WESTS TIGERS five-eighth Benji Marshall says he would be ''shattered'' if Tim Sheens left to coach Penrith, and expressed concerns whether the club could find a fitting replacement.
Sheens is set to decide today between a lucrative four-year deal with Penrith and a two-year offer from the Tigers. Should he leave the Tigers, Marshall, who has been coached only by Sheens at club level, would be left ''devastated''. And he gave an inkling of the extent of the significance of the decision when he told the Herald: ''If you're getting someone else in, changing coaches, you try to go for someone else who's better. In my eyes, Tim's up there with the best in the game. Who's there to replace him?''
Sheens kept the league world guessing yesterday on his future, even refusing to front a planned press conference, leaving that job to his assistant, Peter Gentle. Marshall said he was in the dark, although he could not hide the effect that Sheens's departure would have on him personally.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''I've been coached by Tim for my whole career,'' Marshall said. ''I don't want to lose him. I'm not going to lie - I'd be devastated. But at the same time, I'm a professional sportsman. Whatever he decides to do, I'll still be his friend and I'll still ask him for advice.
''Whenever it's come down to my contract negotiations, he's always said, 'Do what you think is best for you.' And I've done that. I signed a long-term deal at the club, and a lot of that was because of his influence but I can't complain. It would be great to see him stay but I certainly wouldn't be dirty if he doesn't. I would be shattered though.''
The Tigers will likely look to the likes of Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown as well as Ricky Stuart should Sheens depart, not to mention Gentle, Steve Folkes and Grant Jones, who are on staff. It would appear logical, though, that they would not replace the game's most experienced coach with someone who has not been in charge of one NRL fixture.
But the Tigers can at least rest easy that the national coach will not take the club's best player with him. Marshall had a clause in his previous
contract that he could leave the Tigers if Sheens did so but had it deleted for the five-year, lifetime deal that will take the playmaker through to the end of the 2015 season. Despite his connection with Sheens, someone he regards as a father figure, Marshall said he had no intention of walking away
''I'm on contract until 2015,'' Marshall said. ''I love it at the club.
''I could have got a lot of money elsewhere but I'm happy here, and I feel like my form benefited from signing a long-term deal with the club. I'm not going anywhere.''
Tigers skipper Robbie Farah maintained Sheens had much to offer the Tigers still, in his ninth season at the club, but said he would respect whatever decision he made.
''From the first year he coached me to now, he's a different coach. He's changed, he's always changing, and that's why he's survived in the game for so long,'' Farah said. ''But if he doesn't want to be here, or if he wants to go … we've got to move on.''
Gentle said he had no inkling of what Sheens would do, saying of the late change to the schedule: ''Quite often he'll throw me in if he's busy or whatever but I think he's avoiding the questions you're going to ask, so that's why I'm here.''
Admitting for the first time the interest in Sheens, Penrith chairman Don Feltis last night told the Herald he was expecting to hear from the coach soon.
''I anticipate we'll get an answer in the near future,'' Feltis said. ''I respect that Tim doesn't want to play it out in the media, and it's not in our best interests to do that either.
''We don't want to upset him, so we'll wait for him to get back to us. We want to let him make his own mind up, so we're certainly not going to put any pressure on him in the meantime.''
The Herald has learnt the overwhelming reason Sheens was Penrith's first choice to replace Matthew Elliott was because the club believed it simply could not afford to wait any longer to become a genuine premiership contender again.
There obviously isn't a guarantee of success, even under Sheens, but the club believed it had to appoint the best coach available rather than go for another coach who might be promising but either hasn't coached in the NRL recently or achieved as highly as Sheens.
Sheens is 60, and the club believes he has survived at the top for so long because his coaching has evolved with the game and he has proved he can relate to players of all ages. The fact he played for Penrith and began his coaching career there is seen as a romantic aside to making the side a force again as soon as possible.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/benji-sheens-exit-would-be-devastating-20110428-1dywz.html#ixzz1KrQFDnWZ
Sheens is set to decide today between a lucrative four-year deal with Penrith and a two-year offer from the Tigers. Should he leave the Tigers, Marshall, who has been coached only by Sheens at club level, would be left ''devastated''. And he gave an inkling of the extent of the significance of the decision when he told the Herald: ''If you're getting someone else in, changing coaches, you try to go for someone else who's better. In my eyes, Tim's up there with the best in the game. Who's there to replace him?''
Sheens kept the league world guessing yesterday on his future, even refusing to front a planned press conference, leaving that job to his assistant, Peter Gentle. Marshall said he was in the dark, although he could not hide the effect that Sheens's departure would have on him personally.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''I've been coached by Tim for my whole career,'' Marshall said. ''I don't want to lose him. I'm not going to lie - I'd be devastated. But at the same time, I'm a professional sportsman. Whatever he decides to do, I'll still be his friend and I'll still ask him for advice.
''Whenever it's come down to my contract negotiations, he's always said, 'Do what you think is best for you.' And I've done that. I signed a long-term deal at the club, and a lot of that was because of his influence but I can't complain. It would be great to see him stay but I certainly wouldn't be dirty if he doesn't. I would be shattered though.''
The Tigers will likely look to the likes of Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown as well as Ricky Stuart should Sheens depart, not to mention Gentle, Steve Folkes and Grant Jones, who are on staff. It would appear logical, though, that they would not replace the game's most experienced coach with someone who has not been in charge of one NRL fixture.
But the Tigers can at least rest easy that the national coach will not take the club's best player with him. Marshall had a clause in his previous
contract that he could leave the Tigers if Sheens did so but had it deleted for the five-year, lifetime deal that will take the playmaker through to the end of the 2015 season. Despite his connection with Sheens, someone he regards as a father figure, Marshall said he had no intention of walking away
''I'm on contract until 2015,'' Marshall said. ''I love it at the club.
''I could have got a lot of money elsewhere but I'm happy here, and I feel like my form benefited from signing a long-term deal with the club. I'm not going anywhere.''
Tigers skipper Robbie Farah maintained Sheens had much to offer the Tigers still, in his ninth season at the club, but said he would respect whatever decision he made.
''From the first year he coached me to now, he's a different coach. He's changed, he's always changing, and that's why he's survived in the game for so long,'' Farah said. ''But if he doesn't want to be here, or if he wants to go … we've got to move on.''
Gentle said he had no inkling of what Sheens would do, saying of the late change to the schedule: ''Quite often he'll throw me in if he's busy or whatever but I think he's avoiding the questions you're going to ask, so that's why I'm here.''
Admitting for the first time the interest in Sheens, Penrith chairman Don Feltis last night told the Herald he was expecting to hear from the coach soon.
''I anticipate we'll get an answer in the near future,'' Feltis said. ''I respect that Tim doesn't want to play it out in the media, and it's not in our best interests to do that either.
''We don't want to upset him, so we'll wait for him to get back to us. We want to let him make his own mind up, so we're certainly not going to put any pressure on him in the meantime.''
The Herald has learnt the overwhelming reason Sheens was Penrith's first choice to replace Matthew Elliott was because the club believed it simply could not afford to wait any longer to become a genuine premiership contender again.
There obviously isn't a guarantee of success, even under Sheens, but the club believed it had to appoint the best coach available rather than go for another coach who might be promising but either hasn't coached in the NRL recently or achieved as highly as Sheens.
Sheens is 60, and the club believes he has survived at the top for so long because his coaching has evolved with the game and he has proved he can relate to players of all ages. The fact he played for Penrith and began his coaching career there is seen as a romantic aside to making the side a force again as soon as possible.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/benji-sheens-exit-would-be-devastating-20110428-1dywz.html#ixzz1KrQFDnWZ
