Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
SELECT 👉 Basin Reserve feed
"Doubling down on wrong": Caine criticises rumoured Benji extension
Sam Kosack • December 11th, 2025 9:26 pm
SEN’s Joel Caine has criticised reports the Wests Tigers are set to extend the contract of coach Benji Marshall, labelling the move a “stupid decision by the club”.
Marshall took over as head coach in 2024 after a short-lived apprenticeship under then coach Tim Sheens. Marshall was supposed to be Sheens’s assistant for two seasons before taking over the job. Instead, he found himself in the top job less than a year after the plan had been arranged.
In his two seasons as coach, Marshall attracted big-name talent to the Wests Tigers, most notably Jarome Luai, but has only won 15 games, nine of which came from 2025 in a steady rise up the ladder.
With recent turmoil at the club from a board level - four independent directors sacked before being reinstated 10 days later per an NRL demand and the departure of CEO Shane Richardson - the club has sought stability by offering Marshall a two-year extension on top of the two years already left on his contract.
The decision will hopefully convince star players, including Luai, Jahream Bula, and Terrell May, to stay with the club after reports emerged they could leave if Marshall was moved on.
However, Caine, an inaugural Wests Tigers player, believes there is no need for the club to make such a move right now, backing Marshall to earn his extension and convince players to stay by his own merit.
“I need to preface this by saying I am a converted Benji Marshall fan,” Caine told SEN 1170 Drive.
“At the time I thought it was ridiculous that someone could be given a job. He'd never coached in any grade, Benji. I thought… what other club would give that to a player no matter how great they are.
“If this has been chatted about on the board, and they said… we need some good news to go out, what can we do? And one of the board members says, ‘let's extend Benji Marshall’, I'd be saying, why?
“Benji Marshall has got a 2-year deal to run. If Benji Marshall legitimately wants to be a first grade coach, and from what I've seen he clearly does, his best bet is to stay and ride through the challenge at the Wests Tigers, right?
“If he truly wants to be a coach and the players love him so much, he will be able to win them over and they will stay.
“In two years, he's won 15 games. This would be the first coach in rugby league history who had only won 15 games, and has four years ahead of them locked and loaded.
“It's just doubling down on wrong. It’s not right.
“(Say) ignore the noise, we're backing you… and we're still backing you because you've got two years left on your contract, but you've only won 15 games.
“Benji Marshall's a winner and he could prove everyone wrong and be the greatest coach on Earth, but we don't need to do that.
“It's another stupid decision made by the club and we are running out of good time tokens.
“It just doesn't end and it's so frustrating.
“It’s not against Benji… he is a winner, and it looks as though he is working it out.”
