Wests Tigers head coach Benji Marshall has opened up in a revealing interview with his star forward Terrell May.
On the latest May Day podcast, the pair covered everything from Marshall’s tough childhood in small town New Zealand to the intense scrutiny of leading an NRL franchise and protecting his players from external agendas.
“I’m really proud that you have this platform to express yourself,” Marshall told May to begin the interview, before offering a small caveat about the podcast May has hosted throughout the 2025 NRL season.
“But I also watch (each episode) just in case you say anything controversial and I have to clean it up for you!”
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On a far more serious note, Marshall went on to reflect upon his sometimes-criticised coaching style and explained why family has always been a huge part of his approach.
“I remember coming through the grades myself and having coaches say ‘put your family on the back burner, nothing is more important than footy’,” he said.
“That didn’t resonate with me because it’s not something I would ever do, put my family on the back burner, it’s always family first for me.”
‘It’s just proved all of that sh*t wrong’
As quickly became apparent, ‘family’ to Marshall extends very much towards his players for whom the 40-year-old remains fiercely protective.
“When we were trying to sign you (Terrell), the agenda that got painted was that you were this guy who was bad for culture, you weren’t a great leader and it pissed me off to be honest because I’ve seen the other side of you that people don’t always get to see,” Marshall said.
“The season you’ve had and the contribution you’ve made to our team, it makes me proud and happy that you’ve been able to shut those rumours up.
“We signed you to come here and play good footy and you did—it’s just proved all of that sh*t was wrong.”
Switching to his own family and his tough childhood in the small town of Whakatane in New Zealand, Marshall explained his mum was the youngest of a staggering 15 children.
“My grandfather reckons there was no TV and all they had was glad wrap and a rubber band back then!” he laughed.
“My mum had me at 16 and I was raised without a dad, I still don’t know who my real dad is today.
“Looking back we had a pretty tough upbringing, but the one thing we always had was love and sport was what we did for fun—when I was growing up I didn’t think it was tough, it was just normal.”
‘In the public eye since I was seventeen’
One thing that wasn’t normal for Marshall was the pressure of living in the constant media spotlight, first as a star player himself and now as an NRL coach.
“I’ve been in the public eye since I was seventeen, so I get it,” he told May, who has had his own run-ins with the media in recent years.
“I’ve been through everything and I actually have a lot of conversations (with players) today around how to handle social media—the answer is simple bro, if you can’t handle it, get off it,” Marshall continued.
“All it takes is someone to comment about your family to make you lose your sh*t, and you go back at them and say something you’re going to regret later.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are, you’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea—whatever, who cares?
“All that really matters are the people around you who are close to you and know and respect who you are, so you can be true to yourself.”