Maybe you don't need Benji, just don't be so quick to poo-poo that idea.

Aotearoa Kiwis coach David Kidwell dropped an interesting comment earlier this week regarding Benji Marshall. Kidwell basically said that Marshall wasn't in the frame for World Cup selection and that the Kiwis had moved on from Marshall, despite the Kiwis lacking an experienced half to call on in Shaun Johnson's absence.

This offered a funky insight into the Kiwis halves situation from a variety of angles. First and foremost is the belief that Johnson is going to be good to go for the opening game of the World Cup against Samoa. As Johnson is the incumbent, he deserves every opportunity to prove his fitness and shouldn't have to do too much to stake his claim. That vibe is countered by Johnson's mediocre form this season and we need to keep it real about Johnson's recent work for the Kiwis in the past 12 months; crap Four Nations campaign and a mundane attacking performance in the Anzac Test.

So on the one hand Johnson is the incumbent and deserves first crack, yet on the other hand, Johnson's form for the Warriors and Kiwis doesn't deserve first crack. Kidwell outlined how he's keeping close tabs on Johnson's rehab and expects him to be all good, if not then Kidwell would prefer the young halves over Marshall.

Te Maire Martin is obviously in the frame and he's getting through consistent footy in a strong Cowboys team, while the injury to Andrew McCullough could be highly beneficial to Kodi Nikorima's case to be selected as a halfback option.

When Johnson got injured, I wrote about Wayne Bennett's low key influence in this Kiwis halves situation and with McCullough ruled out for the rest of the season, that's now amplified. Bennett has opted to move Ben Hunt to hooker and Nikorima to halfback - a logical move given Nikorima is likely to be a long-term Brisbane halfback and Hunt's leaving the club, plus Hunt played a lot of dummy half earlier in his career.

This is incredibly fluid though as Bennett could change on a dime and play selection games with his opposition each week. Josh McGuire's played hooker for Samoa and there was a headline that Sam Thaiday could also play dummy half to bolster Brisbane's middle, even Nikorima could slide in there but I think we've clearly seen in recent weeks that the Nikorima x dummy half ship has sailed.

Now Nikorima is likely to get a decent crack at halfback and this is great timing for him as we're approaching the climax of the season. Playing halfback during Origin is a bit different to playing halfback leading into the Finals and during the Finals, so we'll get a fantastic insight into what Nikorima can offer at halfback over the coming weeks.

For the Kiwis, Nikorima offered impact off the bench and Aotearoa is well equipped to shift Nikorima to halfback if needed. Danny Levi has oozed x-factor coming off the bench for Newcastle and he'd be the ideal replacement should Nikorima slide into halfback.

The weirdest aspect of Kidwell's comments though was how he kinda blew off the idea of selecting Marshall. Applying context to comments I read is tricky and I won't put too much emphasis on this, but it was as though Kidwell was a bit arrogant, that the Kiwis didn't need Marshall anymore. Sure, the Kiwis have a cluster of youngsters who can cover Johnson, but Kidwell's tenure as Kiwis coach has been nothing but a failure and I certainly wouldn't question (I'd actually recommend it) if Kidwell selected Marshall just to be in the squad and offer his experience, his World Cup winning experience.

Aotearoa has gone backwards under Kidwell, yet Kidwell is saying that he doesn't need certain players. I reckon Kidwell needs all the help he can get and given how the Kiwis, or more specifically how lacklustre their spine has been under Kidwell's guidance, there's not a lot to lose at this point. Marshall would be the ideal bloke to fill in during a World Cup and I'd rather rely on Marshall to fill in during a World Cup than a youngster, which would only become more relevant in the 'bigger' games.

Any way, Kidwell seems to know best despite results and performances not reinforcing that.

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