‘Family is No.1 and footy is No.2’: Benji Marshall defends mid-season trip, calls on Tigers to fix their discipline

Benji Marshall is back from a trip to Fiji that raised a few eyebrows but is more concerned about a worrying trend that has cost his side in 2024.

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall says he has no issues with critics who questioned why he felt the need to go on a family holiday during the bye week, explaining how beneficial the time off was for a young group that desperately needed to reset after losing eight games on the trot.

Marshall went to Fiji with his family while the Tigers had the bye, which led to some blowback from people who thought he should have stayed in Sydney to try to fix the on-field issues as the club seeks to avoid a third-straight wooden spoon.

Benji Marshall isn’t worried by the criticism over his trip to Fiji, with the Wests Tigers coach adamant his team needed time away from footy. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

“It’s fine. People get paid to give their opinions. I’ve worked in the media, so I know what it’s like,” he said.

“You give your honest opinion on what you think, that’s fine. But the people in the four walls (here) knew what we were doing, and at the end of the day, I’ll never apologise for planning breaks for the team and the staff.

“Mental health, physical health and all those things play a big part in it.

“I preach to the players that family is No.1 and footy is No.2, so in that break, spend some time with your family. If I’m leading that and preaching that, I’m going to do that too.

“When you see a group of guys putting in every week, the losing and the external pressure all adds up.

“It wasn’t just a mental health break, it was a physical break as well to freshen up the bodies. We had the bye in round 1 and played 11 games straight, so that doesn’t help.”

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Marshall has noticed a change in his players at training this week ahead of their crunch clash in Wollongong, with “Slay the Dragon” posted on a board at the club’s headquarters for all to see at Thursday’s session.

“After having eight losses in a row, all you can do is get back on the field and try to change that and turn it around,” he said.

“We use something every week to try to do that stuff. When you’re in a long season, you have to try to provide something to attach to.

“We need to freshen up our mindset.

“What happens when you lose ‘x’ number of games in a row, your mental health declines and you start losing a bit of confidence.

“Freshening up and getting back to footy and training hard for us and playing a bit of footy are going to be important for us.”

Discipline has been a concern for the Tigers this season. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

While the Tigers got off to an encouraging start to the season, they’ve fallen away over the past two months. Ill-discipline has been a major issue, with six players sent to the sin bin during their losing streak.

Veterans Aidan Sezer and David Klemmer have been suspended during that period, while they’ve also lost others to injury, which is why Marshall says his side needs to be smarter as they look to get back to winning ways.

“The biggest thing to come out (over the break) is that we are the worst disciplined team in the comp – most penalties, most suspensions, most sin bins – and that’s another example of us putting pressure on ourselves to help lose games,” he said.

“Effort’s not a problem for us. We compete, and that’s one of the hardest things to find, and we seem to find a way to keep getting back into each game.

“But we need to be smarter with discipline, with managing the game and not beating ourselves.”

Originally published as ‘Family is No.1 and footy is No.2’: Benji Marshall defends mid-season trip, calls on Tigers to fix their discipline