Wests Tigers superstar Benji Marshall playing the blame game

BENJI Marshall wants us to believe the NRL and Wests Tigers have let him down. Maybe it's time Benji reflected on exactly what the game has given him.

BENJI Marshall wants us to believe the NRL and Wests Tigers have let him down. Maybe it's time Benji reflected on exactly what the game has given him.

The fame and fortune, opportunity and privilege.

If he's not careful, when Benji walks away he won't be remembered for the player he once was but a bloke who just didn't get how lucky he was.

When Benji's manager, Martin Tauber, did an interview on Sky Sports Radio on Tuesday it was as embarrassing as it was disrespectful to every fan who pays their way through the gate to watch Benji play.

It brought back memories of Mal Meninga's "rugby league has done nothing for me" line during the days of Super League.

Tauber was telling his warped version of events that led to Benji requesting a release from the final two years of his contract.

The question was put to Tauber whether the NRL had tried to convince Benji to stay?

"We had no approach in any way, shape or form from the NRL," Tauber said.

"I would have thought somebody of his stature and what he brings to the game in terms of bums on seats, merchandising and everything else, the NRL would have stood up and said, 'This is one individual we don't want to lose'."

No one wants to lose Benji but Tauber seemed to be forgetting this: It was Benji who requested the release from the final two years of his contract.

Benji was the one who went to Bali for a mid-season break and returned home and told Tauber he wanted out.

Now Tauber is turning it into the NRL's fault.

Not content with that, Tauber also went public with Benji's broken relationship with Mick Potter. Potter, as Tauber explained, is in Benji's bad books for having the audacity to drop him because he was playing like a busted.

Asked if they had a working relationship, Tauber said: "No, no, no, no. Everybody knows that. From the benching, when he put him on the bench that day. I mean that started an avalanche in terms of their relationship."

Tauber's right, it is no secret in league circles. But to publicly air it was disrespect of the highest order to the entire Wests Tigers playing group, which now has to walk on eggshells for the remainder of the season.

It's worth remembering Tim Sheens got sacked last year after he fell out with Benji.

Now Tauber is saying one of the reasons he wants out is because Benji doesn't get on with this coach.

It goes back to the handshake agreement Benji had with former chief executive Stephen Humphreys that was supposed to see his salary skyrocket to a reported $1 million a season until the end of 2017.

Anyone who has seen Benji play over the last two years knows there is no way the new management could honour that deal and do the right thing by the club and the fans, no matter how many bums Benji puts on Leichhardt Oval's limited seats.

Yet even still, the Tigers were willing to upgrade his pay to a reported $800,000 a season until the end of 2015.

This still didn't satisfy Benji. As Tauber said: "He feels let down. It's not always about money."

You make up your own mind on that.