Tigers confirm Marshall won't be at club in 2021

[JC99]

I love Benji but he’s probably caused more drama than it’s worth this season between being dropped and his future at the club. Not all his fault mind you but would he nice to have a season without the drama that always seems to surround our ‘club legends’

 

[jadtiger]

I hate to say it or think it but on a superficial level, Benji seems to be the common denominator in all this.

The thought has certainly crossed my mind even when Sheens was still coach

 

[avocadoontoast]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

Yes, Interesting.
I may be reading too much into this, but from this article it appears to me that Chammas has a well placed contact in the WT hierarchy who doesn't want Maguire there. That person is the leak, via Chammas.
Note Chammas didn't bother to quote Aloia, Twal or Nofoaluma who all said the 'walking on eggshells' and 'losing the dressing room' is overstated.
I think I'll believe those players version over Chammas'.
Take a deep breath Benji and retire with dignity.

Definitely someone that doesn’t want Madge there. It’s something that happens too often at our club and for the first time in 10 years we need to back the coach here

Sure sounds like there has been a move to try and get rid of him. From someone high up it appears..

It’s sad really. Even you who doesn’t really like Madge can see the club should be backing him here. Constantly drama and changing of coaches is so bad for a club and one of the major reasons we’ve sucked for so long

It's really counterproductive and very poor form to have those sort of people in the club. Whoever it is should be moved on.

I'm not convinced Madge is the coach to take us to the next level, but he might be the one to get rid of the dead wood.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I love Benji but he’s probably caused more drama than it’s worth this season between being dropped and his future at the club. Not all his fault mind you but would he nice to have a season without the drama that always seems to surround our ‘club legends’

I suppose when those club legends are responsible for the only three seasons of finals footy we've seen in our 21 years as a club, they're going to naturally have an inflated sense of worth, even when they are not the same player they once were.

Looking to the past to achieve past glories again is counter-intuitive.

 

[JC99]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

Yes, Interesting.
I may be reading too much into this, but from this article it appears to me that Chammas has a well placed contact in the WT hierarchy who doesn't want Maguire there. That person is the leak, via Chammas.
Note Chammas didn't bother to quote Aloia, Twal or Nofoaluma who all said the 'walking on eggshells' and 'losing the dressing room' is overstated.
I think I'll believe those players version over Chammas'.
Take a deep breath Benji and retire with dignity.

Definitely someone that doesn’t want Madge there. It’s something that happens too often at our club and for the first time in 10 years we need to back the coach here

Sure sounds like there has been a move to try and get rid of him. From someone high up it appears..

It’s sad really. Even you who doesn’t really like Madge can see the club should be backing him here. Constantly drama and changing of coaches is so bad for a club and one of the major reasons we’ve sucked for so long

It's really counterproductive and very poor form to have those sort of people in the club. Whoever it is should be moved on.

I'm not convinced Madge is the coach to take us to the next level, but he might be the one to get rid of the dead wood.

Yeah at the very least he will clear out the rubbish

 

[hobbo1]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

Yes, Interesting.
I may be reading too much into this, but from this article it appears to me that Chammas has a well placed contact in the WT hierarchy who doesn't want Maguire there. That person is the leak, via Chammas.
Note Chammas didn't bother to quote Aloia, Twal or Nofoaluma who all said the 'walking on eggshells' and 'losing the dressing room' is overstated.
I think I'll believe those players version over Chammas'.
Take a deep breath Benji and retire with dignity.

Definitely someone that doesn’t want Madge there. It’s something that happens too often at our club and for the first time in 10 years we need to back the coach here

Sure sounds like there has been a move to try and get rid of him. From someone high up it appears..

It’s sad really. Even you who doesn’t really like Madge can see the club should be backing him here. Constantly drama and changing of coaches is so bad for a club and one of the major reasons we’ve sucked for so long

Madge totally underestimated the power of the plodder

 

[jirskyr]

I don’t know why anyone really cares about “how it was handled”. It’s not as if they took him out behind the sheds or sent him to the glue factory. They told Benji, they didn’t tell Benji, the paper found out first, the manager found out first… it’s not a bloody soap opera, who cares?

Personally I was in favour of giving him another season, but Benji has been stretching the good-will very thin these past weeks simply on account of his performances. But I still thought having him as a backup was worthwhile, at the right price. And $300K is not the right price, that’s an emerging kid or half a quality first grader.

Nevertheless it appears majority of fans are in favour of not re-signing Benji; in fact it became fairly militant recently when the papers were reporting that Benji had a new Tigers deal on his desk to consider.

Who cares how it looks or how it reflects on Madge, or otherwise? I must have missed that course in coach training school where you tap a club heavyweight on the shoulder, a year or two before he thinks he is done, and it all ends up perfectly with a cup of tea and a handshake. Certainly worked out that way for Wally Lewis.

All this being said, I can’t seriously believe the suggestion that Benji had no idea the club was thinking about not re-signing him. I mean how naive must he be, he’s 35 and the team is not playing finals football in 2020. He must not be reading any social media because fans have been making the call for months on his behalf.

Good luck to Benji, I have no issue at all if he spends a year or two at Bulldogs or Manly. If he does well, frankly he’s one of the few players going around that I’m happy to see succeed wherever he goes, having been such a prominent club serviceman. And if he does nothing, well it will be like Auckland Blues and St George again, no regrets whatsoever.

 

[JC99]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

Yes, Interesting.
I may be reading too much into this, but from this article it appears to me that Chammas has a well placed contact in the WT hierarchy who doesn't want Maguire there. That person is the leak, via Chammas.
Note Chammas didn't bother to quote Aloia, Twal or Nofoaluma who all said the 'walking on eggshells' and 'losing the dressing room' is overstated.
I think I'll believe those players version over Chammas'.
Take a deep breath Benji and retire with dignity.

Definitely someone that doesn’t want Madge there. It’s something that happens too often at our club and for the first time in 10 years we need to back the coach here

Sure sounds like there has been a move to try and get rid of him. From someone high up it appears..

It’s sad really. Even you who doesn’t really like Madge can see the club should be backing him here. Constantly drama and changing of coaches is so bad for a club and one of the major reasons we’ve sucked for so long

Madge totally underestimated the power of the plodder

He really did. He didn’t notice how rotten the culture at the club was before he came ?

 

[LeichhardtTiger]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080546/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4

It's not as if these issues of great players hanging around for 1 more year had never occurred before.

I'm sending Benji a copy of The Club and a copy to every Development player in the NRL to wake them up to the grim reality that there really is a conclusion to a career at the highest level. Back in the day of Real Reserve & Third grade the old blokes would drop down to help the younguns learn how to cop a whack. Sadly the culture of entitlement and the mighty dollar runs the game. Benji will survive as a commentator or media luvvie. I wish him well but get out of the way Benji and stop the Robbie disease from destroying the club over the next 4 rounds.

Imagine a team without these self-important types who love the focus on themselves rather than their actual team perfomance. At least Chris Lawrence did the right thing and announced his retirement in a professional manner. He is classy!

 

[TrueTiger]

I think Madge will take us to the next level as well as clear out the deadwood...the poisonous culture and toxicity in this joint has been rife for years,Benji not being here next year,Farah out of the team,trying to cull poor recruits by former coach and things will brighten up considerably...

the team has been a boil on the supporters arse for years now.....

MADGE ...is the PENNICILLIN WE NEED...

 

[Muffstar]

Maybe consider Benji as a halves coach? Surely he would offer more from a coaching perspective than Hodgson.

 

[avocadoontoast]

Maybe consider Benji as a halves coach? Surely he would offer more from a coaching perspective than Hodgson.

I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need a few new assistant coaches but we should look external. Putting the old boys in positions isn't going to change any culture.

There are a number of ex NRL head coaches out there that would make very good assistants.

 

[CarltonDry]

I think Madge will take us to the next level as well as clear out the deadwood...the poisonous culture and toxicity in this joint has been rife for years,Benji not being here next year,Farah out of the team,trying to cull poor recruits by former coach and things will brighten up considerably...

the team has been a boil on the supporters arse for years now.....

MADGE ...is the PENNICILLIN WE NEED...

Souths must've got a reaction to the Madge penicillin after Rusty got the players to win a premiership 🤔

 

[Aesopian]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

Yes, Interesting.
I may be reading too much into this, but from this article it appears to me that Chammas has a well placed contact in the WT hierarchy who doesn't want Maguire there. That person is the leak, via Chammas.
Note Chammas didn't bother to quote Aloia, Twal or Nofoaluma who all said the 'walking on eggshells' and 'losing the dressing room' is overstated.
I think I'll believe those players version over Chammas'.
Take a deep breath Benji and retire with dignity.

Definitely someone that doesn’t want Madge there. It’s something that happens too often at our club and for the first time in 10 years we need to back the coach here

Sure sounds like there has been a move to try and get rid of him. From someone high up it appears..

It’s sad really. Even you who doesn’t really like Madge can see the club should be backing him here. Constantly drama and changing of coaches is so bad for a club and one of the major reasons we’ve sucked for so long

Madge totally underestimated the power of the plodder

He really did. He didn’t notice how rotten the culture at the club was before he came ?

I reckon he did and gets his rocks off trying to fix it:relieved:

Classic masochist who revels in painful situations. Gets giddy over it:flushed: :flushed:

 

[happy_tiger]

Marshall philosophical on Tigers exit but club’s problems run deep
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm
Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.

But Marshall’s sudden departure from the Wests Tigers has torn the scab off a wound that has been festering at the club for the last two seasons under coach Michael Maguire, and is now threatening to undermine his tenure.


The Tigers on Wednesday officially brought down the curtain on Marshall’s second coming at the club, announcing the 35-year-old would play his final game for them at the end of this season despite his wish to continue for another year.

‘‘I’m not angry, it’s more I wish I could have retired here,’’ Marshall told NRL 360 on Tuesday night. ‘‘If anything I was just a bit disappointed with how it came out. Reading it in the papers. Obviously because I’m not on a massive wage at the Tigers I just thought making the decision at the end of the season would be fine because I’m not going to break the bank with the salary cap.

‘‘Squads are going to 28 next year and the club has five halves on the books next year and there was no room for me. But I’m a big boy. That’s part and parcel of rugby league. I’ve been in this position before. I still feel like I have a lot to offer and there’s a few things I still want to do. It’s just not going to be at the Tigers.’’


While few could argue with the club’s decision to head in a new direction given their results in recent years, the news of Marshall’s exit comes amid persistent talk from within the playing group that coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room with his hard-nosed approach.

The veteran playmaker had long been a conduit between the coach, a tough taskmaster, and his sensitive dressing room. But sources inside the Tigers believe that changed following Marshall’s shock axing in June, which came despite the five-eighth sitting second on the Dally M medal leader board after four rounds.

A ploy that was designed to put the players on notice left some of them walking on egg shells ever since – and now the Tigers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with players blaming the coach and the coach questioning his players on the back of another disappointing season.

One of the main reasons Maguire was appointed coach – apart from Wayne Bennett pulling out of the race – was the fact he believed there was no issue with the roster. His feelings have since changed dramatically, and players have taken offence to messages being played out in the media.

Maguire has been entrusted with the task of eradicating a decade-long soft underbelly at the club, but some are starting to question whether he needs to adjust his coaching style to suit the players at his disposal – at least until he gets the team he wants in 2022. He has inherited a roster of personalities that suits a style of coaching that is the polar opposite of what he stands for. A roster that suited former coach Ivan Cleary.


But instead of evolving his methods to get the best out of a bad situation, Maguire is coaching the same way he did when Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Ben Te’o were in the sheds with him at South Sydney.

Luke Brooks, who Maguire encouraged the club to re-sign until 2023 when he arrived at Concord, is a shadow of the player that wore the No.7 jersey under Cleary.

The former coach’s willingness to play to Brooks’ strengths, and provide the occasional cuddle, saw him finish second in the Dally M medal in 2018, and looked as though he would finally realise his potential. He’s struggled ever since.

Maguire, as he constantly reminds the players, has won premierships. He knows what it takes. But the ‘‘my way or the highway’’ approach appears to be wearing thin.


In Cleary’s only full season with the Tigers, the club won 50 per cent of its games for the first time since their last finals appearance in 2011. They still finished ninth, but it would have been enough to reach the finals in most seasons over the past decade.

The club has gone backwards since, but it can’t and won’t add Maguire to its long list of sacked coaches any time soon. If anything, it will extend his tenure beyond 2021. But the rumblings of discontent have left the coach second-guessing himself and prompted Monday’s honesty session, at which issues of trust and communication were raised.

The Tigers only have $1 million left in their salary cap for next year, and five spots to fill. How Maguire handles the next 12 months, coaching a largely disengaged team until he gets the players wants, will dictate how long it takes the club to end its nine-year finals drought.

There's also a perception among the playing group that the coach avoids confrontation. It was evident again during the week when Marshall walked into Maguire's office on Monday and strongly suggested he should play on in 2021 at the Tigers.

Maguire, despite playing a leading hand in the decision not to extend the club legend, left the door ajar and told Marshall to give him 24 hours to see if he could do anything else.


The club, already booked in for a meeting with his manager later that day, didn't budge on the original decision. but Marshall was left disappointed that Maguire couldn't tell it how it was.


Its interesting - SMH have changed the heading to that article. It now reads:

Inside the Wests Tigers drama: why Maguire is losing the dressing room

Michael Chammas
By Michael Chammas
September 1, 2020 — 7.58pm



Benji Marshall may be left with no choice but to retire from the NRL at the end of the season, with rival clubs showing little appetite to sign the veteran playmaker in 2021.


So now the media has turned the whole thing around to Madge losing the dressing room.

They have actually used Marshall interview on NRL 360 last night

When Benji was asked was did he think Madge was losing the dressing room ..Marshall said no

 

[Muffstar]

Maybe consider Benji as a halves coach? Surely he would offer more from a coaching perspective than Hodgson.

I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need a few new assistant coaches but we should look external. Putting the old boys in positions isn't going to change any culture.

There are a number of ex NRL head coaches out there that would make very good assistants.

Was thinking more along the lines of halves coach, like the Johns boys do. Definitely not an assistant coach as you say there are ex head coaches who would make good assistant coaches.

 

[Moh]

I love Benji but he’s probably caused more drama than it’s worth this season between being dropped and his future at the club. Not all his fault mind you but would he nice to have a season without the drama that always seems to surround our ‘club legends’

Chris Lawrence is the only one that has gone out well really.

On that - is a club legend just someone who has played a lot of games for a club? Shouldn't success be a per-requisit for that label....

 

[jadtiger]

I love Benji but he’s probably caused more drama than it’s worth this season between being dropped and his future at the club. Not all his fault mind you but would he nice to have a season without the drama that always seems to surround our ‘club legends’

Chris Lawrence is the only one that has gone out well really.

On that - is a club legend just someone who has played a lot of games for a club? Shouldn't success be a per-requisit for that label....

There have been many players who have quite rightly been called club legends just from Balmain/Wests let alone all the other clubs who never won premierships at their respective clubs.
They are far more worthy of the title than many players who have won premierships

 

[avocadoontoast]

I love Benji but he’s probably caused more drama than it’s worth this season between being dropped and his future at the club. Not all his fault mind you but would he nice to have a season without the drama that always seems to surround our ‘club legends’

Chris Lawrence is the only one that has gone out well really.

On that - is a club legend just someone who has played a lot of games for a club? Shouldn't success be a per-requisit for that label....

Only because we re-signed him. Rowdy on tv with Weidler last year complaining about not being re-signed wasn’t classy.

 

[Plato]

Another honesty meeting may be the way to go if Madge thought there was any substance to this rubbish. The one where Madge shows up with everyone's contracts and says "anyone not happy with the way I coach and wants out, now is your chance to bail". The disruptive elements not having the guts to fess up would then get sorted by the others in the car park. We might only have about three positions filled by the end of the season but there would be plenty of cash to splash on more committed people.