THE HALVES
Marshall was one of the greatest halves in the game’s history and he is hoping that Midas touch can have the right impact on young halves Sullivan and Fainu.
The Tigers bought both last year with a view to the future.
Veteran Aidan Sezer was also brought in to help nurture the pair through next season but Marshall will throw the competition open.
If Sullivan and Fainu own the pre-season, they will start in round one.
“I have been working on their mindset a little bit, the way they think about footy,” Marshall said.
“As a coach I feel like my job is to take the pressure off them, not heap it on. So I am just trying to clear the way they think, give them confidence to back the way they play and use their strengths in our game plan.
“I said to all of them the same thing – you are not guaranteed to start, you have to earn it and if you earn it in the pre-season, I don’t care how old you are, you will start.
“I don’t want to create an environment where you just come in and think you play. It doesn’t work like that. They are on board.
“With all of them, they know my requirements of a half is you have to be the fittest in the team because what I am going to require out of you and the way we play, if you are not you won’t be able to handle it.
“They are all on board with it. They were good. They all have things I like about them and the way they play. They (Sullivan and Fainu) have a bit of swagger, a bit of cockiness which you have to have as a half.
“Then we have signed Aidan Sezer as a bit of a foil and a bit of a mentor who has experience if we need that.”
BOARDROOM BATTLES
The Tigers are in the midst of an external review of their governance model and Marshall was among the club officials who was interviewed as part of the process.
He insists he has no desire to get dragged into boardroom politics. Nor does he want his players to use the battles off the field as an excuse for any struggles on it.
“This is the part that people don’t get – I am paid to coach,” Marshall says.
“I am not paid to make decisions on the business. That is not for me. Sometimes it is frustrating that it is out there.
“I have to make sure it is clear with the players that we are separating whatever is happening- that doesn’t influence who we train or how we prepare or how we play.
“I am not going to be a coach who allows that to be an excuse. I know this as a player – the way you prepare, the way you train, the way you go out on the field.
“That is all up to you. I don’t believe that affects the team and I am not going to let it be an excuse. There are no excuses.”
Marshall does, however, feel for chair Lee Hagipantelis and chief executive Justin Pascoe, whose positions at the club are believed to be in jeopardy.
“I don’t have an agenda,” Marshall said.
“One thing will say with Justin and Lee in particular, I think they do get a bad rap sometimes. I didn’t see this when I was playing but working with them now, they actually have genuine care and want the club to be better.
“Lee chips in x amount of his own money and has a genuine care for the club. I have seen it first hand. He cops quite a lot of flak.
“Justin the same. That bloke works a lot. I am on the phone to him a lot of the time and he is working 24-7 to turn the club around.
“So their work ethic and commitment to the club, I like working with them. I do. But when it comes to who runs and the club and all those things, it had nothing to do with me.”
THE FUTURE
Marshall may not be willing to make a prediction about where his team will finish next season but he insists that the Tigers will fight to the end.
He believes he has surrounded himself with the right people – John Morris has joined Robbie Farah and Chris Heighington on the coaching staff – and he will give them the power to do what it takes, which will in turn free him to concentrate on what he does best.
“I always back myself,” Marshall says.
“Not only that, but you have to put people around you to complement the things you are not good at.
“Essentially, I want to empower my staff to do their job. I want to worry about the team, their mindset. Then come over the top with an overarching theme of how we play.
The Tigers have been linked with off-contract Panther Jarome Luai. Picture: Phil Hillyard
The Tigers have been linked with off-contract Panther Jarome Luai. Picture: Phil Hillyard
“I don’t want to make the mistake of having my hands in everything and focusing on too many things, instead of the right things, which is the players.
“That is one of my strengths – dealing with people.”
Marshall has climbed the mountain with the Tigers. He wants to go there again. Failure, he says, is not in the equation
“I am going to have a crack,” Marshall says.
“It is funny how other people think like that. I can’t fathom thinking like that. It doesn’t cross my mind that it won’t work.
“I don’t have that bone in my body. It is like when I play a golf shot – I never see the impossible.”
Daily Telegraph
