In the club’s goal making the finals, one man delivered brutal honesty, expectations and challenges to his players ahead of the 2026 season.
With the club normally in the news in the form of controversy or noisy headlines, Benji Marshall aimed to set the tone for building a strong culture and whether the players will execute actions they need to take in order to play for the club this season.
Most importantly, Benji wants to test the players’ pride and intergity wearing the Tigers logo, being part of the club, how they set to maximise everyday to help the club chase glory.
“Welcome back, 2026 Wests Tigers. You should be excited. I’ve noticed a lot of nerves in the room,” Marshall first said in the video uploaded on Monday evening.
“I remember my first pre-season, it’s pretty stressful but even though it’s going to be hard who gives a f***.”
It became crystal clear what Benji is willing to do, warning those that are unwilling to meet the standards at the club would walk out the door.
“Let’s just embrace it, be positive about it, upbeat because for some of you on train-and-trial (contracts), it is an opportunity that you might not get longer than six weeks, so you’ve got to make the most of it.
“The other thing I’ve learned about pre-season is that you’ll never get this time back and if you have a great pre-season it sets you up for a good season.”
With the six-man bench, 19 players get selected for each match instead of the 17 the league has been accustomed to, building more challenges, more season-defining battles inside the four-walls.
“If you haven’t made your debut yet or if you have, everyone wants to win a comp,” Marshall added.
“The question is, if I said to you tomorrow that you’re guaranteed to win the comp or if you haven’t played first-grade yet, if you’re guaranteed to make your debut, what are you prepared to do for it.
“If you ask me that question, I’d f****** do whatever it takes. Anything! You name it, I’d do it because everyone said they’re prepared to do things, but that’s just talk.
“What are your actions going to be that match it because I’ve seen a lot of talk over the years, playing (and) coaching. Everyone says it, prove it, make the most of it because it doesn’t come around every day.”
In an attempt to turn the direction of the club around, Benji states how important it is to have professionalism, the weight of good or bad performances, the reality of being a player in rugby league.
“We’re big on standards and if you don’t make your f****** times consistently and you can’t perform and you’re not professional, you’ll be out of here,” Marshall continued.
“It’s happened, trust me. We’ve been through this s***.
“We’re not doing that anymore (because) at the Wests Tigers we f***** now stand for something and if you’re not prepared to follow what we stand for, guess what, there’s the f****** door.”
The Wests Tigers play the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday night at Leichhardt Oval.
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