A matter of loyalty for Marshall
As a player, Marshall had a circle of friends that he kept close. They all but ran the team.
Marshall has shown the same traits as a coach, rarely looking beyond those he has shared a dressing room with when appointing assistant coaches and staff.
Benji Marshall and Api Koroisau celebrate a job well done in a rare victory this year.Credit: NRL Photos
He also has a strong sense of loyalty towards Koroisau, which clearly runs both ways, with the co-captain staunch in his support of Marshall
when his coaching ability was called into question during the Galvin saga.
Marshall’s prioritising of the veteran hooker also made sense in the context of the
Tigers having lost their past six games. Marshall needed to look after the here and now, not the future of the club. If he didn’t, he might not have been there by the time Da Silva was ready to be the Tigers’ first-choice No.9.
Still, the decision to let Da Silva go has done little to ease a growing feeling in the dressing room that the coach favours certain players over others.
His relationship with the senior players is as strong as any coach could ask for, but sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said some players felt they were on the outer and that different cliques had developed at the club.
Benji Marshall at training.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Richardson has given Marshall everything he wants, even if it has sometimes backfired – the latest example being Royce Hunt, who is coming off the bench in NSW Cup just six months into a lucrative three-year deal that was pushed by the coach.
In backing Marshall, have the Tigers compromised the long-term prospects of the club? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain – the Tigers have supported their coach so strongly that he will inevitably bear the brunt of criticism if he can’t turn things around.
What happens if the Tigers finish bottom of the ladder for the fourth consecutive season, which would be Richardson’s second consecutive spoon and Marshall’s third as a member of the coaching staff?
The whispers around Willie Peters, coach of Super League high-flyers Hull KR, are getting louder.
The problem is that any change of coach could well result in the departure of star recruit Jarome Luai and even Koroisau, given their strong ties to Marshall. That would make the departures of Galvin and Da Silva an even more difficult pill to swallow for Tigers fans.
‘One of the boys’
There’s no doubt Marshall has significantly improved the Tigers in 2025. They certainly haven’t been as bad as their 5-10 record suggests, and performances have left fans optimistic about the future.
However, on the back of six straight losses, and with a tough draw ahead during the next month, there’s a genuine fear the bad old Tigers of old are set to make an unwelcome return.
Marshall is under no immediate pressure to save his job, but a string of poor results and major off-field distractions have raised questions over his approach to NRL coaching.
Tigers utility back Adam Doueihi.Credit: Steven Siewert
What many say about Marshall is that he still harbours a desire to be “one of the boys”.
Maybe that was evident a couple of weeks ago when things got heated between Marshall and centre Adam Doueihi at training in the lead-up to the round 16 match against Canberra.
The pair exchanged words and the situation became aggressive, according to onlookers, after Marshall allegedly tackled Doueihi while defending against him.
Marshall often injects himself into training sessions, running with the opposing team against his players.
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall.Credit: Getty Images
It’s easy to see why that could be a good thing. But it also blurs the line between coach and player, especially when Marshall’s swagger comes out on the paddock. Some observers are concerned his confidence could belittle his players in front of their peers.
The altercation did not go unnoticed by other Tigers players, some of whom were already worrying that they were not part of the coach’s trusted inner sanctum.
It’s not the first time Marshall has been accused of an inability to distinguish behaviours acceptable as a player but not as a coach.
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