Why Benji isn’t worried about coaching future after Spoonbowl demolition

The Wests Tigers have won their third straight wooden spoon after going down to the Parramatta Eels 60-26 in the ‘Spoonbowl’ on Friday night.

Coming into the game needing a win to avoid the unwanted bit of history, the Tigers capitulated in the second half and put an unneeded microscope on the club’s chances going forward.

The loss for the Tigers also puts rookie coach Benji Marshall under the microscope, as he becomes the first mentor since Paul Langmack in 2003 to win the spoon in his first season.

Concluding the first season of a five-year deal, Marshall admitted he is neither worried about his future at the club or going to change his coaching style to potentially save his job.

“It (time) doesn’t worry me because I’m not coaching to keep my job,” Marshall said post-game.

“I’m coaching to try and make this club better, I’m coaching to try and make these kids better.

“I honestly believe I can do that and if that’s me for the next two years and we don’t get the rewards and I’m not here and someone else does, that’s how much I care about the club.

“The thing that people probably look at is success now and having overnight success.

“We’re looking at trying to have success for a long period of time, not just winning one year and go missing for the next three.

“The biggest thing is when you haven’t done the job before you think you know what the team needs and then when you’ve had a season doing it you get a real understanding of what it is.

“It’s probably my fault today because I encouraged them to play footy and, hence, we had a lot of errors coming out of our half.”

The Tigers will have renewed hope for a much improved 2025 season with the impending arrival of Penrith Panther stars Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva along with Cronulla Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt.