Benji Marshall poised to join Blues

ive no doubt that benji would be an awesome 7s players and im not surprised that sir tietjens would be interested, but if 7s was the main motivator, marshal wouldnt be talking to the blues, cos a good chunk of the 7s series is played during the spXV season.

IMO the All Blacks is his number one draw card, after all, he is a born and bred kiwi and we all know the lure of an All Blacks jersey.

im guessing though that marshall wants to find his feet in union and then make a push for higher honours All Blacks/ NZ maoris and maybe even the NZ 7s.

im dubious about his success in the 15 man game, but ive been skeptical ever since timana tahu, considering though how many players have been successful converts though especially from the NRL including latest hot stepper izzy folau, maybe he will be a huge success.

for the saffas here who dont know who benji marshall is, hes got an attacking game thats 100 times better then quade and cooper with a passing game to match, but he also knows how to tackle, u dont play league especially the NRL without holding ur own defensively.
look him up on utbue, i remember there was a benji marshall highlight reel, the bros got skills, but will face some stiff challenges in the form of cruden.

His best bet would be Japan . There's Carter, Cruden , Barrett & Slade as well ... not to mention the settling in period & by then he'll be pushing 30 .

@blobbok,

age is his biggest hurdle, im a big believer that the older u are the more susceptible u are to injuries.
IMO after watching SBW and folau though, he can make the transistion after one full season of super rugby, that IMO will be enough to tell us if has what it takes to make the cut.

carters taking a sabatical in 2014, just dont know what form that sabbatical will be in, will he be looking to make some cash overseas, or will he take a more relaxed give the body a break sabatical like king richie did this year.
i hope its the latter, but if goes after cash i hope its in japan.

cruden will be his biggest obstacle, cos if benji can produce the goods, then i have no doubt he will surpass slade with ease and barret not too long afterwards.

Sasuke uchicha - mate Benji also plays halfback and played fullback on debut for the Knights so there are other options apart from standoff.

The way he darts out of dummy half would make him a great candidate for halfback don't you think?

Benji will have it slightly tougher than Folau and Williams. He is a 10. The other two were outside backs when they first started and SBW made his way to inside centre once he understood what he needed to know. With that much skill, it did not take him long to pick up defensive patterns.

League is a lot more head on tackles until the 4th or 5th tackle when they are close to the goal line otherwise they kick. Union he will have to face more guys trying to run off each other and get around him. He will need to learn the patterns and maybe that will be good to do from fullback in his first 4 or 5 games. Just to get the tempo and see what options guys normally take. No doubt he will have the goods on attack but he needs to learn the defesive structures of union and how to control a game with the boot. Much different tactical kicking game!

I am not sure of Benji's pace. Is he pretty quick or just average like Quade Cooper?

@steinlarger,

IMO he would be a better flyhalf then hlafback, in league u have a lot more room to dart around the fringes of the ruck/tackle with only two markers allowed there, but in union u can and most times do have those fringes well marked with as many defenders as u want.
the other thing marshall wont be use to is directing the forwards and picking his moments, forwards need to be directed accordingly, as to whicch direction to go, pulling players out when u see theres not enough support for the one off runners etc, i think in the long run marshall could adapt, but playing blues those forwards more than any other NZ team needs that direction.
flyhalf seems the more likely marshall destination cos noakes would be the more likely to be replaced over weepu, marshall will also inject a ton of much needed pace into the blues halves pairing.

i think the most efficent way to utilize his particular skill sets is at flyhalf where he is use to running the plays and something i think he will adjust to very quickly as creating scoring opportunites with his bag of tricks and an A grade passing game.

i dont like the idea of him at fullback though, but barret, anscombe, tom taylor, slade and lambie have all shown that flyhalves at full back can work.

@boklogic,
IMO the flyhalf is the one position in both league and union that have more in common than any other position on both attack and defence.
he will no doubt be targated, but if kirwan is half as smart as rennie, he can easily adjust the defence so that marshall isnt left doing all the work, and by smart i dont mean hiding him out at fullback like a chicken shit cooper.
so i dont think marshall will have it tougher then folau or SBW, as the challenges at flyhlaf require a certain skill set that benji has in spades.

marshall has a ton of speed, but age has taken its toll on his top end, but hes still pretty damn quick, away faster then cooper and IMO he will be the fastest flyhalf in the comp easy should he be playing next year.

hmmmm the more i debate marshall the more im liking the possibities.