Brent Read: Hey Benji, good to chat, how has the pre-season been?

Benji Marshall: It has been really enjoyable as a first time head coach. The thing I like the most about it is the buy in of the players. Your can do whatever you like but if the players don’t buy into it, it’s pretty hard to have good momentum. With back-to-back wooden spoons, I have to get them to look forward now and not look back. Obviously learn from our mistakes but buy into what we are doing to make change.

BR: How do you get blokes to forget about what has happened over the past decade?

BM: For me, it is not about forgetting. You have to learn what went wrong, and then work out how you change things and look toward, and be positive about it. If you get stuck thinking about (the past), you will stay there. Yeah, changes needed to be made and we’re doing our best to make them. We’re trying to change the DNA of the club and we have some great leaders in our club who are driving that.

Former Dragon Jayden Sullivan puts in on day one of pre-season for Wests Tigers. Picture: Tigers

BR: You mention change Benji, there has been some pretty significant ones over the off-season. Plenty of new faces as well. Can you give us an insight into how Jayden Sullivan and the Fainu boys – Latu and Samuela – have settled in?

BM: Those three guys in particular have added a real youth and fresh attitude to our team. They are all winners and the way they train has been outstanding. For me, the biggest thing I like about all of them is they are confident young blokes who have a go. If I am being completely honest, the whole squad has been outstanding this pre-season. Not just those guys, but when you bring in fresh blood it injects a bit of fresh energy into the squad and that is what those guys have brought.

BR: I spoke to you before Christmas about the halves situation. You mentioned then that it was wide open and pre-season would be a deadset contest to determine who started round one in the halves. Is that the way you are still thinking heading into trials?

BM: It is whoever earns it. There is no guarantees probably bar Api at nine. There are no guarantees at being selected. You have to go out and earn it in the pre-season. When you have competition for spots and guys are trying to earn it, you get a different training attitude. To their credit, they are all putting in and trying to earn it. We also have Aidan Sezer – an experienced guy who is training outstanding as well and we have these young kids pushing from below who all want to start come round one. Pre-season has been great but we will see what happens in the trials before we put anything in concrete.

Aidan Sezer is the most experienced playmaker on the Tigers’ roster. picture: Wests tigers

BR: Obviously the most significant news of the pre-season was the signing of three-time

premiership winner Jarome Luai. Did you have to speak to those guys about Jarome signing and if so, how did you handle that situation?

BM: Upfront and honest, really. I find I say it how it is and tell the truth. Jarome is going to be a massive part of what we do in the future but he is not here now. Control what you can control now because a year is a long time in footy. From my experience, especially last year as an assistant coach, we didn’t have depth in the halves and it hurt us though the season. So to have depth in the halves is a good thing and competition for spots is a good thing. So you have to go out and earn that.

BR: Jarome was a personal mission for you Benji. You led the way in chasing his signature. Can you give us a sense of what it meant to you to go and get him and for the club. Signings players like that can be cathartic for a football club?

BM: It is hard to explain. I don’t look at it like that because I want to win now. He is not going to help us win now. It is not a five year plan where I am worried about what happens in five years. In my career when I played I wanted to win every year. Whether you are favourites or wooden spoon favourites, who cares. That means nothing. I want a team that competes on every play and wants to win every game. That is the type of team we want to be. As much as Jarome is a greatly signing for the future of our club, we won’t talk about him this year at all. I think it is disrespectful to the players we have now to worry about that and it is also disrespectful to Penrith to bring him into it.

Jarome Luai will join the Wests Tigers from 2025. Picture: Richard Dobson

BR: What about the signing of Justin Olam. What was the thinking there?

BM: When I looked at our roster, there was probably a gaping hole in our outside backs – a real strike centre who can add spark to our team. But also experience, talk – I have played against Justin and for a centre, he is probably the loudest centre I played against. Not only that, when I met with Justin, I met a guy who was really hungry, who had a point to prove, who not that long ago was Dally M centre of the year. He didn’t have a year last year that was up to his standards and I met a guy who really wanted to buy into what we were doing. It came at the expense of Shawn Blore but long term, Shawn had already committed to Melbourne for ‘25. As much as that hurt to lose him – he is a great player – we have also gained experience and filled a hole in our roster that we needed to fill. Justin will be great for us.

BR: The other notable change over the offseason has been the departure of David Nofoaluma. What can you say about David and his contribution to the Tigers?

BM: I played with David and he spilt a lot of blood, sweat and tears for our club. He’s obviously the club’s leading all-time try-scorer and he did a lot of great things in his time here, but it was probably time for him to have a fresh start. We both agreed that was the right thing for him. We wish him all the best.

David Nofoaluma (left) and Benji Marshall were teammates at the Tigers in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

BR: You mentioned Api. He is a key for you – you extended him last year in a sign of how much you and the club think of him. How crucial will he be for you?

BM: Api is a great leader because not only does he lead the boys with his talk and everything he says, he goes on the field and does it with actions. He was very close if not the best player in our team last year. So he is going to be big for us again. We rely on Api to run a lot of things that happen with our team on and off the field.

BR: Jahream Bula is the other guy you extended at the end of last year. He came from the clouds to be a key figure in the club. What gives you confidence he will take another step forward in his career in ‘24?

BM: I have no doubts. Jahream was a train and trialist last year, then we upgraded him to a

development (deal), then we upgraded him to top 30, then we upgraded him to a five year deal. It speaks volumes of what we think of him. Jahream to me hasn’t even touched the ceiling of what he can do in rugby league. He is still learning the game. The thing I like the most about him is he competes on everything – he saved more tries than he scored last year. That is what our DNA is about – guys who want to compete on every play. Jahream is that guy.

BR: He’s not the only young kid emerging through the ranks. Lachie Galvin is a local guy who has impressed in pre-season. Will we see him play first grade this year?

BM: Lachie Galvin is in the mix to play in the halves. He could be one of the guys who start the season. He has to earn it. One thing I do know about rugby league players is if you are good enough, you are old enough. If Lachie is good enough through the trials, he will get his opportunity just like everyone else. I could talk about he whole squad and say they are having a solid pre-season, but it is just talk for now – they have to go out and do it on the field.

Lachlan Galvin starred for Wests Magpies at SG Ball level in 2023. Picture: Warren Gannon Photography

BR: Just one more about the players. Stefano Utoikamanu‘s contract situation has been well-documented. He has a clause that allows him to leave if the club misses the top eight this season. How does that play out? Are thought confident he wants to be at the Tigers and that you can convince him to stay?

BM: Stefano is a really big priority for us and in my opinion, he has the potential to be the best front rower in the game. He is still learning his craft as well. With respect to Stefano, we will do everything we can to keep him. It is that simple.

BR: Benji, your first game as head coach is less than two months away. Are you pumped?

BM: I am excited for everyone. Pre-seasons are hard. Part of our job as coaches is to make sure we put the players in position that when they get to games, they can perform at the highest level. We want to be a team that competes on every play like I said. We’re doing everything we can at training but again, that means nothing until you get on the field. I am excited for the players to be able to put everything they have learned in the pre-seasons into action.

Benji Marshall has opened up on his expectations for the Tigers in 2024. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

BR: Has it been harder or easier than you expected?

BM: No, it is hard. It is hard for everyone. We have made everything hard on purpose because when you win back-to-back wooden spoons, you have to make everything harder – train harder, prepare better, do the mental stuff better, recover better. Everything matters. So yeah, everything is harder.

BR: What does success look like this season for the Wests Tigers?

BM: I don’t really like putting a target on top four or top eight. Every team in the comp, if you don’t make the top eight, it is probably a failure. For us, we just wasn’t to move forward, we want to make improvements. For me, it is about having a process that we can stick to and if we stick to that and we don’t get results from it, at least we are building formations around the type of team, we want to be.

BR: Finally, the fans have been through a lot in recent years. The club has gone more than a decade without finals football. They have seen a lot of change in the off-season and it seems to have been well received. What promises can you give them?

BM: I don’t like giving promises. From where I sit, our fans have heard enough talk. They have probably heard the same messages every pre-season that we are going to do this and we are going to do that. It doesn’t matter what we say right now. I would prefer that we say nothing because it is going to be about actions. All our fans want to see is the proof, not the words.