Tiger_heart
Well-known member
Pats on the back make you soften your mindset’: Benji Marshall tries to quiet down the Tigers hype train as he reveals the new term he hates
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has revealed the one term he hates, as the club legend tries to put the brakes on the hype building around his club.Martin Gabor
Wests Tigers halfback Adam Doueihi says the external noise about the club is more positive than it’s ever been since he’s been there, although he and coach Benji Marshall were both quick to play down the hype ahead of a blockbuster Easter Monday battle.
The vibes around the club are overwhelmingly positive after a torrid off-season that saw more boardroom drama play out before Marshall was eventually re-signed.
The Tigers have won two of three games this season, including a huge win over the Warriors, which has built hope with their fans who are desperate to see them return to the finals for the first time since 2011.
“For the first time since I’ve been here,” Doueihi replied when asked about the positive things he’s heard from outside the club.
“As much as we try and stay away from it, I’ve got friends and everyone that sends me all the articles and everything. As much as we try and stay away (from the noise), it’s always in our head.
“Obviously, positivity is good (but) we’re definitely not getting anywhere near ahead of ourselves, or not looking into that. We know a loss or two losses and the media can turn pretty quickly.”
Marshall is also enjoying the positivity but stressed that his side can’t get complacent just because people are praising what they’re doing a few rounds into the season.
While he didn’t want to talk about last season, he did mention the culture the club has created where there’s an environment for players to want to be there regardless of what happened on the weekend.
“I think it’s good for the club and the fans that they have a bit of positive reaction to the way we’re going, which means we’re probably doing a few things right,” he said.
“But at the same time, I expressed to the players that pats on the back make you soften your mindset a bit.
“So it’s important for us, we’ve flushed that game now and moved forward to this week, and Easter Monday is such a great day to play for us. So get excited about playing the type of footy we want to play.
“You want them to have confidence and belief in what you’re doing. That’s just a thing you have to have and you don’t want to take that away from them.
“But at the same time, you’ve got to make sure that you go out every week and execute the way you want to play. It doesn’t just happen.
“I’ve played for a long time and what can happen when you feel like you’re going good is you don’t do the non-negotiable things the week after. So we’ve addressed those things.
“It’s early in the season, we’ve got a long way to go, but I’m happy with the things I’m seeing. But we’ve got to maintain that and continue that.”
The Tigers are playing an attacking brand of footy that has been dubbed “BenjiBall’ by some pundits, but the term infuriates the coach it was named after, with Marshall not getting carried away by the early season hype.
BenjiBall has been tossed around in relation to English cricket’s ‘BazBall’, although Marshall will be hoping his side’s tactics have more success than what we saw in the recent Ashes series.
“I hate it because it’s not about me,” the Tigers coach said when asked about the name.
“The players all have their own weapons that they bring to our team and own strengths. And a lot of those strengths don’t really align with things that I do. It’s about our team. Although it’s been named that (BenjiBall) it’s not about me.”
Go out and practice / preach cautious optimism, everyone.. 🙂
Last edited by a moderator:
