Where are all the Benny bashers?

[reigning premier]

Seems a bit quiet in here with Benny's recent form??? I think Benny has been one of our best contributors this year. Consistent, reliable and with fewer errors than most.

Just happy to see the guy out there and making a difference.

[Triple B]

Where are all the Benny bashers?

I think they're all off lamenting the fact that our last 2 opponents 'haven't turned up to play'.

[cruiser]

We 'Benny bashers' have noticed his improved form and have nothing to complain about (I am pleased to say).

[reigning premier]

We 'Benny bashers' have noticed his improved form and have nothing to complain about (I am pleased to say).

Werll glad to see you can admit to it. There's a few that would deny that he's going OK at the moment and try and drag him down....

[Jeffers1984]

Going very well.

[NMWBloods]

Werll glad to see you can admit to it. There's a few that would deny that he's going OK at the moment and try and drag him down....

Where?

[Wardy]

We 'Benny bashers' have noticed his improved form and have nothing to complain about (I am pleased to say).

I agree with you cruiser, and its about bloody time Matthews extracted the digit and did something constructive. So praise when praise is due.

[satchmopugdog]

I was not really a Benny Basher but I was a sceptic as regards his place in the team ahead of younger players......until I saw him live this year. He has lifted his game and I think it is due to being injury free as compared to other years.Last year he started behind the 8 ball due to ankle surgery. This year he has been able to run from the start and do exactly what is asked of him by the coach. Major car wshing points.

[ROK Lobster]

Not that I have ever been much of a Benny Basher but...

He is going OK. It is just a poor reflection of the club that a bloke with I guess 200 games or so experience is being praised for tagging, hitting targets most of the time (rarely under pressure) and lo and behold, in another thread, praised for making a decision. Yes, Ben has played OK recently. I do not think that, even at Benny's best, he gives us anything that Schmidt or Moore could not give us with 5-10 games (maybe a season) under their belt. I think that in terms of creative play (which I understand is not his role) he gives us less than Thornton or Brazabon would with 5-10 games under their belts. Benny is doing fine as Benny at the moment. Big deal. Just another plodder doing the drudge work. Perhaps the reason that no one talks about him when he plays well is that a great performance from Benny is a break even for us. The better he plays, the less there is to notice. Perhaps that's the highest praise he will ever get - that he was not noticed.

[NMWBloods]

It is just a poor reflection of the club that a bloke with I guess 200 games or so experience is being praised for tagging, hitting targets most of the time (rarely under pressure) and lo and behold, in another thread, praised for making a decision.

We see very very different benchmarks across players.

[hammo]

He's having a great year. May it continue.

[Wardy]

maybe he was a bit spooked by the prospect of the leadership group picking the team again - I mean if they didnt want Crouchy in the trenches with them for the Port game, then Benny may have been left wondering " @@@@ I'm in the leadership group, I'd better pull my socks up the boys may not want to be in the trenches with me either" Either way - we have waited for a very long time for him to do something useful, albeit in a tagging kind of way. So he'd better keep it up, otherwise, us Benny bashers will be back louder than ever before. Although he has always been a non rater with me ever since he took on the number "4" and wouldnt give it back to Plugger - yes its childish & wrong - but I have never been one to be mature about these things.

[bandwagon]

I think the bottom 3-4 of any team will look, at best, ordinary. Typically these would be youngsters still finding their way. Good luck to Benny, he has done exceptionally well, but that he has near 200 games and probably isn't in the top 18 for our team even when in good form is a worry.
Is our list really this weak?

[AnnieH]

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.

[NMWBloods]

we'd really miss him if he wasn't there.

In 2006:

8-3 when he didn't play.

8-6 when he did play.