Benji, Benji, Benji, can't you see. Sometimes your moves just hypnotize me. I just love your flashy ways. People hate on you cos' you get paid.

Sometimes, no matter how much you scratch your head, wondering how it got to this point, you find yourself happy with the final result. As a ‘leaguie’, it kind of sucks that the NRL will lose Benji Marshall. I would have preferred that he join another NRL team and begin a new chapter of his life outside of the Sydney media bubble. Instead, Benji chose the Auckland Blues. His final years at the Tigers became so shit that he felt he had to leave. This is where I am left pretty happy with how it all turned out, on a few different fronts.

We’ll start with the one and only Benji Marshall. He gets to come home, or closer to home atleast. He gets to start fresh in a completely new environment and establish himself with an exciting group of young rugby players in Auckland. An athlete of Marshall’s stature will only have one choice as he enters his rugby career. His only option is to start at the bottom, show his team mates that he is dead serious about this career choice and work bloody hard. The days of guys thinking the can coast through, displaying an attitude towards their training and team mates are well and truly over. Sonny Bill-Williams wasn’t the first guy to show this, but he is a prime example. If you want to chop and change codes, you must buy in. You must show the desire and attitude relevant to the money you will receive. This is where this move is a positive for Marshall. I am in no doubt that he will buy in to the process which will begin with my favourite rugby competition the NPC (I refuse to call it anything else). Should Marshall display a positive attitude, the rugby world will be his oyster.

It has become pretty clear that Marshall needs a change in scenery. He helped make the Wests Tigers one of the most recognised sports teams in Australasia and when you see all your mates who also helped in that process, leave the club, I would imagine that it would suck. Not to mention the ongoing turmoil (I don’t use that word lightly) within the Tigers boardroom. This combination would drive many people to the brink and force them to rethink their futures. Whether you like him or not, whether you think he’s past his best or not, Benji Marshall made this decision because he wanted to. This is what Benji wants to do, so we as Rugby League fans have to move on.

For me, greater consequences of Marshall’s move will be evident at the Tigers. The Tigers are in a rather large spot of bother. They have major issues in the boardroom with two factions constantly fighting against each other as opposed to working together. The Tigers board is a pretty confusing pile of poo. When Wests and Balmain joined forces, the Balmain side held power thanks to a better financial position. This has changed and the balance of power has swung in favour of Wests but both sides still find a way to compete against each other and try establish some sort of dominance. One would think that with everything that has gone on over the last few years, that the Board would have awoken to their stupidity and made some tweaks, ridding themselves of their rather large egos. Unfortunately this hasn’t happened and now they have lost their main money maker. This may be the wake up call they need. They may realise that if things keep going on a similar path, they will run the club in to the ground.

Luckily there is a future. The club have some of the best youngsters in the game who are capable of forming a group of players similar to what the Tigers had in their 2005 premiership winning team. Think Bryce Gibbs, Robbie Farah, Liam Fulton They have halves, forwards and skillful backs all coming through which will enable them to build, ensuring that fans see that there is hope on the horizon. For this hope to become a reality though the Tigers really need some stability within the boardroom which will in turn lead to stability within the coaches box. Mick Potter's future remains unclear as the Tigers struggle to gain any sort of momentum. The idea was that Potter was the coach for a bright future, that he would be given time to build a team. But when you have a board that are divided, all it takes is for a few disgruntled members to get their knickers in a twist and leak information to the media. Whether that information is correct or not, who knows. What I do know however is that for these rumours to go away, the Tigers have to win. Otherwise the boardroom type get their knickers in a twist.

If you're a Tigers fan, keep your head up. Look towards the future. Benji Marshall leaving the Tigers is like a perfect friends with benefits - mutually beneficial. The Tigers get to rid themselves of a hefty pay check that may not have been worth it and get to blood a whole heap of talented youngsters without many ramifications. While Marshall gets out of a pretty messy situation, brushes the dirt off of his shoulders and comes home to a new challenge, new people and the hole left by King Carlos Spencer.