For the struggling Wests Tigers, the NRL’s final bye week of the 2024 season could not have come at a more opportune moment, with head coach Benji Marshall preparing to make high-stakes decisions about injured star players and team selection that will shape both the end of the current campaign and the club’s long-term future.
After a devastating two-month form slump that has seen the club drop seven consecutive matches and stumble to an effectively season-eliminated position, Marshall will use the seven-day break to weigh two competing priorities: grinding out a few late wins to salvage some pride from the year, or prioritizing long-term health and development by moving injured stars to season-ending surgery and giving young developing prospects valuable top-flight experience.
The Tigers have already had byes in rounds 1 and 12, leaving the squad stretched by two long stretches of back-to-back competitive matches. The team’s attacking unit has collapsed entirely during their losing streak, managing to put up just 45 points across their last six outings, a statistic that has left them adrift in the league standings.
In their most recent outing, a heart-breaking narrow loss to the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, playmaker Adam Doueihi turned in a standout performance in his first game back after missing the club’s previous loss to Canberra, scoring a try and nailing a late field goal. Even Doueihi’s best effort was not enough to halt the Tigers’ losing run, however.
Speaking after the match, Marshall acknowledged the physical toll the brutal losing streak has taken on his playing group, noting that multiple key stars have been playing through serious injuries that would already have required surgery for most players.
“It’s taking its toll,” Marshall said. “We’ve got guys playing busted who probably should have surgery but are still playing to fight for the club, which says how much it means to some of the blokes. So in terms of niggles and injury, it’s a good time for us.”
One of the biggest calls on the table is the future of fullback Jahream Bula, who has been managing a persistent shoulder injury for months and was barely able to impact Sunday’s match, which was marked as Api Koroisau’s 250th NRL game. The bye week opens the door for the club to send Bula and other injured players in for early surgery to get them healthy ahead of next season, a move that would require accepting further losses late in this campaign to open up spots in the matchday squad for young prospects.
Marshall must also decide how much game time he is willing to give rising young talents like Javon Andrews, who would benefit from senior minutes ahead of the 2027 season and beyond, ahead of tough upcoming road matches against the Sydney Roosters, North Queensland Cowboys, and Penrith Panthers.
The coach confirmed that the entire staff and playing group will hold strategic discussions this week to map out the final four weeks of the season, after using Sunday’s match to honor Koroisau’s milestone. “This game was a big occasion for us. We wanted to play for Api, and everyone wanted to be on board for that. I guess the bye gives us a good chance to just take a breath, have a look at the final four weeks, what the priorities are moving forward, and make a plan accordingly,” Marshall explained. “I want to win as many games as possible to finish the season. That’s the first priority. How that looks, we’ll see.”
While the Tigers were left to lick their wounds, the Eels celebrated a narrow win that netted them two crucial competition points, though head coach Jason Ryles made it clear he was far from satisfied with his side’s performance on Sunday. The Eels committed 15 unforced errors throughout the match, a mistake count Ryles described as unacceptable.
“The outcome was winning. The process wasn’t good,” Ryles said. “It was simple, fundamental errors that were self-inflicted. We have made a habit of that this year, and against an opposition further up the table, you don’t win those games.”
Ryles lamented his young, inexperienced side’s ongoing inconsistency: after pushing reigning premiers Penrith to the brink in a heroic performance last week, the Eels turned in a messy, disjointed display against the lowly Tigers. Isaiah Iongi scored a late match-winning try for the Eels, but that did little to ease Ryles’ frustration with the team’s overall effort.
“It was a really good performance from our younger guys in particular, to take Penrith to where we took them (last week) and probably be a little bit unlucky, to then dish that up is the most disappointing part,” he said. “It’s about being consistent every week. You can play NRL or you can be an NRL player. An NRL player is consistent every week, and we’re still learning that.”
Ryles added that the squad understands where they fell short, and the quick six-day turnaround ahead of their next match against South Sydney on Saturday is a welcome chance to put the poor performance behind them quickly. “The players are not silly. They are disappointed in the way we went about it and our process. But when you do win a game of footy at the NRL level, you have to make sure you celebrate it. Then we’ll park it, review it, and move on. I’m glad it’s a six-day turnaround.”