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WESTS TIGERS are negotiating to re-sign four-time premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens for next year and beyond.
Sheens had said that if the Tigers did not make the finals last year he would not seek an extension beyond this year, the last of his current deal.
The Tigers made the finals and went as far as the grand-final qualifier, when they lost by a point to eventual premiers St George Illawarra, and now the club is seeking to extend his stay to more than a decade.
Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys yesterday told the Herald he and Sheens had begun discussions on a new deal just before Christmas, and that now the pre-season preparation was back in full swing those talks would get serious.
''Our preferred position is to have Tim as our head coach going forward,'' Humphreys said. ''We want him back after this season, and Tim and I have had a chat about that. Now we're ready to pick up that dialogue again, and we'll do that in the coming weeks.
''We don't feel any pressure to complete a deal by any given date - Tim is comfortable preparing the team for the new season and we're getting on with business at the club as well - but I'd like to think we could come to an agreement in the near future. We're fortunate to have one of the best and most qualified coaches, and Tim enjoys it here as well. Hopefully, we can work something out in the coming weeks.''
Humphreys would not speculate on how long a new deal might run, saying that was a matter to be discussed between himself and Sheens. The 60-year-old coach, who won three titles with Canberra in 1989, '90 and '94 and another with the Tigers in 2005, told the Herald he had every intention of continuing his coaching career beyond this year. And he would prefer to do it with the Tigers.
''We've already had some success here and we're at a stage now where we have the potential for further success, and I'd like to help make that happen,'' Sheens said. ''I'm getting on with coaching the team, and I'm comfortable about where things are at [with negotiations].''
It is clear that if Sheens and the Tigers can reach an agreement on the terms of a new deal, he will be staying, and it is no surprise the club has decided to move early on him since there is the potential for several coaching jobs to open up at the end of the season.
Sheens would be in demand if he was a free agent then.
This will be the ninth year for Sheens at the Tigers, equalling his previous longest stay at a club - at the Raiders, from 1988-96\. Sheens was speaking at a media conference to publicise his team's first trial game of the year - against Parramatta at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on February 19\. Eels coach Stephen Kearney was also there, and when asked how he felt about Benji Marshall predicting he would become a coaching legend like Sheens and seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett, he said he was humbled.
Marshall, the Tigers five-eighth who captains the New Zealand Test side that Kearney also coaches, made the prediction in The Sun-Herald on Sunday.
''A quarter of that would be all right,'' Kearney said. ''Benji is a nice lad. It is very humbling, really, to be even spoken about in that regard. I will just keep my head down and do what I have to.''
But Kearney, who will be making his first-grade coaching debut with the Eels, added that he would be judged on results like every other NRL coach.
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/tigers-want-to-lock-up-sheens-before-rivals-come-knocking-20110131-1ab77.html)
Sheens had said that if the Tigers did not make the finals last year he would not seek an extension beyond this year, the last of his current deal.
The Tigers made the finals and went as far as the grand-final qualifier, when they lost by a point to eventual premiers St George Illawarra, and now the club is seeking to extend his stay to more than a decade.
Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys yesterday told the Herald he and Sheens had begun discussions on a new deal just before Christmas, and that now the pre-season preparation was back in full swing those talks would get serious.
''Our preferred position is to have Tim as our head coach going forward,'' Humphreys said. ''We want him back after this season, and Tim and I have had a chat about that. Now we're ready to pick up that dialogue again, and we'll do that in the coming weeks.
''We don't feel any pressure to complete a deal by any given date - Tim is comfortable preparing the team for the new season and we're getting on with business at the club as well - but I'd like to think we could come to an agreement in the near future. We're fortunate to have one of the best and most qualified coaches, and Tim enjoys it here as well. Hopefully, we can work something out in the coming weeks.''
Humphreys would not speculate on how long a new deal might run, saying that was a matter to be discussed between himself and Sheens. The 60-year-old coach, who won three titles with Canberra in 1989, '90 and '94 and another with the Tigers in 2005, told the Herald he had every intention of continuing his coaching career beyond this year. And he would prefer to do it with the Tigers.
''We've already had some success here and we're at a stage now where we have the potential for further success, and I'd like to help make that happen,'' Sheens said. ''I'm getting on with coaching the team, and I'm comfortable about where things are at [with negotiations].''
It is clear that if Sheens and the Tigers can reach an agreement on the terms of a new deal, he will be staying, and it is no surprise the club has decided to move early on him since there is the potential for several coaching jobs to open up at the end of the season.
Sheens would be in demand if he was a free agent then.
This will be the ninth year for Sheens at the Tigers, equalling his previous longest stay at a club - at the Raiders, from 1988-96\. Sheens was speaking at a media conference to publicise his team's first trial game of the year - against Parramatta at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on February 19\. Eels coach Stephen Kearney was also there, and when asked how he felt about Benji Marshall predicting he would become a coaching legend like Sheens and seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett, he said he was humbled.
Marshall, the Tigers five-eighth who captains the New Zealand Test side that Kearney also coaches, made the prediction in The Sun-Herald on Sunday.
''A quarter of that would be all right,'' Kearney said. ''Benji is a nice lad. It is very humbling, really, to be even spoken about in that regard. I will just keep my head down and do what I have to.''
But Kearney, who will be making his first-grade coaching debut with the Eels, added that he would be judged on results like every other NRL coach.
[Source](http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/tigers-want-to-lock-up-sheens-before-rivals-come-knocking-20110131-1ab77.html)
