Benji Marshall vs Wayne Bennett, Dolphins vs Wests Tigers, Round 5, top six, coaches, players – MASHAHER

Benji Marshall will go head-to-head with the man that inspired him to join the coaching game when the Wests Tigers take on master coach Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins in Round 5.

Bennett will coach his 916th game while Marshall will coach just his his fourth, but there are already similarities in the way they work after the time they spent together as player and coach at the Broncos and Rabbitohs.

“It’s the master up against the apprentice, Wayne Bennett taking on Benji Marshall,” Braith Anasta said on NRL 360.

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“We all love a coach matchup. This should be pretty interesting.”

Paul Kent believes Marshall has modelled his coaching style on Bennett, whose methods have become nearly extinct in modern rugby league.

“One of the things Benji made a point of when he was coming into coaching was how much he learned off Wayne, who he spent the latter part of his career with as a player,” Kent said. “And he sort of adopted the Wayne approach, where he’s the man manager more than is the stats guy or the X’s and O’s guy.

“And certainly what we’ve seen so far, the players are responding at Tigers.

“It is interesting to see how it goes. Bennett’s a guy, his style of coaching doesn’t exist in the game anymore.

“Benji’s now the youngest coach and he’s adopted it. So you kind of wonder whether it is starting to go full circle or not.”

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James Hooper believes Marshall is following Wayne’s approach in how to handle the media to deflect pressure from his players.

“I’m liking how Benji’s even taking a leaf out of Wayne’s playbook in terms of how to handle the media,” Hooper said.

“So he had the boxing gloves on. He’s putting right hands and left hooks on Brent Read after that great win over Paramatta on Easter Monday.

“And just deflecting, you know, being prepared to answer questions, but at the same time also put blokes in their place.

“That’s been a staple of Wayne’s existence, his entire coaching career.”

Dean Ritchie likes the calm manner that Benji brings to coaching the Tigers in the face of enormous scrutiny, given they have the longest finals drought in the NRL.

“He’s very considered Benji,” Ritchie said.

“He’s very calm, isn’t he? He’s a snappy dresser up in the box, isn’t he?

“He’s become a bit of a cool cat.”

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Earlier this season Ritchie questioned if Marshall had the work ethic to succeed in coaching given the hours that most put into the profession.

“Hang on, first you didn’t like the golf and the fact he had a few games playing golf and the fact that he’s a rock star and he might be rolling to his own tune,” Hooper said.

“I said initially, Benji playing golf isn’t the normal process that coaches go through on game day,” Ritchie said.

“I didn’t say it was wrong. I said it was different, but it’s working for Benji.”

“Well, he’s played 18 holes at Concord the day before they beat Cronulla and then he’s backed up again Easter Monday,” Hooper said.

“And we haven’t seen the Tigers defend like this probably in the entire history of the club.”

“And now he needs to do it every time they play,” Anasta said.

“It could be superstition.”

“I hope he plays up in Brisbane on game day,” Hooper said.

Anasta questioned if Ritchie believes Marshall is on the right track despite his early doubts.

“Do you think he is doing a good job? Because you were worried a bit weren’t you?” Anasta said.

“A lot of people were,” Kent added.

“I think he’s doing a terrific job,” Ritchie said.

“I was concerned about his work ethic and whether he was going to do the hours to succeed. “But when the Tigers play well and they are, they’ve ignited the NRL.

“That crowd at CommBank, it was like they were playing a home game. They’re ready to win the West Tigers fans, and if he keeps doing it, they will become a powerful franchise again.”

Kent believes the best thing Marshall has done is get his players up for the fight again each weekend.

“The best thing for the club is that the players are up for the game,” Kent said.

“And that’s going to be the difficulty for them as well, but particularly the last two weeks they have been up for the game.”

However, Anasta questioned if Marshall can maintain the rage over the course of a long season.

“He’s adopted a similar mentality as a coach and approach as Wayne,” Anasta said.

“Do you think he can maintain it? He’s done it so far.”

Kent believes the challenge will be when their depth is tested over a long season, but he is encouraged by the players believing in Marshall’s vision and committing themselves to the club.

“The strength of it has also got to come down to his assistants,” Kent said.

“He’s got John Morris there who is very capable. So for it to continue to go on, look, the Tigers don’t have any injuries at the moment. I don’t know if they have great depth throughout the squad. That’s going to test them.

“There’s a whole lot of things that Benji hasn’t faced yet.

“You talk to every coach, they say, you don’t really know what you are as a coach until you’ve had four or five losses in a row. That hasn’t come yet.

“That’ll come at some point throughout his career we imagine, if it goes like everybody else. So there’s a lot we don’t know.

“All we can say is from the early signs, the players have bought in.

“I love the way that Benji speaks about the buy-in when it doesn’t have the hollow ring that some coaches tend to have sometimes, where they say it because they’ve heard other coaches say it. I think it’s something that Benji’s genuinely pushing at the club.”

Hooper believes Marshall has surrounded himself with the right assistants, which is making his laid back approach work.

“To your point about the assistant coaches, one thing that Wayne’s been a genius at over the years is surrounding himself with really good operators that make his job easier, and he’s the best in the business when it comes to delegating,” Hooper said.

“And I think, to your question about Benji’s work ethic, it shows that at the moment, Benji has got the balance right in that John Morris has coached at NRL level previously.

“You’ve only got to look at the way that West Tigers formulated that game plan against Cronulla and executed it.”

“Don’t worry, John Morris had a square up in him too against Cronulla,” Kent interjected.

“He relished doing the game plan against Cronulla.”

“That’s also smart from Benji that he can see all of that, and he’s balancing it perfectly,” Hooper concluded.