Toxic Tigers fears as training dust-up exposes bid to ‘knife Benji in the back’ — Crawls

Does Benji Marshall want to be a coach, or make a comeback as a player?

It’s probably a question Wests Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson needs to ask the now-40-year-old Marshall after the revelations this week that the former champion playmaker was involved in a training dust-up with veteran back Adam Doueihi recently.

In the fair dinkum stakes, can’t this joint leave you hanging for the next juicy episode of Tales from Tiger Town.

Taylor Sheridan wouldn’t write a better script.

The story goes the latest incident occurred in the build-up to the round 16 game against Canberra.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Doueihi took exception after Marshall tackled him during an opposed training session.

The pair then allegedly “exchanged words” in front of onlookers.

You can only assume those “onlookers” would be players and other coaching staff.

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You’re entitled to ask, wouldn’t Benji be better off letting one of the younger players fill in for the opposed sessions so he can concentrate on the job he is employed to do?

Some will want to make excuses and say this is nothing out of the norm for Benji, who is said to regularly play a role in training drills.

But for mine it just smacks of a former champion player out for a quick ego hit, while highlighting obvious insecurities as a coach.

Yet from a club perspective the most concerning part in all this is how this story even found its way into the media in the first place.

Quite obviously it was leaked by someone who was at the session with an ulterior motive.

Now that is being used as an obvious attempt to knife Benji in the back.

Because this, of course, is leaked the same week as the Tigers again went into damage control following the decision to let young Tallyn Da Silva walk out on his contract so he could join Parramatta.

In no way is this column suggesting it was Da Silva who leaked the Doueihi story behind Benji’s back.

But the point is someone from within the Tigers did leak the story.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 27: Tigers coach, Benji Marshall looks on during the round 17 NRL match between Manly Sea Eagles and Wests Tigers at 4 Pines Park, on June 27, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

And this has all come on the back of Lachlan Galvin’s ugly exit earlier this year amid bullying claims, so Galvin could link with the then competition leaders Canterbury with more than a year and a half to run on his existing deal.

But for all the excuses that have been thrown up for letting Da Silva go now — including that it will free up some salary cap space next year — the decision is dead-set indefensible when you look at where this club is right now, and more importantly where the Tigers are trying to get to.

What Richardson has said previously is that he wants the troubled club to build from within their juniors and not get caught in the trap of paying overs for outside talent.

Yet both Galvin and Da Silva are among the best young players in crucial positions emerging in rugby league, and they were both on very modest deals.

But now they’re gone what do the Tigers have to show for it, aside from a few more black eyes and a little bit of wriggle room in their salary cap?

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As a rival chief executive said to me this week, it makes no sense to release either player at this point given they weren’t exactly on huge money by NRL standards.

Of course, the Galvin situation had the potential to get messy amid the claims of bullying raised against the club.

But if the Tigers had done nothing wrong, why didn’t they take a stand?

Even if Benji wanted to play Galvin in NSW Cup, he could have done that and kept Galvin for when he needed him.

Like to stand in on those opposed sessions so Benji didn’t end up getting in a stink with another one of his senior players.

Which is why fans and the media are entitled to question what the Tigers are still hiding in respect to Galvin’s release.

In Da Silva’s case, the irony is he wanted to stay, although he also wanted a commitment to know what his future would be beyond Api Koroisau’s existing contract.

But just because the Tigers want to keep Koroisau going forward does not give Da Silva a God-given right to leave when he was contracted through until the end of next season.

At least keep him for the remainder of this year as the club fights to avoid another wooden spoon.

While Marshall may have been the greatest player to ever pull on the joint venture jersey, the fact is he simply didn’t have the experience to take on the toughest coaching gig in the game after such a short time working as an assistant under Tim Sheens.

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So it’s no great surprise that less than two years down the track it is all starting to unravel in full public view.

And just to make Marshall a little more nervous, there is also this talk going around the game that Willie Peters could end up as Marshall’s replacement if the Tigers don’t turn it around soon.

What makes that particularly interesting is the link that Richardson has with Peters stretching back to their time together at South Sydney.

Peters is currently in charge of Hull KR in the Super League and having great success.

Richo recently came out publicly and backed Benji to be the coach next year, even if the Tigers finish with the wooden spoon.

“I can guarantee he’ll be here,” Richardson told The Daily Telegraph just over a week ago.

At first, that “guarantee” was assumed to be until the end of next year when Marshall’s current contract expires.

Yet if the Roosters pile on a cricket score against the Tigers this Sunday, it will be the Tigers’ seventh straight defeat.

Now instead of Benji seeing out the final year of his deal next year, the talk is this showdown with the Roosters is shaping as Benji’s Waterloo.

And given the Roosters’ recent form — added to the fact the Tigers will be without Koroisau, Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula — you get the feeling Benji is living on borrowed time.

WHY NRL NEEDS TO RE-THINK BLOCKING BENNETT FROM ROOS JOB

Coaching the Kangaroos should not go to the last man standing. It should go to the best available candidate.

And whether that candidate is currently the coach of an NRL club shouldn’t matter.

But in the wake of Brad Fittler knocking back the job, now the talk is it will be either Cameron Smith or Kevvie Walters who ends up taking over from Mal Meninga.

Given Smith has never coached previously, taking charge of a nation in as precarious a position as the Kangaroos currently are seems like as dangerous gamble despite Smith’s phenomenal playing record.

Especially on the back of Fittler’s revelations this week that nothing has been booked for the Kangaroos at this point for their trip to England at the end of the season.

In respect to Walters, again, this is not a knock on his credentials.

But is Walters really in the conversation of the game’s best coaches?

Or just a convenient option given the ARLC’s blanket rule that current NRL coaches can’t put their hand up for what should be the most prestigious position in rugby league coaching?

What makes it laughable is that the game wants the best players to put their hand up for these end-of-season tours, but they don’t want to allow the best available coach to do the same.

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This is despite the fact South Sydney has granted Wayne Bennett permission to take the job if he asked to do it.

The irony is the game didn’t seem to have a problem asking for Bennett’s help back during the Covid period at short notice when Walters resigned as Queensland to take the job coaching the Broncos.

And remember that 2020 Origin series was also played at the end of the season.

So what is so different now?

It shouldn’t matter if it is Bennett or Ivan Cleary or Craig Bellamy or Ricky Stuart who wants the job.

It should go to the best coach, if their club is willing to let them do it.

And going back to Fittler’s comments this week, they also need to be mindful of the uncertainty facing the Kangaroos in respect to their dwindling player pool given the challenge coming from Pacific Nations who continue to drag players away from wanting to represent Australia.

It’s not too late for the NRL to have a rethink on this.

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