The hype is real: How Benji turned Tigers into premiership force
- Author
- Timestamp
Wests Tigers are determined to prove their stunning start to the season is not another false dawn as they prepare to make a statement against the reigning premiers on Saturday night.
Benji Marshall’s men will host Brisbane in front of an expected sold-out crowd at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Saturday night in an early test of their title credentials.
The Tigers currently sit equal first on the ladder with four wins from five games, their only loss being a four-point defeat to South Sydney in Round 3.
The club has never beaten Brisbane at Campbelltown but a victory on Saturday night will have fans confident this will be the season they finally snap a 15-year finals drought.
A Turuva hat-trick in Campbelltown
The Tigers’ early-season form has surprised plenty of rugby league supporters, but not those within the four walls at the club’s Concord base and co-captain Api Koroisau said this year already feels different to preview campaigns.
“It’s hard to see it any other way,” Koroisau said. “We’ve started the year off well and I don’t think we’ve started this well [for a long time] so for us it’s a new feeling as well.
“Everyone’s keen to get better each week, come in here and look at what they can improve on. It’s a whole mentality shift and a new culture here too.”
Match: Wests Tigers v Broncos
Round 7 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
2nd Position
away Team
Broncos
11th Position
Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Tigers fans are among the most passionate and longest suffering in the NRL.
The club hasn’t played finals since 2011, the longest active streak in the competition, and collected three-straight wooden spoons from 2022-2024.
The on-field struggles were matched by off-field dramas, with multiple board shake ups and regime changes preventing the club from achieving any semblance of stability.
Kai Pearce-Paul fires in his club debut
Marshall is the sixth full-time coach since Tim Sheens departed after the 2012 season, with three caretaker coaches thrown into the mix for good measure.
The tide started to turn last season, as Jarome Luai’s arrival helped lift the team off the bottom of the ladder.
For all the positivity currently seeping out of Concord, forward Alex Seyfarth concedes there were times in the past where he feared the club would never turn a corner.
“We went through that rough period where we didn’t have much success,” Seyfarth said. “Previously there were always things that happened at this club that were out of your control.
“All I could do was work hard and focus on myself but it’s good to see [this success] for the fans. We haven’t had much success at Campbelltown and we got a good win [last week] and it was packed out, so we have to keep it rolling.”
The Tigers have received another big boost this week, with star five-eighth Jarome Luai and centre Taylan May returning from injury for the showdown with the undermanned Broncos.
Confidence is sky-high in Tiger-town, with fans coming out of the woodwork and flocking to games to support their team.
Wests Tigers get the win in Golden Point!
The side has played in front of sold-out crowds in home games at Leichhardt, Campbelltown and CommBank Stadium and more than 17,000 spectators are expected on Saturday night.
There is hope this is the year the club finally ends their finals drought and some fans are even daring to dream of a premiership on the horizon.
But the Tigers have been here before.
In 2000, their inaugural season, the Wayne Pearce-coached side sat second after six rounds with four wins and a draw.
In 2014 the Tigers were second after seven rounds, while they won five of their first six games in 2018 to emerge as early premiership contenders.
On all three occasions, the side fell away in the second half of the season and missed the top eight.
Koroisau won premierships at South Sydney and Penrith before he joined the Wests rebuild in 2023 and knows exactly what it takes to play finals each year.
The early signs are positive, but he declared the Tigers are still a long way from challenging for a title in September.
“It’s important for us to take it a week at a time and understand we need to get better,” Koroisau said. “We were good for 75-80% of last week’s game.
“We were really good, but you can’t have those lapses of defence and the way we played [in the last 15 minutes]. For us, it’s about concentrating on what we have to do to get better each week.”
Now in his third season as full-time coach, Marshall has instilled a hard edge to this team.
One of the most gifted attacking players in the game’s history, it’s perhaps surprising the coach has built the team’s success on a defensive foundation.
Benji Marshall's most iconic NRL moments
The attack is humming on all cylinders, they put 42 on the Knights last week, but it was the 22 points they conceded that left Marshall so frustrated after the game.
The coach has spent the past three seasons focused on elevating and maintaining standards. The defensive effort in the final 20 minutes of the match did not meet those standards.
While Marshall’s mantra that you shape up or ship out was initially a shock to the system, Seyfarth said the results are clear.
“It’s been building the last few years with Benji,” Seyfarth said. “He has a real hard nose on what he stands for. If you’re not going to be fit enough and strong enough, if you’re not going to play to our game plan and fit into our team, you’re not going to play.
“Every day he’s harping on about standards and if you’re not going to live up to it, you’re not going to play. We’ve been working hard and we’re starting to get a few rewards.”
The Tigers have never beaten Brisbane at Campbelltown in their 26-year history.
A win on Saturday will make clear it isn’t the only drought in their sights this season.
