Tigers to chase Sezer signing after Marshall-Fulton peace talks
By Adam Pengilly
July 17, 2023 — 4.54pm
Benji Marshall has been given the green light to sign Aidan Sezer as the Tigers’ new halfback after club powerbrokers moved to settle the tension between the coach-in-waiting and recruitment boss Scott Fulton.
Sezer, who hasn’t played in the NRL since helping the Raiders to the 2019 grand final, has emerged as the club’s No.1 halfback target after chairman Lee Hagipantelis and chief executive Justin Pascoe took steps to bring Marshall and Fulton together on Monday.
Marshall and Fulton held separate talks with the club bosses over the direction of the club, which is staring at a second successive last-place finish if they can’t beat the struggling Dragons in Wollongong on Thursday night.
The identity of the club’s playmakers - the Tigers don’t have a ready-made half to start to 2024 on their current roster - has been a source of friction between Marshall and Fulton.
But according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the talks, Marshall has been given the power to pursue a short-term deal to bring Sezer back from the English Super League.
Fulton, who was brought to the club earlier this year without the knowledge of coach Tim Sheens or his current assistant Marshall, had wanted to pursue Penrith’s back-up halfback Jack Cogger, who is seven years Sezer’s junior and has been understudy to Nathan Cleary this year.
But the parties agreed Marshall’s preference would take priority and the Tigers will now work to sign 32-year-old Sezer from Leeds.
Luke Brooks has taken up a four-year deal with Manly next season and Adam Doueihi is expected to miss the majority of 2024 as he recovers from another ACL tear, with current halfback Brandon Wakeham unsigned beyond this season.
Marshall and Fulton both agreed with Tigers bosses they would work together for the betterment of the club, which has won only three games this season.
Fulton’s board-driven appointment was seen as a tonic to help improve the Tigers’ roster, but it caught coach Tim Sheens and his assistant Marshall off guard. Marshall will take over from Sheens as head coach - possibly as early as 2024 - and is signed until the end of 2027.
The urgency to find a halfback had caused angst between Marshall and Fulton with the Tigers having already missed out on several big-name targets such as Cameron Munster, Mitchell Moses, Mitchell Pearce and Shaun Johnson in the past year.
But Sezer will be their latest pursuit, giving Marshall the imprimatur to sign a halfback who will run his team.
The Tigers boast the most impotent attack in the competition, not helped by hooker Api Koroisau (jaw) missing three matches, and Brooks not having played in more than a month with a hamstring problem. But there could be help on the way.
The Tigers are trying to fend off interest from Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins for brothers Samuela and Latu Fainu, who have been given permission to negotiate with rivals by Manly.
Latu, 18, is seen as a potential long-term halves prospect, but his management want a clearer picture of the Tigers’ future before committing one of the game’s hottest prospects to the club.
Assistant coach Benji Marshall wanted the former Raiders halfback, but the recruitment boss had another target in mind. Now, the parties have come to an agreement.
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