Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\nMarshall impressed by Tigers start | 07:51<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite nice knowing that when he says things it\u2019s coming from a place of empathy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s felt what I\u2019ve felt\u2026 and it makes it easier for me to relate to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of respect for him. He\u2019s a really nice guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellis isn\u2019t the only Tigers legend inspiring the 6\u2032 6\u2033 edge forward. He\u2019s made no secret of the fact that coach Benji Marshall was the driving force behind his decision to join a club facing a 15-year finals drought. He has clearly embraced Marshall\u2019s vision and is now a fully-fledged \u2018Benji-ite\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team last year, they ended with some pretty good form, and that was something that we focused on coming into this season, to add to that and carry it on,\u201d Pearce-Paul continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team, we\u2019ve got what we call our \u2018non-negotiables\u2019, which are the little one-percenters you don\u2019t see on TV, but end up making the difference, and help your team out more than just yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frustrated Payten Seeking clarification | 04:34<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s his third inspiration: the fans. A Crystal Palace supporter, Pearce-Paul was full of praise for the Leichhardt Oval crowd following the Cowboys\u2019 win, comparing the atmosphere at the inner-west venue to some of the more raucous Premier League stadiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reminds me of being at a soccer game in England, crowds up and chanting, beers flying everywhere,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what you want from a crowd that\u2019s backing you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want that bit of crazy, knowing that they\u2019ve got your back no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gareth Ellis last wore a Wests Tigers jersey in 2012, but the British league legend continues to have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,689,9421,268103,218708,1208,23421,268105,2057,267033,38426,268108,2105,4582,230925,268106,2022,761,762,673,4495,764,3583,158,677,1614,268050,268107,267030,85,268104,14869,670,19998,39956,777,3586,4515],"class_list":["post-541121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-benji-marshall","tag-british-league-legend","tag-dream-debut","tag-england","tag-english-recruit","tag-epic-two-try-debut","tag-europe","tag-fans-storm-field","tag-finals-drought","tag-gareth-ellis","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jarome-luai","tag-kai-pearce-paul","tag-legend-mentor","tag-london","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-newcastle-knights","tag-north-queensland-cowboys","tag-northern-europe","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-premier-league","tag-runs-clinic","tag-soccer-game","tag-special-press-conference","tag-sports","tag-steven-russo","tag-super-league","tag-sydney","tag-team-mates","tag-tigers-legend","tag-todd-payten","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n