Chammas Article

Maybe truth to the story that the leadership group are being favoured by Benji, but maybe he is trying to foster that relationship so that they step up and drag the younger ones along with them.
God knows we have missed on field leadership of that type for years.
Who are the guys complaining behind the scene anyway? Bateman, Klemmer, Galvin?? Sorry but their exit couldn’t have come quick enough for me. Naden too - all serial underperformers.
TDS story seems a little different and if you believe Richo’s version- i think it was fair enough to let him go.
 
What’s missing from the discussion is there is a strong likelihood Latu Fainu is a better long term 7 than Galvin. Haywood is a better prospect long term than TDS. Api is the better player for the next two seasons.

Sign Galvin Latu leaves his manager actually went on record stating this. The flip side is you can’t pay Api and TDS it’s mismanagement.

I actually agree with the decisions. Maybe I’m wrong but it makes complete sense. Releasing TDS early is the only question mark for mine but if it saves cap space our season is done for anyway.
👌
 
This article from Chammas is a load of horse shit..

Every club would have altercations etc and nothing get reported and we all know why .... Its because we are their "Bread n Butter" Click bait.

Try and tell me Bellyache does put players into line .. Even Stef said this week he copped a flogging from Belly yet that is praised by the media.

Unfortunately, until we start consistently winning we are going to cope everything.
 
What’s missing from the discussion is there is a strong likelihood Latu Fainu is a better long term 7 than Galvin. Haywood is a better prospect long term than TDS. Api is the better player for the next two seasons.

Sign Galvin Latu leaves his manager actually went on record stating this. The flip side is you can’t pay Api and TDS it’s mismanagement.

I actually agree with the decisions. Maybe I’m wrong but it makes complete sense. Releasing TDS early is the only question mark for mine but if it saves cap space our season is done for anyway.
This is what should be getting out in the media not the other way around.

These so called Jurno's should be making this public as it is spot on and confident will be the end game for us when we start winning.
 
Why are we their bread and butter click bait? Cos we’re forever at the bottom of the ladder. They target struggling clubs. We bring it on ourselves by never improving.
Thats what I said we need to win games to shut them up.
But in saying that the Titan are currently on the bottom with Eels and Media is pretty silent and even praising Eels for how good they are recruiting.

Blind Freddy knows that hate us
 
This is what should be getting out in the media not the other way around.

These so called Jurno's should be making this public as it is spot on and confident will be the end game for us when we start winning.
We will soon see.
Plenty of our supporter base including plenty on this forum seem to believe it’s as simple as Bula, Luai, Latu Fainu and Korisau all being on the field at the one time and the points will flow and the wins will follow.
Some of our supporter base also strongly believe our problem with lack of strike on our edges has already been solved with the signings of Taylan May and KPP.
I sincerely hope these opinions are correct, but my honest opinion is it’s still not enough to make us a top 8 team.
I think we need more strike on our edges and I think most of us agree a good ball playing 13 would be a great help, but I’m struggling to find where that suitable type of player is coming from.
Another powerful ball running middle would also help, again I’m struggling to find where that type of player is coming from.
As quite a few coments have already mentioned, winning more games will stop the majority of the media criticism that comes our way.
 
Why are we their bread and butter click bait? Cos we’re forever at the bottom of the ladder. They target struggling clubs. We bring it on ourselves by never improving.
I think, as solely a Wests Tigers supporter, with no affiliation to either merger club, that all the infighting and moaning that still goes on, in our 26th season as Wests Tigers, is the reason we are the bread and butter clickbait. Nothing easier to attack than an acrimonious union.
 
We will soon see.
Plenty of our supporter base including plenty on this forum seem to believe it’s as simple as Bula, Luai, Fainu and Korisau all being on the field at the one time and the points will flow and the wins will follow.
Then some of these same people and some others strongly believe are lack of strike on our edges problem has already been solved with the signings of Taylan May and KPP.
I sincerely hope these opinions are correct, but my honest opinion is it’s still not enough to make us a top 8 team.
I think we need more strike on our edges and I think most of us agree a good ball playing 13 would be a great help, but I’m struggling to find where that suitable type of player is coming from.
Another powerful ball running middle would also help, again I’m struggling to find where that type of player is coming from.
As quite a few coments have already mentioned, winning more games will stop the majority of the media criticism that comes our way.
Agree 100%

We need another 4-5 first graders to make us a top 8 team and once there that will help the juniors with not as much pressure to perform. Also help adding the Cream on top as Richo says.

We are not far off and there has been about 3 games we should have won this year (bad ref calls and some silly plays at end of games) cost us and we would be around 6th to 8th position.
 
I know its been mentioned, but, with the exception of Tallyn, it's hard not to notice that most of the recent exits are all under Moses - Galvin, Klemmer, Bateman and now the bust up with Doueihi who took Moses on recently.

It seems to be an effort to drive most of his clients, so, influence out of the club given their history.

It's not unprecedented for a club to refuse to deal with certain managers, particularly Isaac.

Maybe not. But it's a clear pattern.
 
I know its been mentioned, but, with the exception of Tallyn, it's hard not to notice that most of the recent exits are all under Moses - Galvin, Klemmer, Bateman and now the bust up with Doueihi who took Moses on recently.

It seems to be an effort to drive most of his clients, so, influence out of the club given their history.

It's not unprecedented for a club to refuse to deal with certain managers, particularly Isaac.

Maybe not. But it's a clear pattern.
Doesn’t say much for Bula’s future here. That will be the next big drama, probably this time next year.
 
I think, as solely a Wests Tigers supporter, with no affiliation to either merger club, that all the infighting and moaning that still goes on, in our 26th season as Wests Tigers, is the reason we are the bread and butter clickbait. Nothing easier to attack than an acrimonious union.
That definitely has some truth to it Suzie-Q, but did you notice we were very rarely in the media when we were 5 wins from 9 games ?
 
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/we...-like-the-same-old-story-20250701-p5mblv.html

Wests Tigers promised they would change. But it’s starting to look like the same old story, by Michael Chammas
“Clubs win premierships when they bring their juniors through.”
Those were the words of Wests Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson on his club’s podcast when he officially started in the role 18 months ago.
“We’ve got to make this really clear to everybody out there: we are not a recruitment club, we are a development club,” he went on to say.
Yet this week – just a month after boom 19-year-old five-eighth Lachie Galvin left to join the Bulldogs – the Tigers watched another of the club’s best young talents walk out the door, when Tallyn Da Silva was allowed to leave to join Parramatta immediately.
Only last year, Richardson criticised the previous Tigers regime for “letting players go away seven years ago, and we’ve never recovered”. Is history about to repeat itself?
Da Silva’s departure caused none of the acrimony that surrounded the departure of close friend Galvin. In fact, it was so amicable the Tigers all but held the door open for him.
“It would have been wrong of us to hold him back,” Richardson said this week as he explained the decision to let the young hooker go.
So what happened?
Da Silva wanted to stay, and was willing to see out the next 18 months of his deal – even if the Tigers prioritised the retention of current hooker and captain Api Koroisau. Da Silva’s manager was even happy to entertain a loan deal with a rival club.
But the Tigers still chose to usher him out of the club immediately, getting absolutely nothing in return.
Initial talks had centred around a player swap that would have seen Da Silva head to Newcastle and Tigers recruit Kai Pearce-Paul arrive at the Tigers six months ahead of his 2026 start date.
The Tigers were happy for it to happen, but Da Silva’s agent, Mario Tartak, required permission in writing.
The formal correspondence Tartak received gave Da Silva general permission to negotiate with other clubs, rather than being specific to the situation at Newcastle.
That opened the door for Parramatta to enter the equation, and Tartak took the opportunity to keep Da Silva in Sydney.
Even then, the Tigers could have refused to release Da Silva. Now, though, they have lost a hooker for the future and handed Koroisau’s agent more leverage in their ongoing negotiations over a contract extension.
Again, the question is why. Sources at the Tigers, talking on the condition of anonymity, say Richardson had wanted to prioritise keeping future star Da Silva at the club. Benji Marshall, however, favoured Koroisau, and Richardson let his coach have his way.
A similar thing happened in the off-season, when Richardson’s preference was to bring in Paul McGregor in as an assistant coach.
Marshall, however, wanted 2005 premiership-winning teammate Brett Hodgson to partner fellow ex-teammates John Morris and Chris Heighington on the coaching staff following the departure of another former teammate, Robbie Farah.
The coach won that battle, too.
A matter of loyalty for Marshall
As a player, Marshall had a circle of friends that he kept close. They all but ran the team.
Marshall has shown the same traits as a coach, rarely looking beyond those he has shared a dressing room with when appointing assistant coaches and staff.
He also has a strong sense of loyalty towards Koroisau, which clearly runs both ways, with the co-captain staunch in his support of Marshall when his coaching ability was called into question during the Galvin saga.
Marshall’s prioritising of the veteran hooker also made sense in the context of the Tigers having lost their past six games. Marshall needed to look after the here and now, not the future of the club. If he didn’t, he might not have been there by the time Da Silva was ready to be the Tigers’ first-choice No.9.
Still, the decision to let Da Silva go has done little to ease a growing feeling in the dressing room that the coach favours certain players over others.
His relationship with the senior players is as strong as any coach could ask for, but sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said some players were left feeling on the outer and that different cliques had developed at the club.
Richardson has given Marshall everything he wants, even if it has sometimes backfired – the latest example being Royce Hunt, who is coming off the bench in NSW Cup just six months into a lucrative three-year deal that was pushed by the coach.
In backing Marshall, have the Tigers compromised the long-term prospects of the club? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain – the Tigers have supported their coach so strongly that he will inevitably bear the brunt of criticism if he can’t turn things around.
What happens if the Tigers finish bottom of the ladder for the fourth consecutive season, which would be Richardson’s second consecutive spoon and Marshall’s third as a member of the coaching staff?
The whispers around Willie Peters, coach of Super League high-flyers Hull KR, are getting louder.
The problem is that any change of coach could well result in the departure of star recruit Jarome Luai and even Koroisau, given their strong ties to Marshall. That would make the departures of Galvin and Da Silva an even more difficult pill to swallow for Tigers fans.
‘One of the boys’
There’s no doubt Marshall has significantly improved the Tigers in 2025. They certainly haven’t been as bad as their 5-10 record suggests, and performances have left fans optimistic about the future.
However, on the back of six straight losses, and with a tough draw ahead during the next month, there’s a genuine fear the bad old Tigers of old are set to make an unwelcome return.
Marshall is under no immediate pressure to save his job, but a string of poor results and major off-field distractions have raised questions over his approach to NRL coaching.
What many say about Marshall is that he still harbours a desire to be “one of the boys”.
Maybe that was evident a couple of weeks ago when things got heated between Marshall and centre Adam Doueihi at training in the lead-up to the round 16 match against Canberra.
The pair exchanged words and the situation became aggressive, according to onlookers, after Marshall allegedly tackled Doueihi while defending against him.
Marshall often injects himself into training sessions, running with the opposing team against his players.
It’s easy to see why that could be a good thing. But it also blurs the line between coach and player, especially when Marshall’s swagger comes out on the paddock. Some observers are concerned his confidence could belittle his players in front of their peers.
The altercation did not go unnoticed by other Tigers players, some of whom were already worrying that they were not part of the coach’s trusted inner sanctum.
It’s not the first time Marshall has been accused of an inability to distinguish behaviours acceptable as a player but not as a coach.
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When Galvin’s manager, Isaac Moses, presented a dossier of grievances to Richardson at the height of the storm around the five-eighth’s rejection of a contract extension at the Tigers, he raised an alleged comment made by Marshall that had offended his client.
As Moses detailed the complaint, Richardson interrupted him and accused him of using the situation around Galvin to launch a character assassination of Marshall, who he had not liked for a long time.
Marshall previously had verbal run-ins with Brent Naden and former Tigers John Bateman and David Klemmer.
With every loss and every questionable decision, some at the Tigers are becoming increasingly frustrated. There is a growing level of unrest at the club. Tigers fans have seen this movie before.
A win can’t come quick enough.
There is a growing level of unrest at the club. Tigers fans have seen this movie before.
A win can’t come quick enough.

So
If we get a win all of this dribble suddenly disappears 🤷‍♂️
Seriously it would be nice to be getting the wins in those close games, but if you think we aren’t playing better football this year then the last couple of years we must be watching different games.
 
There is a growing level of unrest at the club. Tigers fans have seen this movie before.
A win can’t come quick enough.

So
If we get a win all of this dribble suddenly disappears 🤷‍♂️
Seriously it would be nice to be getting the wins in those close games, but if you think we aren’t playing better football this year then the last couple of years we must be watching different games.
We are much more resilient team and I think a lot of that is Luai’s influence.
The concern is we are still very rarely scoring 20 points or more and even though our resilience is much better, we are still not resilient enough to win games 16-12 or 12-10 all that often, not many teams are.
We have to vastly improve our attack while maintaining or improving our resilience and I have serious doubt that can happen to the extent we need it to without recruiting a couple of x-factor game breakers.
I assume Richo knows that and is looking to recruit these types of players, let’s see who we end up with,
 

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