NRL 2024: Benji Marshall fires Wests Tigers warning shot after axing David Nofoaluma

Benji Marshall was there when David Nofoaluma made his NRL debut, but any emotional ties mattered little when the new Wests Tigers axed him in the first big call of his coaching career.

Benji Marshall has fired a warning shot at the Wests Tigers, raising the standards so high that David Nofoaluma no longer reaches them. Picture: NRL Photos

Benji Marshall was there when a 19-year-old David Nofoaluma made his NRL debut back in May, 2013, but any emotional ties mattered little on Wednesday.

Once teammates, now head coach and player on the nose, the pair have been through 63 NRL games on the same side but now face the most awkward period of their rugby league relationship.

Marshall has raised standards so high at the club during his first pre-season as head coach that Nofoaluma reportedly no longer meets them.

Which is always the point of higher standards for a professional athlete: Meet them, or your job is at risk.

As a result, multiple breach notices have come his way recently, giving the 30-year-old ample time to change habits and behaviours.

Benji Marshall has fired a warning shot at the Wests Tigers, raising the standards so high that David Nofoaluma no longer reaches them. Picture: NRL Photos

If those changes were made in good faith it didn’t have to come to this.

But handing the club’s highest try-scorer a termination letter is certainly one way to draw a line in the sand.

It’s a warning shot fired to show players the old ways didn’t work, and now they won’t be tolerated either.

Marshall is a champion player, but he has no runs on the board as an official NRL coach.

This temperature-setting move counts as his first big call though, and it will have reverberations through the playing group and the club itself.

Whether that’s a good or bad thing Marshall will wear the responsibility, as any head coach should.

There will be questions raised about whether it’s fair to tell Nofoaluma there is no spot in the NRL side for him despite two years remaining on his deal.

That protest will particularly come from Nofoaluma and player advocates, but the reality is if the team that has run last for the past two seasons can’t make hard calls, who can?

Benji Marshall was there for David Nofoaluma’s rookie year. But he has drawn a line in the sand by cutting his former teammeate loose. Picture: NRL Imagery

In any competitive environment, there can be no room for incumbency - let alone an organisation like the Wests Tigers, who have struggled for so long to turn their poor results around.

A massive overhaul of the entire club has brought about personnel changes, including the exit of former chairman Lee Hagipantelis and chief executive Justin Pascoe who ultimately oversaw the tough times.

Those changes were made not based on personal reasons, but for the good of the club in the long term.

Nofoaluma falls into the same camp.

If repeated warnings don’t rectify behaviour, something has to change. Otherwise the poor culture permeates and so too bad results.

Originally published as NRL 2024: Benji Marshall fires Wests Tigers warning shot after axing David Nofoaluma