Wests Tigers have extended Benji Marshall’s contract until the end of 2030, with the embattled NRL club throwing an incredible level of support behind the coach.
Already contracted until the end of 2027, the Tigers on Friday announced a new deal that will keep the club legend at the helm for the next five seasons.
It came on another busy day in Tiger town, with Shaun Mielekamp appointed interim CEO following Shane Richardson’s dramatic exit.
In the space of 11 days, the Tigers have sacked more than half their board, had their CEO resign, invited the board members back and extended Marshall as head coach.
Marshall’s new contract is no doubt aimed at providing some stability at the club, with it in the works before the directors were invited back on Thursday.
Tigers officials will also hope it helps them secure Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula, with the star duo able to look elsewhere for 2027 and beyond.
But it is also an incredible show of faith in the 40-year-old from the joint-venture club.
Marshall has taken the Tigers to a wooden spoon and 13th in his two seasons in charge – and admitted his new deal probably wasn’t warranted.
‘I’ll be honest, I probably haven’t (in terms of performance) deserved to have the extension,’ he said.
‘But at the end of the day, I’m here until 2030. I back myself, I back the players we’ve got, the squad we’ve built. ‘That plan’s going to stay the same.’
Across all 17 NRL clubs, only Cameron Ciraldo at the Bulldogs has a longer coaching deal than Marshall.
Meanwhile, Holman Barnes chairman Dennis Burgess has quit the board of the Wests Tigers.
It follows Burgess – an ARIA Hall of Fame inductee – attracting unwanted headlines after he was exposed for following hundreds of social media pages featuring sexually explicit content.
Burgess will remain chairman of the Holman Barnes Group.
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