing yearly contracts? SBW for example, fox sports and Channel 9 are predicting an additional 200,000 viewers per game he is involved in next season. Money definitely talks, and as much as I'd like to see them set a precedent and stick with it, I just can't see them allowing superstars to walk away from the game.