Three players to front board, another can’t train: Why Benji’s got Tigers right where he wants them

Benji Marshall’s got them walking on eggshells in Tiger town. And it’s exactly where he wants them.

After playing Mr Nice Guy in his first preseason in charge at the Tigers, the coach has flipped the script in a bid to drive a set of standards he hopes will help turn the tide at the struggling club.

Next month three players - Latu Fainu, Solomona Faataape and Solomone Saukuru - will front the Wests Tigers board after being hit with breach notices relating to their performances to start preseason.

The breaches relate to two sets of criteria the trio failed to meet. The first; an expectation around weight and skin folds that they failed to comply with upon returning to training after two months of holidays.

The second related to their fitness levels and an inability to get close to the time assigned to them for a 1.6 kilometre run.

Two other players also failed to meet the standards. Impressive young fullback Heath Mason, who made his NRL debut in 2024, surprisingly didn’t hit the mark during his time trial and was subsequently issued a warning. His lack of conditioning wasn’t deemed serious enough to warrant a breach.

The other player who was issued a warning for failing to meet the time trial expectations placed on him was Brandon Tumeth.

When news of the Tigers’ stern action against the players began to leak out just over a week ago, it put all the senior players, who were yet to return to preseason training due to extended leave entitlements under the collective bargaining agreement, on notice. They responded accordingly on Tuesday with their test results.

Royce Hunt at Tigers training.Credit: Wests Tigers

But the stern actions of the coach a fortnight ago even prompted new recruit Royce Hunt to volunteer to begin training three weeks before he was scheduled to arrive at the club to give himself time to improve his condition ahead of his time trial and testing in the coming weeks. It would’ve been music to Marshall’s ears.

A notable absentee at training, however, is boom prop Sione Fainu. The 12-game rookie doesn’t have a contract for 2025.

It’s a less than ideal situation given the financial investment in his brothers Latu and Samuela - the Tigers’ recipient of their player of the year award for 2024.

Some clubs wouldn’t want to upset the family, but Tigers CEO Shane Richardson is making a point of not allowing the club to be held to ransom by agents, or players, for that matter. That even goes for Faataape - the client of the chief executive’s son, Brent, now awaiting his date with the always topical Tigers board.

Richardson also flexed his muscle a few months ago when he refused to baulk at a request from the agent of teenage schoolboy sensation Onitoni Large who wanted a clause in his client’s contract that would allow him to walk away from the Tigers if they re-signed fellow young play-maker, Lachlan Galvin.

It’s a fair request given the Tigers also have Jarome Luai on the books for another five years and Latu Fainu tied up on a long-term deal. Richardson, however, let Large walk to Manly with nothing but a guarantee from the Galvin family that they would sit down in the new year to begin discussions about a potential extension beyond the end of his deal that expires after the 2026 season.

Lachlan Galvin looks to pass during last season’s match against Parramatta.Credit: Getty Images

Time will tell if that what was the right football decision, especially given how much Canterbury general manager Phil Gould has been singing Galvin’s praises in recent months.

But the Tigers hierarchy feel that they need to show they aren’t going to be pushed around, and messaging off the field is as important as the one’s being relayed on it.

Sione Fainu was under the impression that he was going to get the next available top 30 spot in the roster when it eventually cleared up. With Jayden Sullivan, John Bateman and Brent Naden unwilling - or unable - to find new homes, that vacancy only cleared up recently following the termination of Jordan Miller’s contract for failing to uphold expected standards.

One of those breaches related to him turning up late to training despite assisting police with a domestic violence enquiry unrelated to him. It’s why he’s sought legal advice from former chairman Lee Hagipantelis.

But instead of promoting Fainu to a top 30 deal, the Tigers signed former Roosters prop Terrell May on a three-year contract worth $2 million on Monday.

That same day Sione’s agent Mario Tartak visited Concord seeking a please-explain. Richardson reiterated that the spot was never guaranteed to his client. In fact, the message the Tigers originally relayed was that they were always planning on signing another prop forward before Sione.

They went after Canberra’s Corey Horsburgh and Brisbane’s Kobe Hetherington before negotiations with both players fell through. May was merely filling the spot that had already been assigned to someone else.

Now Sione faces the likelihood of a $1200-a-week train-and-trial contract, pending NRL approval, until something budges at the Tigers.

The Dragons are still exploring the possibility of luring Adam Doueihi to the club as a halves option, but St George Illawarra are also in discussions with South Sydney’s Lachlan Ilias and Cronulla’s Daniel Atkinson.

Richardson knows that most clubs, at this time of year, are still holding out hope for a top-line player to hit the open market.

It’s the kind of unforseen situation that the Tigers themselves benefited from just this week when they secured the services of May on a three-year deal.

There will come a time, however, when some teams will need to fill roster spots or find replacements for players injured in preseason training or trials.

The Tigers are hopeful - once the big dominoes like Ben Hunt and Ryan Papenhuyzen fall - teams might be more willing to look at the lower end of their roster spots. If not, they’ll have to dip into their pockets.

The case surrounding Bateman is fascinating. The Tigers - big on messaging and all - went to the Rugby League Players’ Association a few weeks ago to find out what date the Englishman was due back at training after his stint in the Super League with Warrington.

John Bateman on the bench.Credit: NRL Photos

The RLPA crunched the numbers and conceded that the Tigers were within their rights to order Bateman back to training on the final day of training on a Saturday before the two-week Christmas break. So they did.

Given the animosity between Bateman and his agent Isaac Moses towards the Tigers at the moment, they took it exactly as it was meant; a reminder that he was unwanted after falling out with the coach over perceived unfair treatment.

He isn’t the only player to have fallen out with Marshall in 2024. Naden found himself on the outer after refusing to shake the coach’s hand after their match at Magic Round. Marshall voiced his displeasure at Naden’s sin-binning at half-time.

Naden thought the coach overstepped the mark and made it personal, taking exception to the way he was spoken to by the coach. It’s the same gripe Bateman had with Marshall after a loss to South Sydney later in the year, as well as a belief that the younger players weren’t being held to the same account as the senior ones. The start of preseason speaks to a shift in that mentality.

For now, Bateman is scheduled back at training in the new year. Moses was able to get Warrington to provide documentation that Bateman in fact underwent a series of medical examinations and corporate appearances in the week after the Wolves’ final game that meant he wasn’t due back at training for another week and secured his absence from training until the new year. The RLPA changed its position.

Players at Wests Tigers training on Tuesday.Credit: Wests Tigers

Given the Tigers’ desire to release a number of players, it has created a perception that their recent decision to issue breaches and warnings for preseason performances was more a reflection of their desire to create roster spots than a culture building exercise.

The Tigers strongly refute those assertions. They want players who are willing to put in the extras.

Marshall’s coaching style has already met resistance. His second year at the helm is in the make-or-break territory after the club slumped to their third consecutive wooden spoon last season.

The roster is largely his, having the final say on all recruitment matters since he was anointed Tim Sheens’ successor. Some of those decisions are already coming back to bite him, so he’s changing the way he does things. Avoiding claims of mixed messaging is also paramount to his success.

Michael Maguire went down this path before. Marshall was there as a player and saw first hand how his former teammates resisted Maguire’s approach to change. It led to the now-Broncos coach’s demise in what was a train-wreck of a four-year campaign at the joint venture club.

The difference for Marshall, however, is that he might just have the players who are willing to change.