Where are all the Benny bashers?

[TheHood]

benny is a workhorse ... week in, week out.
he is probably our fittest player ... he doesn't come off the gound much.
he quietly and effectively does his job in stopping the ball in the back, and every now and again, will shock the crowd and do something magical (like run forward and kick a goal once a year).
he's one of our "bread & butter" players. we'd really miss him if he wasn't there.

Got it in one sista.

Ben's work on dangerous players is outstanding. He would not make it into any other 22 but you couldn't jimmie the guy out of Roos' first 22.

[Zlatorog]

Slow down there, you have way too much vision for this board!

He's scary, isn't he.

[Xie Shan]

He's scary, isn't he.

Who?

[Zlatorog]

Who?

A little green (wo)man that still adores Chambers...

[swannieserin]

A little green (wo)man that still adores Chambers...

No picking on chambers! He never got a chance, he was never a "blood". Can't say the same for Mathews.

[voodooguru]

I think the last two games have been particularly indicative of why players like The Jet, Crouch and Young Bevo are important to our team. In both games we shut down the opposition's skill players in the midfield and up forward, and our superior forward line, back line and ruck division dominated.

I'm looking forward to Schmidt and his giant can running amok in the midfield and up forward, but after what we did to the Powder and the Puppies, I'm in no particular hurry. Injuries inevitably will mean that the youngsters will get their shots, hopefully they'll play so well that Paul Kelly at his peak wouldn't have been able to move them out.

[Wardy]

I agree that with players like Benny, "workhorses" as some call them, we've lowered our standards to the point where we are excited when they have a game that would be below ordinary for a player like Craig Bolton or ROK.

If we had a team of playmakers instead of play stoppers imagine the gameplan ... with Benny I think he gets a lot of opportunities and gets the ball a lot (particularly so far this year). Unfortunately, he often chooses the fourth or fifth best option with his disposals. Sometimes it works, and sometimes its the hospital handball, the backwards pass or the kick straight to the opposition (obviously this would be somewhere around the 18th best option). I can't help cringing every time he gets the ball.

If he has the amazing leadership abilities that Roos and others think he has, why don't they make him an integral part of the Reserves team where he can give the experience of 200 games to the future midfield taggers that Roos loves? Allow a player like Moore, who has great tagging and disposals abilities, and phenomenal fitness, to develop into the awesome senior player we need for the future and play alongside Goodesy and co.

I'm with you there Erin. They keep saying what a terrific bloke he is and his leadership qualities are second to none and look thats great, but he doesnt show those qualities on the field, his decision making is appalling 90% of the time, he's way too slow or he panics, and he spends an awful lot of time running around waving his arms about, but achieving very little. He's an expert at passing it backwards or even better to a player who is under pressure or the opposition - how many times have we seen him panic and pass it instead of to a player in a space, he goes for the nearest person who has an opposition player attached too them which ends up being a turnover?.

I know I am being harsh and no one is perfect, but I have watched him for years, and he still makes the same mistakes week in week out.

Granted he has played ok this year but he still makes silly decisions and I still think there are kids in the reserves who run rings around him and deserve a chance, but they are not being given the opportunity because obviously Benny's premiership credits havent run out yet.

[NMWBloods]

So does anyone else think we'd really miss Mathews?

[Zlatorog]

So does anyone else think we'd really miss Mathews?

Roos?

[Wardy]

Roos?

and the other members of the leadership group supper club.

[Triple B]

So does anyone else think we'd really miss Mathews?

In his current form, performing his current role, yes.

[ROK Lobster]

In his current form, performing his current role, yes.

So what do you consider his role to be, and why could no one else play it?

[Triple B]

So what do you consider his role to be, and why could no one else play it?

Tight, lock down and provide an experienced head.

The young guys you are all pining for to get a run in his place don't have the experienced head that Roos obviously wants and needs in the side. Their time will come and probably fairly soon, but at the moment Mathews is in good form and making a good fist of the role that the team wants him to play.

[ScottH]

So what do you consider his role to be, and why could no one else play it?

Confuse the opposition, teammates, Umpires, Coaches, Crowds, commentators. - No body does it better.

But I do like Benny, as frustating as he is.

[NMWBloods]

Interesting. I don't think he's playing enormously differently or better than over much of the past few seasons. However, suddenly he's become nearly indispensable.

I've mentioned a number of times his good work as a defensive specialist, but there is still the potential liability of him being so focussed plus his offensive abiltiy is limited. I think the team could replace him without too much trouble within a reasonable time frame.