Wests Tigers Coach Benji Marshall Addresses Media Hype
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has addressed the media’s recent focus on his team, emphasizing that his players remain focused despite their early-season success. The Tigers entered round seven at the top of the NRL ladder but suffered a narrow 21-20 loss to the Brisbane Broncos in Sydney.
The game was a tight contest, with the Tigers falling just short in the final moments. As the victory slipped away, Marshall suggested that the press can now ease up on the fanfare surrounding the team.
“We’ve practiced scenarios and situations,” Marshall said. “I think they kicked it first with nine minutes to go. I thought we had another chance to set it up. We went left and went over the side line.”
“I thought we could have probably had a chance to try and tie it up there, but that’s a learning curve. I mean, we’ve been up for so long, now you guys can stop talking about us.”
However, Marshall denied that his players have become complacent or started reading their own press. “No, that’s all external, internally we don’t feel like that,” he said. “We’ve still trained hard. That’s a you thing. Sorry a media thing.”
The Tigers had late opportunities to tie the game and steal the win but ultimately faltered in the dying stages. Marshall acknowledged the missed execution but expressed that he remains confident in the team’s overall game plan.
“We’ve got belief in what we’re doing,” Marshall said further. “I think we’ve proven that and I thought there were times tonight where we looked really good with our defence, particularly.”
“I thought we were dominating field position, which is the way we want to play and there were moments tonight we probably wish we could have back to. A few errors there, but that’s footy and I said to the boys, you’ve got to take the good with the bad and what you’ve got to do is put yourself back together and get ready to go again next week. It’s a long year.”
While unable to hide his disappointment at the result, Marshall was gracious in defeat, offering high praise for an under-strength Broncos outfit.
“Obviously disappointed to lose, we’ve been on the other end of a close score line like that, but no excuses.”
“Credit to Brisbane, obviously, undermanned, under strength, and they played a solid game and pipped us there at the end.”
“I thought we did some good things today, but I thought we put ourselves in a position to win it too and at the end, but it didn’t go our way. It’s credit to them…they hung on, fought their way back and were good enough to get us at the end there.”
The Tigers will next face the Raiders on Thursday night.
