Blues coach Sir John Kirwan and Mataatua's Benji Marshall held a press conference to discuss his recent departure from the team. Te Kāea reporter, Rewa Harriman, was at the press conference.
She says at the conference Benji talked about how he enjoyed his time with the Blues but to be released he had to admit he wasn't good enough and told his now former coach he felt like a league party alongside 14 rugby players.
He also added, he didn’t know of any negotiations with any NRL clubs at this point, and that he didn’t want to know until his release from the Blues was sorted, but many people are talking about a possible move to the Cronulla Sharks.
At the Blues media session, Benji Marshall was a forbidden subject, but a veteran halfback did say he would be missed by the players and it has distracted the team's focus in this weeks all important game against the Waratahs on Friday night.
Team mate, Piri Weepu says with Benji Marshall's departure, he'll be the only cheeky fella left in the team
"hes been awesome great to have around the team and its gonna be pretty sad to not have his cheeky comments around the field and the work place"
With Chris Noakes out, Simon Hickey will start at first five and Ihaia West from Ngati Kahungunu is poised to make his Super 15 debut off the bench.
Ihaia has also been hitting the books to get up to speed with the systems and patterns, having only joined the squad last Monday.
But only a win on Friday night, will steady this sinking ship.