THE ANALYST
YESTERDAY'S match between Newcastle and Wests Tigers resembled something more like a friendly Sunday afternoon tennis match than an important game of professional football.
The final score of 38-26 in favour of the Tigers suggested this was a sensational game of footy filled with brilliant attack and end-to-end action.
In fact, it looked more like a neighbourly game of mixed doubles with both sides chatting and smiling as they gently patted the ball to each other across the net.
If one team happened to come up with a good shot, the other stood and politely applauded their opponent's skill instead of trying to chase the ball down and get it back into play with any Lleyton Hewitt-style intensity.
There were no extended rallies and neither team appeared hungry to protect the territory on their own side of the net.
Tries came on average about every seven minutes and it was as if the players were more intent on entertaining themselves than making a priority of the end result.
The lack of grit in this game was highlighted by the fact that any collisions were very one-sided and the man running the ball usually came out the victor.
Anyone who charged with any purpose seemed to have little trouble knocking defenders out of their way.
Very few of the tries came as a result of brilliant play. Most were simply taking advantage of their opposition's terrible defence.
The tit-for-tat scoring procedure that took place during the first 50 minutes meant the match was locked at deuce for quite some time.
Finally, at 22-22, Tigers playmaker Benji Marshall served a few blistering aces of his own to put the Knights out of their misery.
He kicked a vital 40/20, raced 40 metres to score a solo try between the posts, and then moments later chipped a deft crossfield kick over the defence for his winger Shannon McDonnell to score.
Game, set and match.
This may give you the impression Marshall was the man of the match.
Not so, I'm afraid. He scored two tries and had a hand in another, but it must be said his contribution to the rest of the contest, particularly in defence, was very tentative.
I feel sorry for this kid. He has been cruelly and continually cut down with serious injury during the past few seasons and you can see it's starting to take its toll.
With his left knee heavily strapped, Marshall limped his way through most of his work.When he tried to run fast it looked as though he was dragging that left leg rather than pumping the powerful pistons like we remember him years ago.
He didn't stretch his knee out when he ran and he didn't claw at the ground with his foot looking for that extra yard of acceleration. There was no sign of the trademark Benji sidestep.
He played on guile and hope yesterday. He was still too good for the Knights on a couple of occasions, but the Newcastle boys targeted him with their ball-running and managed to run a few tries past him too.
Benji seems reluctant to involve himself in the heavy collision and every team in the NRL will do the same to him until such time as he can bite the bullet and stand his ground.
Most of the problem is now in Benji's head and he and his coach have a long battle in front of them to restore his confidence and get him back to full tilt.
Anyway, back to the tennis.
I doubt either coach would be happy with their team's performance. Maybe the more media-savvy coaches could put a clever spin on the proceedings to make themselves and their troops appear better than they were.
But I suspect hardened campaigners like Tim Sheens and Brian Smith will not sugarcoat the bitter pill when they address their men behind closed doors.
Both teams sit in the middle rung of the competition ladder and both can go either way this year. Both have the potential to play finals football, but both need to learn that professional football is about consistency, attitude and grit. Talent alone won't get you there.
