Coach Benji

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

Robbie Farah: Benji's Tigers renaissance & his latest venture to support athletes​

Now working as an investment banker, the 42-year-old established a travel experience company for sports fans, creating packages for punters to jet to some of the globe's most iconic sporting events.
But his latest venture, Athletes First, is a company designed to provide support for professional sportsmen and women to prepare for life after the boots are hung up - a predicament that hits close to home.
"As an athlete, when you're coming up in your career, you've got a great support network around you of doctors, physios, coaches, nutritionists, everyone helping you to perform to the best of your ability on the field,"

"We were just thinking, who's helping these guys off the field?

"It's something I'm really passionate about. I was fortunate enough to have some really good people around me and I made some smart decisions with my money, and a lot of my teammates would come up to me for advice whilst I was playing, so it made sense for me now to sort of help those guys.

"The things that players can relate to is that I've walked through their shoes. I understand what it's like, being an athlete and earning a certain amount of money and sometimes not knowing what to do with it.
"So, it's just guiding them on that journey and making sure they set themselves up, because the transition out of the game sometimes can be just as hard."

As for his beloved Tigers, Farah loves what he's seeing from the team through the early stages of the season under head coach Benji Marshall - highlighted by their gritty win over the Warriors in Auckland last weekend

"It's obviously early days and you don't want to get ahead of yourselves. And I'm sure Benji will be saying that to the players. But t's hard not to, mate, when you've had 15 years of heartache and not making the semi-finals.

"But there are definitely some great signs there. I think they definitely look fit. I know they had a really tough pre-season. They're playing for each other and there's a lot of desire there.

"I was at the game at Leichhardt against the Cowboys in round two. And they were outstanding that day. I thought they played really well, but just fell short.

"Then they went over to New Zealand, such a tough place to go and win. It's a pretty daunting place and the Warriors were off to a 3-0 start.

"To come up with a win over there was huge. So I'm sure the boys will get a lot of confidence out of that one."

A huge factor in the team's early success has been put down to the no-nonsense approach of Marshall, who Farah admits has been rallying the troops with a renewed vigour and much more confidence, having had a couple of years at the helm.

"He can't be as angry as me, but he can be when he needs to be. I think that's a quality you need to have as a coach - knowing when to be calm and patient, knowing when to crack the whip.

"He's obviously had a tough couple of years, being thrown in the deep end. But I think he would have learned a lot from the last couple of years.

"You know what Benji's like, if he puts his mind to something, he's he's going to be successful at it. So I have no doubt that we'll start to see the fruition of his coaching over the next 6, 12, 18 months."

NRL: Robbie Farah - Benji's Tigers renaissance & his latest venture to support athletes

The NRL veteran is now helping athletes transition away from pro sports.

sportnation.nz

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

Benji Marshall is doing what premiership-winning coaches Ivan Cleary and Michael Maguire could not do at Wests Tigers.

The Tigers are playing with a defensive resolve not seen since premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens was in charge in 2011.

For those too young to recall, that was the club’s only finals appearance in the last 15 seasons. Tigers fans, you have permission to start getting excited.

If a club can sack its coach after three games, one can also praise a coach who, although it’s still early days, is humming towards the finals.

Following a demanding pre-season led by Wests Tigers head of high performance Peter Moussa that saw forwards Alex Twal, Samuela Fainu and Api Koroisau (to name just three) crush personal fitness goals, Marshall has a Tigers side that is fitter than any team he’s had before.

The evidence is in their football and on the most important side of the ball that matters come September.

Wests Tigers are shedding their ‘toothless Tigers tag’ with fight and scramble in defence.

According to Fox Sports Lab, they lead the league in fewest metres conceded and fewest post-contact metres conceded.

After three games and one bye, Wests Tigers have conceded an average of 16.7 points per game.

It is the club’s greatest defensive performance in its history and tops the last year they made the finals — 2011 under Sheens — when the Tigers conceded 17.8 points per game.

Maguire’s best defensive season as coach of the Tigers between 2019 and 2021 was 20.25 points per game conceded.

Cleary’s best defensive numbers during his time between 2017 and 2018 were 19.1 points per game in 2018.

Of course, there’s still plenty of footy to be played this season but the shift is dramatic enough to suggest it is more than a fluke.

When Marshall took over from Sheens in 2024, they finished with the wooden spoon, conceding 35.7 points per game.

Last season, with a slightly improved 13th finish on the ladder, they conceded 29.1 points per game.

To note this again, they’ve covered up those clear cracks from past seasons to the tune of 16.7 points per game.

Talk to enough players and staff within the walls of Concord and they will tell you how Marshall has developed as a coach — and why he recognised that he needed to.

Marshall hates referencing the past but the fact is, the Tigers are here because of the mess they needed to clean up.

What his staff and players see in Marshall is something deeper than a website hype reel of Marshall pointing towards the door if standards aren’t met.

They point to a coach and playing group no longer willing to accept excuses.

In the first two years of Marshall’s reign, the roster needed tinkering, dead wood needed to be cut, and players who were only in it for themselves needed to be cast out.

Between 2024 and today, 41 players have been let go by the Tigers.

Rosters take time to mould and manage. In Marshall’s case, after three years, his roster finally resembles the team and personalities he wants the Tigers to reflect.

Another undeniable change and uplift in how the Tigers are playing is Adam Doueihi being locked in at halfback.

The key to this decision was that it was made during the pre-season.

Unlike last season’s uncertainty following Lachlan Galvin’s ugly departure, and instead of cycling through potential halves including Jarome Luai, Latu Fainu, Jock Madden or Doueihi, Marshall backed the steady hand and commanding voice of the Lebanese international from round one.

Last Saturday, Wests Tigers recorded their first win over the Warriors at Go Media Stadium in 10 years.

On Easter Monday, Marshall’s men face the Eels.

Parramatta have won 11 of the past 14 against Wests Tigers. I’m backing them to snap the run.

 

[Dr_Ice]

While happy with our defence, you can have stats supporting anything. At the corresponding time in 2018 (3 games and a bye), we conceded 8, 8 and 9, an average of 8.3 points per game.

After six games in 2018 we were still only averaging 11.2 points per game against.

 

[TheEnz]

While happy with our defence, you can have stats supporting anything. At the corresponding time in 2018 (3 games and a bye), we conceded 8, 8 and 9, an average of 8.3 points per game.

After six games in 2018 we were still only averaging 11.2 points per game against.

I think its more a combinattion of the for and agianst that stands out i.e. we are in the top 4 defence and attack stats. It is early days yet and we will not know much until we get past the halfway point of the season.

 

[426Tlgerland]

Benji needs to make sure when the team run out they are ready, last 2 games the start was poor , remedy this and you go along way to beating any team , no head starts , we are a good team just need to be ready to go on the whistle , take Mosses out of the game and you pull Parra apart , leave him to run and kick you ask for trouble , defence on him needs to be up and in on him and brutal , put him off his game , kick down field to corners , turn them around and bash them in the middle

 

[Halbrowne61]

Benji Marshall is doing what premiership-winning coaches Ivan Cleary and Michael Maguire could not do at Wests Tigers.

The Tigers are playing with a defensive resolve not seen since premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens was in charge in 2011.

For those too young to recall, that was the club’s only finals appearance in the last 15 seasons. Tigers fans, you have permission to start getting excited.

If a club can sack its coach after three games, one can also praise a coach who, although it’s still early days, is humming towards the finals.

Following a demanding pre-season led by Wests Tigers head of high performance Peter Moussa that saw forwards Alex Twal, Samuela Fainu and Api Koroisau (to name just three) crush personal fitness goals, Marshall has a Tigers side that is fitter than any team he’s had before.

The evidence is in their football and on the most important side of the ball that matters come September.

Wests Tigers are shedding their ‘toothless Tigers tag’ with fight and scramble in defence.

According to Fox Sports Lab, they lead the league in fewest metres conceded and fewest post-contact metres conceded.

After three games and one bye, Wests Tigers have conceded an average of 16.7 points per game.

It is the club’s greatest defensive performance in its history and tops the last year they made the finals — 2011 under Sheens — when the Tigers conceded 17.8 points per game.

Maguire’s best defensive season as coach of the Tigers between 2019 and 2021 was 20.25 points per game conceded.

Cleary’s best defensive numbers during his time between 2017 and 2018 were 19.1 points per game in 2018.

Of course, there’s still plenty of footy to be played this season but the shift is dramatic enough to suggest it is more than a fluke.

When Marshall took over from Sheens in 2024, they finished with the wooden spoon, conceding 35.7 points per game.

Last season, with a slightly improved 13th finish on the ladder, they conceded 29.1 points per game.

To note this again, they’ve covered up those clear cracks from past seasons to the tune of 16.7 points per game.

Talk to enough players and staff within the walls of Concord and they will tell you how Marshall has developed as a coach — and why he recognised that he needed to.

Marshall hates referencing the past but the fact is, the Tigers are here because of the mess they needed to clean up.

What his staff and players see in Marshall is something deeper than a website hype reel of Marshall pointing towards the door if standards aren’t met.

They point to a coach and playing group no longer willing to accept excuses.

In the first two years of Marshall’s reign, the roster needed tinkering, dead wood needed to be cut, and players who were only in it for themselves needed to be cast out.

Between 2024 and today, 41 players have been let go by the Tigers.

Rosters take time to mould and manage. In Marshall’s case, after three years, his roster finally resembles the team and personalities he wants the Tigers to reflect.

Another undeniable change and uplift in how the Tigers are playing is Adam Doueihi being locked in at halfback.

The key to this decision was that it was made during the pre-season.

Unlike last season’s uncertainty following Lachlan Galvin’s ugly departure, and instead of cycling through potential halves including Jarome Luai, Latu Fainu, Jock Madden or Doueihi, Marshall backed the steady hand and commanding voice of the Lebanese international from round one.

Last Saturday, Wests Tigers recorded their first win over the Warriors at Go Media Stadium in 10 years.

On Easter Monday, Marshall’s men face the Eels.

Parramatta have won 11 of the past 14 against Wests Tigers. I’m backing them to snap the run.

TF3, Just a comment re Cleary, he was slowly turning things around and imo would have definitely got us into the semi finals if he’d seen out his contract.
Not knocking what Benji has done but we are so starved of success we are latching into any stats we can find.
As I said a couple weeks ago, let’s get deeper into the season to assess the future success or otherwise.
I want success as much as anyone on here but I’ve seen far too many winters to go the early crow. Let’s assess where we are at the half way mark and go from there.
Cheers.
PS and beating Parra will be another notch in the belt but don’t expect them to roll over on Monday. It will be a huge struggle. Onya Tigers.

 

[upthetigers]

Benji needs to make sure when the team run out they are ready, last 2 games the start was poor , remedy this and you go along way to beating any team , no head starts , we are a good team just need to be ready to go on the whistle , take Mosses out of the game and you pull Parra apart , leave him to run and kick you ask for trouble , defence on him needs to be up and in on him and brutal , put him off his game , kick down field to corners , turn them around and bash them in the middle

We employed this strategy with JT and cowboys. We gave him no time on the ball.

 

[Odessa]

TF3, Just a comment re Cleary, he was slowly turning things around and imo would have definitely got us into the semi finals if he’d seen out his contract.
Not knocking what Benji has done but we are so starved of success we are latching into any stats we can find.
As I said a couple weeks ago, let’s get deeper into the season to assess the future success or otherwise.
I want success as much as anyone on here but I’ve seen far too many winters to go the early crow. Let’s assess where we are at the half way mark and go from there.
Cheers.
PS and beating Parra will be another notch in the belt but don’t expect them to roll over on Monday. It will be a huge struggle. Onya Tigers.

Clearly went after Dylan Edwards missed got Moses

Went after Fisher Harris missed got Packer

Went after Yeo got Big Ben

Went after Nathan got Josh Reynolds

Went after Corey Harawira-Naera


At least his first options was good

 

[Adam Doobie]

I want to see us hold a team to 0. Doesn't matter who it is, it will give me the most pride out of anything we could achieve this year, barring a premiership.

 

[SeanT]

The best thing is that a lot of supporters felt he was too friendly with the players. Especially the islanders. Young coaches have to learn to distance themselves more. Watching the Tiger tales first episode he made everyone knows that he is the coach and the standards are now set. Some coaches don't know how to change but Marshall already has in an offseason.

 

[innsaneink]

I want to see us hold a team to 0. Doesn't matter who it is, it will give me the most pride out of anything we could achieve this year, barring a premiership.

Thatd be sweet, I always like that and its very rare for us....but if we can concede only 12-16/18 for most games that should see enough Ws
Its inspiring for the team as well to keep holding the opposition out, they feed off it and gain confidence
Tackles 1,2 & 3 in the sets - not allowing them thru the ad line goes a long way to winning the ruck

 

[Halbrowne61]

Clearly went after Dylan Edwards missed got Moses

Went after Fisher Harris missed got Packer

Went after Yeo got Big Ben

Went after Nathan got Josh Reynolds

Went after Corey Harawira-Naera


At least his first options was good

True but irrespective of signings would have taken us forward .

 

[crazycat]

While happy with our defence, you can have stats supporting anything. At the corresponding time in 2018 (3 games and a bye), we conceded 8, 8 and 9, an average of 8.3 points per game.

After six games in 2018 we were still only averaging 11.2 points per game against.

I am not happy with our defense.

It's weird were conceding early tries, yet we still are getting victories.

Getting better, still not happy with our defense.

 

[innsaneink]

I think finding a solution to conceding early tries would probably be easier and a better problem to have than conceding late tries

I remember last year we seemed to often start slow at kick off and the 2nd halves...Id mention once theyd forgotten what Benjis said they seemed to get better

 

[SeanT]

I am not happy with our defense.

It's weird were conceding early tries, yet we still are getting victories.

Getting better, still not happy with our defense.

Our forwards defence is fine. It's the backs that is the issue. Get Toa , May and Luai back and we will see an less tries scored against.