Balmain legend Benny Elias has questioned the Wests Tigers’ decision to offer Benji Marshall an extension that will keep him in the role until 2030 and confirmed his ambition to lead the besieged club as chairman of the board has been put on the backburner after the reinstatement of Barry O’Farrell and the ousted directors.
Elias was floated as a possible replacement for O’Farrell after the former NSW Premier was removed, along with three others, but intervention by the NRL will see them return. Shane Richardson, the former CEO, has been left out in the cold, while Shaun Mielekamp, who was formerly general manager of football, has been announced as interim chief executive.
Although Elias’ chances of chairing the board are now gone, he told Wide World of Sports how he would’ve attacked the role and that he wants to help the club where he can, calling it “one of the loves of my life.”
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“After the last 24 hours they’ve reinstated the directors and the chairperson. So there’s no position there to go for anyway,” he said.
“The first thing I would do is I’d interview everybody from the ball boy right through to the boardroom, including the players.
“I’d sit down with the players, go through all the administrations, talk to people about what’s important to them and take a genuine interest in all the personnel at the club, the footballers, the the NRLW, all that is all part of our performances on the football field.”
Elias, who played 234 games for the Tigers from 1982-94, described himself as an “optimist” and hopes the events of the past two weeks eventually leads to harmony and more wins.
Benny Elias says he’s willing to help the club where possible. Nine
But he believes there needs to be change for the results to improve on the field. The club confirmed on Friday, Marshall will be the head coach for another five years, which will see him at Concord until 2030, in news that was met by surprise from Elias.
Mielekamp was also announced as interim CEO after he arrived at the Tigers in early 2024, following a nine-year stint as CEO of the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League.
Marshall’s signing comes after a report stated players were upset that Brad Arthur was being earmarked for a return to the NRL at the Tigers, if Benji does not have the wins on the board next season.
Elias said if he had joined the board he would have to do a lot of “homework” before offering additional years to Marshall’s deal.
“They want to extend Benji Marshall’s contract. I thought he had another two more years to go there. He coached last year and I think he’s done OK. I wouldn’t say good or great,” Elias said.
Benji Marshall has the backing of the players. Scott Gardiner via Getty Images
“I’d come in cold, so it’s not fair for me to say if I think he’s the best man for the job. I would make sure that decision would be made after researching and asking and interviewing all the people in the organisation, including the players and the administrators.
“I would have to look at everything before you offer anything.
“I can’t say yes or no until you do all your homework because it’s probably the most important decision the club’s made in the history in the last 26 years.”
In a strange way, Marshall might be the biggest winner from the bloodletting at board level, with the trickle down effect causing uncertainty among the players, who are extremely loyal to the coach.
The claims of a mass walkout have bought him extra time to deliver what Elias believes should be a top four position.
“What we’ve got a good line-up of talent, good enough to be in the top four. That’s how confident and positive I am about the place,” he said.
Elias leads out the Balmain Tigers during his playing days. Getty
“I think what they need is getting the formula on and off the football paddock at the moment.
“We came 13th last year out of 17. Would you call that a success? Not in my books. I’m a person that we we take nothing less than the top four and that’s the way we’ve got to look at things.
“You’ve got to look at the balance book. In business its whether you make a profit or a loss.
“In rugby league your balance book is the competition ladder, and our competition ladder is red ink all over it at the moment. You need to turn that red ink into black.
“The only way of doing that is doing things different to what we did last year. We haven’t got too many different players as we had last year.
“So things must have to be different on and off the football paddock to make a better decision or better position of us to be more competitive next year.
“That obviously starts and finishes at the very top, which is the coach and the very top, which is in the boardroom.”