This isn't about sneaking into eighth and calling it progress. It's not about a plucky April run that fades by June. It's about credibility. It's about relevance. It's about finally convincing a fatigued, fractured, fiercely loyal supporter base that this club is building something real.
It was February 24th that I wrote these words as part of a broader look at a supposed season of hope for the Wests Tigers. Fast forward five months, and the Tigers season has pretty much delivered the first part of that paragraph and precious little of the latter.
The plucky run delivered five wins and a golden point loss out of seven. The Tigers sat in third on the ladder after another thrilling win at the Seventh Wonder over the Raiders. For once all the optimism about the Tiges was justified. As I said to my son "We might be good this year....." He rolled his eyes at me. Smart boy.
Four days after the Raiders match the first crack truly appeared. Jarome Luai was off to PNG at the end of 2027. No matter, we heard, he's still our player. He's still committed, and we're re-signing a raft of talent for the future. May, Bula, Fainu. It's all good!
A week later they ran out at Shark Park and were handed a 52-10 shellacking. A week later the Storm turned their own season around putting 44 on Wests. Magic Round saw Manly ride the Foz Effect to a 46-18 win. It was not all good. Never was a bye needed more.
Tight, tense, confidence-building wins over the struggling Dogs and Titans, bookended a horror show at Commbank, with the Panthers running in 12 unanswered tries. And yet still somehow it gets worse. The Knights, the Dragons, the Warriors, the Dogs, and the Raiders all brushing past the joint-venture rabble.
In amongst this scoreboard carnage, injuries mounted up, impressive performers in the balmy Autumn afternoons shrunk in the winter spotlight, suspensions appeared - again - for one of the most ill-disciplined sides in the competition, and then the coup de grace. The marquee man who still had nearly two years left? Yeah, he's off to the Eels next year. It's for the best.
Pretty bad. But hold my Balmain Lager! Adam Doueihi refused to play after being picked at lock against Raiders.
So to recap. Ten defeats out of twelve, your star man has joined not one, but two rival clubs in the same season, and your highly paid half is refusing to play for the team. Add to that the reports of appalling behind the scenes standards at the club, with vaping in team areas, and the picture is beyond bleak. This season is another lost one. Another one born of promise, yet destroyed. Another season where attention turns to next year before we bid farewell to July.
Doueihi fronted the media this week for the mea culpa.
"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.
"I guess looking back on it, I should have played. I definitely should have played," Doueihi said.
He's not wrong. He should've played. But I have sympathy for a player who has given more than most to the Tigers cause, and a player who just two months ago was in Origin calculations. Now he's being asked to play lock for the worst team in the comp.
The real issue lies with Luai and Benji. Players often announce moves in season, it's one of the great problems with NRL. A mess of a transfer system that allows whispers and rumours and agents to derail seasons and careers. Regardless of what everyone said, what incentive is there for Luai to continue to give maximum effort for the Tigers? He is set for life financially, he has achieved huge success in the game. Running around with this rabble? Err, no thanks.
The writing was on the wall in late April, and once the Parramatta move was made, then that should've been it. There is no justifiable reason why Jarome Luai should play for the Tigers again.
This was also in the piece written back in February:
Success this year doesn't need to mean top four. But it does mean meaningful football in August. It means being in the finals conversation without a smirk attached. It means Leichhardt and Campbelltown buzzing in late winter because something real is on the line.
The Tigers need to be accountable. To a fanbase that still turns up. To former greats who built this club's history. To players who deserve to know what it actually feels like to win week in, week out.
Like the defence and their star halves, accountable goes missing in Tigertown.
Which leads us onto Benji. A wooden spoon, 13th and now seemingly destined for 16th this season. A star leaving, another refusing to play. Gameplans collapsing. Big contracts handed out, and a spine of a team that should, theoretically, be sat in the finals race.
The job is a poisoned chalice for sure. No club generates headlines and scuttlebutt like the Tigers. It's a brutal place to be and a role with immense scrutiny and pressure. But after three years we still don't know the answer to the question. Are we sure Benji's good?
The last word falls to Marshall himself, three seasons in his first senior coaching role. And a man seemingly - for now - with the continued support of the club's hierarchy and with total control over team affairs.
"Sometimes you've got to put your ego to the side, and think about what the team actually needs, and what the club needs and what we're going through.
"What our fans need is a win."
The fans need a lot more than that Benji. They need a reason to believe. Because this club is fast running out of excuses, and the fans - remember them - are fast running out of patience.
