Tigers assistant coach Benji Marshall is optimistic the club will be well placed for success in 2023 after a roster overhaul, while also building a sustainable model for the future.
Tim Sheens’ assistant for the next two seasons before taking over the head coaching reins, Marshall wants to put a horror decade in terms of making the finals behind the Tigers and is confident success is not far away.
“It’s been a tough ten or so years from a club point of view,” Marshall said in a club video on weststigers.com.au.
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“We are doing everything we can at training from a team perspective to make sure we change that. But good things are coming from us.”
The Tigers picked up the dreaded wooden spoon last season and are in the midst of the longest finals drought in the NRL dating back to 2011 when Marshall was at his peak as a player.
However, Marshall believes wooden spoon predictions for 2023 are off the mark and is bullish his team can have success next season, with an eye also on the future.
“We want success now, there’s no doubt,” Marshall said.
“We’re not going into next year saying we want to have an average year. We want to win, and we’ll be saying that to the players.
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“But you’ve got to think about the future to and we’ve got a lot of kids coming through that are really talented and we’ve managed to hold on to them.
“The plan we have made is coming into action now. Seeing some of those kids come into first grade and train their first pre-season, we have a bright future coming through.”
The club has had a player clean-out with Luke Garner and Tyrone Peachey switching to the Panthers, Jacob Liddle and Zane Musgrove to the Dragons, Kelma Tuilagi to the Sea Eagles, James Tamou to the Cowboys, Oliver Gildart to the Dolphins and Jackson Hastings to the Knights.
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However, the Tigers have recruited well with Panthers premiership duo Apisai Koroisau and Charlie Staines, Eels grand finalist Isaiah Papali’i, Knights prop David Klemmer and former Waratah Triston Reilly all joining the club in 2023.
But it is the club’s juniors that have Marshall excited for a big future for the Concord club.
“Talking to Tim, he thinks some of those kids are better than the likes of myself, Robbie Farah, Liam Fulton and Bryce Gibbs, when we were coming through at that age,” Marshall said.
“One thing that I want everyone to understand at this club is when you put on the Wests Tigers jumper, you are representing a lot of people.
“You are playing for the guy next to you and all everyone wants to see is their players play with passion, with pride and put in their best performance week in and week out.”
