Benji Marshall begins life as Wests Tigers coach as the joint venture searches for something to believe in

That’s all well and good if your a Trent Robinson type who has proven success as a head coach. but if your a Ciraldo type who’s apparently a gun Assistant , it doesn’t much for guys to go “you’re full of shit mate . You’re just riding on the coat tails of a golden generation at the riff , and the Cleary family just your mate Trent was a couple of years ago” .
Bang! You’ve lost the dressing room and might as well sip pina coladas all day because you’re going to have the same effect !
The Benji style screams Wayne to me ! Belief , team , compete , team , confidence , team and most importantly” I have your back”.
No one wants Benji to be successful as a coach more than me, but the task of turning a dual wooden spoon team around without introducing some quality players to the squad is beyond most coaches -including the very best ones - let alone a rookie. For this reason I believe the Bulldogs recruitment is putting their coach in a better position to improve their position, than ours.
 
Jarome Luai is not a priority, says Benji Marshall

Looks like he could be coming afterall. And Benji fitting in well with media.

Aggressive recruiting requires cutting some underperforming players. Bulldogs are better example of that model going into next season than what has happened at WTs considering
That’s it then…
 
Gotta admit I’ve had doubts about Benji becoming a good coach, but I’m liking what he‘s doing so far, and it’s not the win vs Sharks which has given me confidence in him, It’s more the little things he does, like the positive way he talks about the players at a post game presser. his arm on Bud’s shoulder while singing the victory song (who had the foresight to right that? 😜) in complete contrast to some on here calling him “dud Sullivan” and calling for him to be sacked, sends a loud message…we’re in this together and you won’t be crucified for making a mistake. Benji is better than I thought he would be.
 
Gotta admit I’ve had doubts about Benji becoming a good coach, but I’m liking what he‘s doing so far, and it’s not the win vs Sharks which has given me confidence in him, It’s more the little things he does, like the positive way he talks about the players at a post game presser. his arm on Bud’s shoulder while singing the victory song (who had the foresight to right that? 😜) in complete contrast to some on here calling him “dud Sullivan” and calling for him to be sacked, sends a loud message…we’re in this together and you won’t be crucified for making a mistake. Benji is better than I thought he would be.
Benji is a confident and dedicated and respectful person

I think he will do amazing

Players seem to really love and respect him which is what you would expect when you treat them with respect

Reminds me a lot like Billy Slater

QLD were always going to succeed under his guidance

Both are truly committed dedicated respectful ppl that will succeed in anything they try
 
Benji seemed to have some tactics in the game versus the Sharks we haven’t seen much previously …the emphasis on the late offloads seemed to be a positive and upset the Sharks defensive rythym that had been well set the first two games …

Last year the Tigers just seemed to play the same plan each week regardless of the opponent …
 
I realize it's still way early in proceedings, but I like the ball movement, the backing up, the intent, the definite and measured kick and a great chase - all so simple in isolation, but I haven't seen a true "team effort" for ever so long.
And there's a couple of moves in there too, like the kick to Staines on the wing; it didn't fully come off, but I still liked the idea.
 
Will Benji have learned from this season enough to work with a whole new bunch of recruits , Benji never honed his skills coming through lower grades and this experiment was reliant on Sheens mentoring him till he was ready. I wonder if next year is the real acid test .
 
Richo has to tell Benji if he wants to stay head coach, he has to get some better assistants. Our defence is improved which is largely down to John Morris.

Attack, discipline, game plan has not. Get Farah into an office job and get some experienced coaches around him.

It doesn’t sit well with me Benji saying in the press conference “I’m still learning as a rookie coach”. WT are not a charity.
 
He’s done a pretty good job with recruitment so far, but from the actual coaching, he’s nearly at an F. The thing that is really pissing me off is he’s constantly praising the effort. We’ve lost 8 in a row. There has to come a point where effort is not worth praising. Kind of goes along with what this club has always been about though. Constantly talking about the future, while the present gets swept under the rug.
 
He’s done a pretty good job with recruitment so far, but from the actual coaching, he’s nearly at an F. The thing that is really pissing me off is he’s constantly praising the effort. We’ve lost 8 in a row. There has to come a point where effort is not worth praising. Kind of goes along with what this club has always been about though. Constantly talking about the future, while the present gets swept under the rug.
Highlights the fact he has zero idea what to talk about and more to that, has zero positives at all to talk about. They are paid pro athletes thats their bloody job to show up with 110% effort as their baseline.

Benji is cooked. Richo doesnt give 2 shits about a guy living off 1 flick pass in 2005 and has no emotional ties to Benji being a good ol'boy. The guy will be flicked very soon. Benji will come out and say he is resigning not being fired to save face for the club. Writing is well and truly on the wall.
 
Richo has to tell Benji if he wants to stay head coach, he has to get some better assistants. Our defence is improved which is largely down to John Morris.

Attack, discipline, game plan has not. Get Farah into an office job and get some experienced coaches around him.

It doesn’t sit well with me Benji saying in the press conference “I’m still learning as a rookie coach”. WT are not a charity.
Morris is on borrowed time unless he can stop the hip drops which are killing us with the match review.
 
He’s done a pretty good job with recruitment so far, but from the actual coaching, he’s nearly at an F. The thing that is really pissing me off is he’s constantly praising the effort. We’ve lost 8 in a row. There has to come a point where effort is not worth praising. Kind of goes along with what this club has always been about though. Constantly talking about the future, while the present gets swept under the rug.
Agreed. He’s getting a free pass based on who he is. He’s also attracting players for the same reason.

He gets a free pass this year, but we need to see improvement. Naden doing the same stupid shit 2 weeks in a row suggests he’s too soft on the team.
 
I think that’s on Benji.
Yes, he’s the coaching commander in chief.

Im just not seeing enough at the moment to justify his lengthy contract, it might be better than last year, but I don’t get the sense we are actually building anything.

Bud, Bateman, Paps and others being shopped around.

It could change next week, it could change with better players….

Not that we are actually paying for him, that’s a tpa arrangement. I wonder about the wisdom of that tbh.

That said, I’d be sure he is working as hard as he Possibly can.

Fair winds Richo:

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I’m thinking unless there’s a miracle, Benji will be on his knees begging for his job in a years time. I’m not wishing it on him, I just can’t see he has the answers.

I think he should have stuck it out as an assistant for a couple of years, a bit more of an apprenticeship. He rolled the dice. A matter for him and he backed himself. We could have told him last year that this year would be extremely difficult.
 
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