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SYDNEY - Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens angrily slammed suggestions Benji Marshall is a defensive liability and accused South Sydney of unnecessary gamesmanship ahead of their National Rugby League match on Sunday.
Sheens launched an extraordinary defence of the Kiwis international after statistics revealed he was responsible for seven tries conceded in just his four games back from shoulder surgery.
Marshall has been shifted from five-eighth to halfback in attack and now defends on the right wing to reduce the workload where opposing sides have targeted him.
But Sheens defended Marshall, saying most of his conceded tries could not have been stopped by any other winger.
And he said the public targeting of Marshall by Souths and the possibility of towering veteran Paul Mellor being switched to mark the 22-year-old were just more poor attempts at gamesmanship.
"That's Souths' little bit of gamesmanship," Sheens said.
"From my point of view we will do our talking on Sunday and I'm sure Benji will too.
"I'm not getting into a `he said I said', I'm not going to do this garbage. That's so old fashioned I can't believe it.
"I'm more concerned about just playing the game, I'm not worried about little bits and pieces."
Tigers captain Brett Hodgson, himself a target of high balls due to his small stature, backed Marshall to show his true colours against Souths.
"They can target him all they want on the weekend and I'm sure he will come up trumps," Hodgson said.
"Benji is a confident kid and all it takes is only a little issue for him to catch a ball under pressure or get on a loose ball and race 70m to score a try."
Sheens said despite the statistics against Marshall, he would remain on the wing for at least 12 months or until the coach is confident his shoulder problems are over.
"If he gets involved in too much heavy traffic there's going to be an issue with his shoulder," Sheens said.
"Until there's a good 12 months go by without any further episodes he'll learn his trade defensively on the wing.
"I think Benji is improving. I said when he came back he'd be over a month and he's played four games.
"I was talking to him the other day and I see elements of improvement ... when he gets another 50 games behind him he will be a better player again.
"I hope he carves people up, I'd love him to carve people up. But I'm not looking for that and I don't expect that from him.
"I know Jason Taylor (Souths coach) will be worried about him on the weekend."
Sydney Roosters and Cronulla both exposed Marshall's defensive weaknesses on the wing, with Brad Fittler specifically switching Joel Monaghan to oppose Marshall.
Monaghan scored a double as the Roosters produced a golden point victory a fortnight ago.
But Sheens welcomed the possibility of Mellor making the switch and said he would be just as much a target as Marshall.
"I know Paul Mellor doesn't like playing on that side," Sheens said.
"We'll obviously put some pressure back on their outside people.
"We will target their wingers the same way they'll target ours."
- AAP
