Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nBenji Marshal lappears to have the Wests Tigers playing group behind him.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The \u201che\u201d Richardson is referring to is Tigers coach Benji Marshall, the NRL clipboard carrier most thought at the start of the year would be fighting hardest to save his job after a turbulent first season which ended with defeat in the \u201cSpoon Bowl\u201d.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d emerged from a year in which he was questioned on everything: from putting his phone down for a few hours at night to spend time with family, playing golf on the morning of games and even running with his side in training drills.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Tigers aren\u2019t going to make the finals this year, and that is the mirror most teams hold up at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
But they will get away from the wooden spoon for the first time in four years and probably finish closer to the top eight than last. You could even argue it\u2019s a decent pass mark, at the very least borrowing that well-worn American term, they\u2019re trending.<\/p>\n
It would be easy to think after they waded through the Lachlan Galvin circus and then released another potential 10-year player, Tallyn Da Silva, the Tigers\u2019 season could have gone south. Quickly.<\/p>\n
But the longer the year has gone on, the more, ahem, galvanised the side has looked, and the better they\u2019ve played. Marshall must take a lot of credit for that.<\/p>\n
His ascension to the top job last year \u2013 without having coached his own side at any level, and with a planned two-year apprenticeship under Tim Sheens cut short by 12 months \u2013 might have been one of the greatest rugby league gambles in modern NRL history.<\/p>\n
Why do it? How would it work? Could it possibly work?<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have got to realise he was in a far worse situation than they give him credit for,\u201d Richardson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a board that was sacked, a chair that was sacked, a CEO that was sacked and he\u2019d never coached before. Tim Sheens had left. And then he had a new CEO that he didn\u2019t know at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tigers fans celebrate their teams win in golden point against the Sharks on Sunday. Photo: Tom ParrishSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt the recruitment of Jarome Luai has helped, even if Luai hasn\u2019t quite hit the giddying heights on the field yet. Culturally, he\u2019s been everything the Tigers wanted and more. \u201cTeam first\u201d etc. Luai had planned to simplify his game at the start of the season to allow Galvin the freedom at No.6. He\u2019s now gone back to his more familiar role with Galvin out of the picture.<\/p>\n
Marshall retains an extremely tight relationship with Luai and co-captain Api Koroisau, to the point where the Tigers prioritised Koroisau\u2019s retention for 2027 over Da Silva. Koroisau will be 34 when that season starts. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a large influence on Benji, but more importantly Benji has a large influence on them,\u201d Richardson says. \u201cWhen Luai gives his soul, he gives his soul. He\u2019s 100 per cent behind Benji.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the word go, Benji doesn\u2019t tell lies. The thing I\u2019ve found is Benji tells you up front what he thinks. He\u2019s a really good listener. He wants to learn. And he\u2019s a good human being. There are not too many bad traits there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says Marshall\u2019s manager Matt Desira: \u201cNot many coaches in a team that was going that bad would be able to attract a Luai, a Turuva, the Mays. He\u2019s a highly intelligent guy, and a lot of people might not know that about Benji until you meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luai warns his best is yet to come | 01:00<\/p>\n
The Tigers\u2019 recruitment is an interesting point because in the three Fainu brothers and the two Mays \u2013 Terrell and Taylan \u2013 Marshall has organically created a bond for his players which runs far deeper than just the same jersey they pull on. <\/p>\n
Professional sports coaches spend a lifetime trying to figure out the right emotional levers to pull for optimum performance. Marshall has struck a unique formula for his Tigers, and most of it centres on family.<\/p>\n
After a game, when his team finally retreats to the dressing room, Marshall urges the players\u2019 kids to join them. It might only be a little thing, but he has embraced it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s finally got a crew who have bought into what we want to do, understand their place is secure and understand each day Benji has a way of coaching and playing the game,\u201d Richardson says.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t always guarantee success, not least of all so early in a coaching career when it\u2019s often sink or swim.<\/p>\n
\u201cBenji was a really smart player and a really smart guy to talk to about football and how it should be played,\u201d Wayne Bennett tells foxsports.com.au. \u201cIt was obvious to me he would finish up coaching. He\u2019s very good with people.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you need a club that\u2019s going to stand behind you. I was a young coach once and I\u2019m only here because a couple of chairmen stuck behind me at different stages of my career when I was on the edge. They give you that bit of time you need to get it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is everyone wants results and they think the next guy can get it for you, but it doesn\u2019t work like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NRL has been filled with young coaches who take on the top job only years after they\u2019ve finished playing, and the delineation between going from a teammate to a coach-player relationship can be tricky.<\/p>\n
Marshall\u2019s last game as a player was in 2021 when he came off the bench in South Sydney\u2019s grand final defeat to the Panthers. The final year of his career under Wayne Bennett might have fast-tracked his coaching ambition, and still only 40, he has the skills to run in drills with his players.<\/p>\n
Is it the right thing to do? Or is a coach\u2019s role better spent passing judgment from a distance, rather than passing the ball along the backline?<\/p>\n
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIf you look at Wayne Bennett, he\u2019s on the field the whole time,\u201d Richardson says. \u201cWayne Bennett and Benji don\u2019t rely on what a lot of coaches do, which is not pulling up a mistake and just getting onto the next play. They will rely on looking at a drone afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they\u2019re hands-on then and there. They show you at the time, \u2018you should have gone left that way, or that pass wasn\u2019t delayed long enough\u2026\u2019 They stop training to make sure they fix that mistake. That\u2019s the way he coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cBenji is working out his style of coaching. Now he\u2019s on the sideline (during games), which I think is great. He feels more effective down there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re lucky to have him. People talk about loving the club, he actually loves the club \u2013 and the fans too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane Richardson has been around rugby league so long he remembers the days when it was expected he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33224,21398,64,63,9421,11387,67660,67661,67670,54481,67669,31176,17971,33217,67658,11288,4582,4617,67667,67664,67666,16228,67663,67662,46732,41564,9420,85,53249,67659,52532,67671,2038,1651,67668,4515,67665],"class_list":["post-91153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-pengilly","tag-api-koroisau","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benji-marshall","tag-chief-executive","tag-clipboard-carrier","tag-coach-player-relationship","tag-coaching-ambition","tag-coaching-career","tag-coffee-bill","tag-coffee-shop","tag-credit-card","tag-dressing-room","tag-familiar-role","tag-grand-final","tag-jarome-luai","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-lifetime-trying","tag-matt-desira","tag-optimum-performance","tag-pass-mark","tag-people-talk","tag-professional-sports-coaches","tag-right-direction","tag-season-starts","tag-shane-richardson","tag-sports","tag-teams-win","tag-tigers-fans","tag-tim-sheens","tag-tom-parrish","tag-top-job","tag-wayne-bennett","tag-well-worn-american-term","tag-wests-tigers","tag-young-coaches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91153","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=91153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}