By Michael Chammas and Adam Pengilly
The Wests Tigers have dropped a bombshell barely one season into the club’s five-year plan, calling time on Tim Sheens’ tenure as head coach.
The Tigers have responded to concerns raised by key stakeholders at the club and in the sport by significantly reducing the role of the 2005 premiership-winning coach.
Sheens won’t coach next year, nor will he return to the general manager role he assumed before taking on the job as Michael Maguire’s successor this year.
Sheens has given the club his blessing for Benji Marshall to take over as coach but had expectations that he would return to his administration role.
The club was hoping to keep him around in an ambassador and mentoring role if he wants to continue. However, Sheens has told those close to him he is likely to return to the United Kingdom with his partner, who also works at the club.
The Tigers have been mulling over the decision for weeks, but it was made easier over the weekend when Sheens’ management contacted the club to inform them that he had had enough.
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens.Credit: Getty
“Tim has voluntarily stepped down from the position he was holding,” Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis said.
“The outreach came from his management within the last week – they wanted to speak to us about reconfiguring the coaching structure for 2024 and beyond, and the discussions proceeded from that to where we are today.”
Sheens was meant to be head coach for two years and help Marshall transition into a top-line coach in time for him to take complete control of the team in 2025.
Tigers officials have come under fire for appointing Sheens, given the team’s struggles in 2023, however chief executive Justin Pascoe backed the club’s appointment of the veteran mentor.
Tim Sheens with Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
“We don’t think it is an error,” Pascoe said. “I would sit there and argue that our responsibility is to make executive decisions about the employment of people. What we did with Tim Sheens is bring him in to be a transition coach. The club contemplated this happening earlier when we made this original decision.
“It was up to two years, Tim would become a head coach and transition Benji in. Benji has exemplified everything we wanted him to and gone far and beyond our expectations.”
Asked if this was a response to pressure from player agents who had raised concerns about the coaching of their players at the Tigers, Pascoe said: “No. We don’t make decisions based on outside pressure. We make decisions in the best interest of the club on our terms.”
“It is indeed regrettable that I find myself having to speak of these matters publicly,” he said. “But there have been internal discussions about expediting the transition of Benji into the head coaching role, which is something that was always contemplated within that two-year transition period.
Tim Sheens is likely to return to the United Kingdom.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer, The Sydney Morning Herald
“These discussions emanated from a conversation with Tim’s management only very recently. The discussions continue and nothing has been resolved as yet.”
Sheens’ power at the club has been diluted significantly during the year with one club insider telling this masthead that Sheens had very little input into the club’s game against the Warriors in New Zealand on Saturday.
This masthead has been told that Sheens hasn’t been seen at the club’s Concord headquarters for the past couple of days. Club powerbrokers have held a series of meetings during the past 48 hours to reach the decision.
Pascoe said Marshall was kept up to date with the situation and indicated he was ready to step up if Sheens was no longer head coach.
“It’s absolutely a conversation we’ve had with Benji,” Pascoe said. “You can’t do one without the other. Benji was adamant that he’s ready to do the job and he’s keen to do the job.
“He’s got all the tools. If you’re fortunate enough to see Benji and how he interacts with the playing squad and how much respect he commands, it’s actually inspiring. He’s ready to go.”
Marshall will now have complete control of the team and is contracted until the end of 2027.
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