At the end of the day, its not going to matter what us fans think of this crazy scenario. What will matter is what the other NRL players and player agents think of it and that is what this plan will live or die by. God himself can not coach this squad to success and any future success for the team, the club and Sheens/Benji will hang on their ability to attract quality players to the club.
We may get a glimpse in the next 6 months and the next 2 years will be critical to the survival of this club. IMO this is a last hail mary and if it crashes and burns it may be the end of us.
I can't believe i'm saying this but I'm going to give our front office a bit of a wrap here. They could have easily done the expected and hired Flanagan or Green or someone else and farted around for a couple of years hoping for a miracle. But instead they went for something a bit revolutionary and i'm impressed. Having a structure in place for 5 years increases our stability exponentially. Any player looking at us now will know exactly who will be coaching the team, and although he has no coaching experience Marshall is a legend of the game who every young kiwi would love to play for.
We've tried the same thing so many times and it's failed every single time. It was time for things to be shaken up and they've done that. Even if everything goes down in flames at least they had the cahunas to give it a try. It's a plan so crazy it might just work and i'm excited about WT for the first time in years.
I like the way you've put this. A positive proactive move by management.
Or.....they were knocked back by every legitimate option and had no choices left?
Which rings true?
It's possible, but even if that was the case they still could have decided to keep searching for a few more months and someone would have undoubtedly become available. Instead they pulled the trigger on this plan which I think was pretty gutsy.
At the end of the day, its not going to matter what us fans think of this crazy scenario. What will matter is what the other NRL players and player agents think of it and that is what this plan will live or die by. God himself can not coach this squad to success and any future success for the team, the club and Sheens/Benji will hang on their ability to attract quality players to the club.
We may get a glimpse in the next 6 months and the next 2 years will be critical to the survival of this club. IMO this is a last hail mary and if it crashes and burns it may be the end of us.
I can't believe i'm saying this but I'm going to give our front office a bit of a wrap here. They could have easily done the expected and hired Flanagan or Green or someone else and farted around for a couple of years hoping for a miracle. But instead they went for something a bit revolutionary and i'm impressed. Having a structure in place for 5 years increases our stability exponentially. Any player looking at us now will know exactly who will be coaching the team, and although he has no coaching experience Marshall is a legend of the game who every young kiwi would love to play for.
We've tried the same thing so many times and it's failed every single time. It was time for things to be shaken up and they've done that. Even if everything goes down in flames at least they had the cahunas to give it a try. It's a plan so crazy it might just work and i'm excited about WT for the first time in years.
I like the way you've put this. A positive proactive move by management.
Or.....they were knocked back by every legitimate option and had no choices left?
Which rings true?
What legitimate options exactly. The ones that most supporters on this forum couldn’t agree on for one reason or another. I for one applaud the club for thinking out side of the box is there risk involved yes but we have to try something different heaven knows nothing else has worked over the last 11 years
I dont know what options they explored, if any nor do I know what response they got back. We know that Ciraldo was made an offer and we know that other options were looked at.
My point is, the club can be applauded for thinking outside the box if that is what they did proactively with free will. If the club has gone "outside the box" due to rejection from other options, they they should not be applauded for getting the club to a pariah state.
They could have easily done the expected and hired Flanagan or Green or someone else and farted around for a couple of years hoping for a miracle.
Any player looking at us now will know exactly who will be coaching the team
I've no doubt we'll be "farting around for a couple of years". We may improve a bit in 2023 but we were going to anyway. I don't know anyone who was anticipating finals in 2022 - in fact most had us as spoon contenders.
As far as knowing who's coaching, I couldn't disagree more. Anyone who's signed in the past two years - Hastings, Api, Papal'i, Stef, Ken, Gildart, Simpkin etc - all thought they'd be playing under Madge. If history has taught us anything it's no coaching appointment can be guaranteed to see out its life. The club wrote that in stone about 8 weeks ago.
I'm a supporter so I hope it works but it will be far more dependent on new signings that anything else.
Outside the box would have been Walker Bros or @gary and @unhappytiger. What the club's done is outside sanity.
Make no mistake, this is a move of desperation - I'm sceptical but hope it works.
They could have easily done the expected and hired Flanagan or Green or someone else and farted around for a couple of years hoping for a miracle.
Any player looking at us now will know exactly who will be coaching the team
I've no doubt we'll be "farting around for a couple of years". We may improve a bit in 2023 but we were going to anyway. I don't know anyone who was anticipating finals in 2022 - in fact most had us as spoon contenders.
As far as knowing who's coaching, I couldn't disagree more. Anyone who's signed in the past two years - Hastings, Api, Papal'i, Stef, Ken, Gildart, Simpkin etc - all thought they'd be playing under Madge. If history has taught us anything it's no coaching appointment can be guaranteed to see out its life. The club wrote that in stone about 8 weeks ago.
I'm a supporter so I hope it works but it will be far more dependent on new signings that anything else.
Outside the box would have been Walker Bros or @gary and @unhappytiger. What the club's done is outside sanity.
Make no mistake, this is a move of desperation - I'm sceptical but hope it works.
This plan is way out there but makes more sense than Walkers. IMO other than Stef I’m not worried about losing anyone we have signed in the last 2 years. If they don’t want to join the circus, of you go.
the club has made a brave decision. Now need the strength to back it up
The move has the thumbs up from the great man himself 👍
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
One thing you have to respect in this whole saga is Sheens’ hustle.
Came in as head of pathways, Hartigan gets fired Sheens takes his job, Madge gets fired Sheens takes his job.
Pascoe better watch out.
‘He’s a natural’: Marshall backed to thrive as a Tigers coach
Benji Marshall is being backed to thrive in the volatile world of NRL coaching as he and Robbie Farah prepare to rekindle a dream team under Tim Sheens to take the Wests Tigers back “where we belong”.
Sheens will return to coach the Tigers for the next two years with Farah and Marshall as his understudies before the latter steps in as head coach from 2025-27.
Wests Tigers legend Benji Marshal has signed a long-term deal to coach his beloved club.
Farah and Marshall played under Sheens in the 2005 premiership triumph, which stands as the joint venture’s only grand final win.
Marshall’s rapid ascension through the coaching ranks brings with it an element of risk given he has never coached, but Farah is confident the bold move can pay off for a club desperately trying to reverse its fortunes.
Tigers officials reached out to Farah last week to gauge his interest on joining Marshall under Sheens’ new regime and the 303-game veteran “couldn’t say no”. He is excited by the prospect of re-establishing the Tigers style of football and turning a junior nursery into a production line for NRL talent.
“It was just too appealing a project for me to knock back. Sheensy brought us through as young kids, and now to have the opportunity to have him as a mentor in a coaching capacity and learn from one of the best ever, and help turn our club around, it’s really exciting,” Farah said.
“[Marshall] has definitely got the ambition for [coaching]. It’s something he’s very passionate about, and what better mentor to have than Sheensy? Both myself and Benji will be very hands-on and learn as much as we can from Tim, so when it does come time for Tim to step aside, Benji will be ready to step into that role.
“He definitely became a lot more of a mentor to younger players, coaching on the run during training sessions; you could see he’s definitely a natural.
“I’ve got no doubt he has still got a lot of learning to do, and the next couple of years are going to present a lot of challenges for the both of us, but that’s the learning experience we need to go through. It’s the apprenticeship we need to go through under Tim to make sure when the time does come he’s ready for what’s ahead.”
Marshall’s move into coaching comes 12 months after he retired from the NRL following last year’s grand final loss with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
It is a path walked by Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, who won premierships as a player under Sheens – a man he sees as a perfect fit to revitalise the Tigers.
Stuart spent one year in retirement before being fast-tracked into the head coaching role at the Sydney Roosters in 2002 and leading the club to a premiership in his first season.
“I was fortunate, I had Phil Gould around me helping ease my way into full-time coaching. I was only out of the game for 12 months, so it was very much-needed to have that experience around me,” Stuart said.
“Having that experience and somebody to bounce ideas off from training to development of players, having an experienced voice in your ear, is a great advantage when you’re learning at a young age.
“[Sheens] will have to steady the ship there. He’s got a lot bigger job on his hands this time around than he did when he first took over the position. I don’t think it’s a job for a young coach yet.
“I think it’s a smart plan. [Marshall] is going to be learning from one of the best and for Benji, after two years under Tim seeing how things should and shouldn’t be done, it will be a great apprenticeship leading into what’s a very volatile position.”
The Tigers have spent 11 years in finals exile but Sheens will look to help Marshall build a roster capable of challenging for a premiership by tapping into the philosophy that helped them to success in 2005.
“I don’t think it’s about being the entertainers, but it’s definitely about allowing the players to have the confidence to back their talent. That’s what Sheensy did with us,” Farah said.
“We’ve got so many talented players coming through; we want to give them the confidence to develop their game and express themselves.
“We still want to play a hard-edge style of football. You’ve got to show up with the right attitude to roll the sleeves up and do the tough things, but we want the players to have the confidence and the ability to back themselves when they need to.”
Beau Ryan approves.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
Marshall had little to do with the NRL team and was hesitant to get involved given how the relationship between him and former coach Michael Maguire had deteriorated during the past two years.
Interesting.
Offering five years to someone who's never coached - such a Tigers' thing to do.
It's a plan so bonkers it much just work. I'm here for it - the next few years will not be dull.
I’m just catching up on all this after a few days on the road. And I don’t know you Avo but I am really glad to hear you sound positive now. 👍
One thing you have to respect in this whole saga is Sheens’ hustle.
Came in as head of pathways, Hartigan gets fired Sheens takes his job, Madge gets fired Sheens takes his job.
Pascoe better watch out.
I genuinely think Sheens has Farah earmarked for Pascoes job.
Well after being off the internet for a few days this is quite the story to come back to!
Yes I was against Sheens coaching. After reading through the many measured and considered comments here, I think the addition of Benji has swayed my opinion. The appointment puts a different emphasis on Sheens appointment.
I’m also a Benji fan. He’s a smart guy and has the state of mind that others who excel in their field share.
There is definitely stability and star power to attract players.
I like the idea of Robbie being involved in the business side of things.
It could all also fall over of course but this is the West’s Tigers of course so what the heck, I’m in too.
@tiger5150 I agree. Either that or Sheens’ old director of football job.
He’s also made it easier on himself by not coaching in 2022 while we’re injury plagued, running last and letting players go left, right and centre.
https://twitter.com/nedhallsport/status/1548562716930953216?s=21&t=sI2Em4OLYqf9C4Gbg1qZKw
Thats a great interview and gives me some comfort knowing he can see the real issues and how bad they are. There are some issues with Sheens but I do back his ability to make the changes needed, especially at this stage of his career.
They are doing it to me again, I am starting to believe! Haha!
This club is such a rollercoaster and even more so at the moment. I am really starting to believe in Benji becoming a coach because of his relationship with players and the coaches he has been coached by.
A big-name signing would give this new regime some real credibility. No idea who but.
