Benji Marshall admits Wests Tigers need to address slipping club standards, but has refuted reports of players vaping in the NRL club’s gymnasium.
The Tigers coach on Wednesday fronted the media to affirm his “love” for Adam Doueihi, almost a week after the 27-year-old disagreed with a move out of halfback and walked out on the club.
Media suggestions had been that aside from the positional switch, Doueihi was dismayed by a lack of professionalism and accountability at the struggling joint venture, which has not played finals since 2011.
The Tigers enter round 22 in 16th place on the ladder, despite sitting third earlier in the year and most recently suffering a 46-point loss to Canberra with their season on the line.
Marshall conceded the Tigers had work to do to improve their standards, but denied the club had a culture problem that contributed to their on-field struggles.
“I don’t feel like there’s a culture problem,” he said.
“[But] if we’re talking about standards and that, there’s probably a few things we might’ve walked past recently that we need to address.”
Marshall refuted media reports of a culture of vaping during gym sessions.
“I can tell you now that no-one’s vaping in the gym. That’s actually fabricated or misinformation,” he said.
“Is there a vaping problem? Probably, with players, but with young men, you can’t tell them whether they vape or smoke.
“I definitely can’t control what they do 24/7. I’m not with them all the time.”
Meanwhile, a remorseful Doueihi admits he can be “stubborn” and “a hard player to deal with”, but insists he is committed to Wests Tigers following his highly publicised dummy spit.
Adam Doueihi cast the Tigers into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. (Getty Images: Brett Hemmings)
Doueihi conceded he should “definitely” have played the Tigers’ must-win game against the Raiders last Saturday, rather than walk out after Marshall’s decision to move him from halfback.
The 27-year-old said “miscommunication” had led to friction between he and Marshall, who had hoped to play him at lock against the Raiders.
“Benj knows I’d play front row for him. I never put myself above the team,” he said.
“Was there a bit of communication breakdown there, and did I take it the wrong way? Yeah, and I’m happy to wear that.”
The star utility was visibly emotional fronting a media scrum at Tigers headquarters on Wednesday, two days after crisis talks brought him back into the fold.
Doueihi said there were multiple factors that had led him to “lose [his] head” last week, including conversations with Marshall, the 16th-placed Tigers’ disappointing season and a disruptive week that included a visit to the NRL judiciary.
The Tigers’ season has fallen apart in recent weeks. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan)
Those factors notwithstanding, Doueihi conceded he was to blame for bringing yet another off-field drama upon the sputtering joint venture.
“I know that at times, I can be a hard player to deal with,” Doueihi said.
“I just put this stubborn head on that I have at times, and put this ego on that I have at times and just couldn’t get myself in the right headspace to play. That’s the reality of it.
“When you’re fighting so hard and you have a big week and you go to the judiciary and you’re not used to it, and you’re losing, and you just want to see this club winning, add a bit of miscommunication, which I mentioned, to Benj.
“I’m an over-thinker and I love being well-prepared for stuff. You add that all together, and it just got the better of me last week.”
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