Tigers to curb Marshall’s powers as they search for coaching director

Benji Marshall ’s all-encompassing powers at the Wests Tigers are being diluted, with the club advertising for a coaching director and senior management taking charge of the search for an assistant.

The Tigers have conceded Marshall needs help in his stressful role as the head coach of a prominent Sydney NRL club. It’s a smart move.

Marshall was rattled by the drama caused when Adam Doueihi stood himself down from a match against the Raiders in July after the coach moved him from halfback to lock. The pair have since publicly made up, but Marshall admitted at the time the situation was impacting his family life and said if it continued, he would walk away.

Marshall can’t just pick one of his mates to be a senior assistant. Chief executive Shaun Mielekamp and general manager Pat Richards will head a committee to select a replacement for defence coach John Morris, who left the club this week after three seasons.

They will recommend candidates for Marshall to choose from. The club has also advertised for a pathways coaching director to “lead the strategic direction of coaching”.

“The role will play a critical part in developing future NRL talent while driving coaching excellence, performance outcomes and a high-performance culture,” the job advertisement reads.

It comes after we revealed Marshall had too much power at the club, was not being challenged by those around him and was essentially surrounded by “yes men”.

The issue is that the Tigers are too heavily invested in those who bow to Marshall, and the exit of Morris has only strengthened the “2005 clique” at the club. It means Marshall’s coaching staff and management is dominated by his close mates from the 2005 premiership-winning team – Brett Hodgson as an assistant, Chris Heighington in conditioning and Richards. But change is coming.

Morris was also tight with Marshall, but that friendship was put aside when he was told he was no longer required. Morris was the least compliant of the coaches and someone who challenged Marshall – which is what he needs as a young coach on the rise.

The Tigers will cite the club’s defensive record under Morris as the reason for his departure. Some believe it is a change for change’s sake. The club needs to do something – or at least be seen to be doing something – after another season of despair.

On statistics, the Morris exit can be justified given the Tigers’ terrible defensive record this season – they conceded 699 points, the second-worst in the premiership ahead of the Dragons (717). But they also ranked 16th in attack, scoring just 445 points. That is damning for attack coach Hodgson, and quite surprising given the Tigers’ reputation as an entertaining side.

The issue for the Tigers is the culture of their roster is not what it should be. We pointed out a few weeks ago they needed to sign some experienced hard heads with different values. And it’s why they’ve been linked with the likes of Tyson Frizell and Kurt Mann recently.