{"id":402144,"date":"2024-06-12T03:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T03:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=402144"},"modified":"2024-06-12T04:06:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T04:06:32","slug":"slater-rips-totally-inappropriate-benji-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=402144","title":{"rendered":"Slater rips 'totally inappropriate' Benji criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy Slater<\/a> believes Benji Marshall<\/a> is the "right person" to lead the Wests Tigers<\/a> into a new era as he comes under fire for leaving Australia amid the club's horror slump.<\/p>\n

As the Tigers enjoyed their bye round, club CEO Shane Richardson headed to England on a recruitment mission<\/a>, while Marshall departed on a family holiday to Fiji.<\/p>\n

Marshall's trip was questioned by media and supporters of the club, with some suggesting his time would be better spent working on \ufeffa plan to fix the team.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Paralympic star's dad steals hearts in emotional TV interview<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Smith saga 'tip of the iceberg' for 'fed up' Roosters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Returning star's blunt message to battling Tigers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The club has struggled to climb from the bottom of the ladder in recent years, recording their ninth straight loss in a humiliating clash against the Dragons last week.<\/p>\n

The Tigers have recorded two wins under Marshall, coming in the form of major upsets against the Eels and the Sharks in rounds three and four. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Slater urged Tigers fans to give Marshall's stewardship a chance, calling for critics to remain silent or "put their [own] hand up" for the role.<\/p>\n

"I feel for Benji because he probably has to feel like he has to defend himself and validate some decisions that he makes off the field which is just totally inappropriate," Slater said on Nine's The<\/em> Billy Slater Podcast<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Benji<\/p>\n

"[Teams] get byes throughout the year. Players need to get away from the game. Coaches need to get away from the game.<\/p>\n

"Benji hadn't even coached a game and he was being criticised. \ufeffYou gotta give people a chance. This is not an easy job to do.<\/p>\n

"If you're out there criticising him and you think you can do a better job, put your hand up.<\/p>\n

"At the end of the day, he's in there having a go and trying to turn things around for his club."<\/p>\n

Despite the external noise, Slater backed Marshall's commitment to and patience with his team, noting the success of young players in the squad.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI believe he is the right person for the job. He's passionate about this club. He knows the game as well as anyone," Slater said.<\/p>\n

"There have been times throughout the year when this team has looked like they were moving forward.<\/p>\n

"Consistency isn't \ufeffeasy in this competition. When you've got younger players, especially younger players in key positions, it is going to take time.<\/p>\n

"We've heard Ricky Stuart talk about patience with these young players. You have got to be patient. At times, in the media, I feel we are a little bit impatient."<\/p>\n

Marshall hit back at critics following his trip, explaining it is important for both players and coaching staff to "recharge and refresh."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I've played under a lot of coaches, including Wayne Bennett<\/a>, and sometimes when you're going through a rough trot like we've experienced with eight losses, doing more isn't always the answer," he said.<\/p>\n

"That doesn't necessarily mean you don't care or work less. You want fresh energy.<\/p>\n

"We've had 11 games straight. Yes, I'm in Fiji. I could have had these days off in New Zealand or even Sydney.<\/p>\n

"Is it that big a difference? We'll get back to work on Sunday and prepare for St George-Illawarra."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy Slater believes Benji Marshall is the "right person" to lead the Wests Tigers into a new era as he comes under fire for leaving […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":400009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=402144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402147,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402144\/revisions\/402147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/400009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=402144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=402144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=402144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}