Dragons centurion no stranger to the Benji Marshall effect at Tigers

Liddle played 74 of his 99 NRL games at the Tigers after debuting in 2016, and was at Concord when Marshall enjoyed a homecoming at the club in 2018, five years after departing for an ill-fated switch to rugby.

He returned to the NRL via the Dragons and Broncos, and subsequently finished his 346-game career at Souths, but there remains no figure more synonymous with the Wests Tigers brand than Marshall.

He's now charged with its rebirth as head coach - bringing forward a succession plan that initially had him slated to step into the hot seat ahead of 2025.

The wooden-spoon-backed Tigers have managed impressive wins over the Sharks and Eels on Marshall's watch before falling in a grind to the Dolphins last week ahead of this Sunday's clash with the Dragons.

There's been some polarising discussion about the 38-year-old's methods but, having experienced it as a teammate back in 2018, Liddle isn't surprised at the shot of adrenaline Marshall's ascension to the head coaching role has brought to the club.

"There's not many boys left at the Tigers that I played with, probably a handful, but I played with Benji back in the day when he came back to the club and it was a special moment," Liddle said.

"I remember watching Benji growing up, obviously he's one of the best that's ever played the game. To have him come back to the club, be a teammate and be someone you can look up to and learn from, it was a big moment for myself and my career getting to play with him.

"I think he's always been a student of the game. He sort of changed his game a bit when he came back to Tigers, he was probably less of an off-the-cuff sort of player, he had to build games and play that game-manager role.

"He's got a young group of blokes coming through so you need to take your time a bit, but I think one of his best qualities is how good he is with people, knowing people, working with them and their different personalities.

"That's what makes him such a good bloke and probably why he's doing well with the boys there."

Marshall may be yet to turn 40, but the fact he's now playing against a head coach who's also a former teammate means the 100-game milestone Liddle will notch at one of his old stomping grounds on Friday really hits home.

"It's probably a longer career than you think when you look back on it," he said.

"I still feel young, but I'm getting on a bit now. You set out to play one and you're not sure after that one where you're going to land.

"I'm happy to get to a hundred. It's a real honour and an honour to be playing it at such a prestigious club like St George Illawarra, and against my old club where I started it all off.

"I played my first 20s game [for the Tigers] at Campbelltown so I've come full circle.

"It'll probably come more after the game, but I think this week has made me look back a bit and recall the roller coaster of the ride that's been my 10-year span in the NRL."

Roller coaster is a fair way to describe it after the Central Coast product emerged in 2016 hot on the heels of James Tedesco, Mitch Moses and Luke Brooks as part of what was supposed to be a new golden generation for the Tigers.

Instead, he suffered two shoulder dislocations and an ACL tear in the space of two years. All three injuries required reconstructive surgery and threatened a promising career before it had really got going.

Having subsequently been at a crossroad before re-establishing himself at the Dragons last year, reaching a century of NRL appearances has been no mean feat.

The journey is certainly not lost on the now 27-year-old.

"It's been nice to look back on and appreciate where I've come from to get here," he said.

"My rookie year I had two shoulder dislocations. I hadn't really had many major injuries before then so it was a bit of a shock. Then had the knee, which was an 11-month process, which was also tough.

"It probably helped me having it happen when I was still young so you're thinking you've still got your full career ahead of you. I always had the determination to get back.

"There were some dark days there, but I had the support around me with my now wife and my parents and family. I got through all that and came out at the other end."

Having turned a one-year lifeline last season into a three-year extension, Liddle feels he's got plenty more to offer the club, with the immediate priority getting the ball rolling on the Shane Flanagan era.

It's been stop-start through the opening five rounds, with Liddle saying finding thus far elusive consistency remains the priority after a 2-3 start.

"It's obviously something we're focusing on now," Liddle said.

"We're really nailing down on that. It's not good enough, it's not where we want to be.

"We know have the team to do it. It's just that consistency and bridging that gap between our good games and our bad games.

"That's the key with any great team and what we're focusing on. We need to start by winning this week and setting our season back up.

"Obviously we start with one game at a time, but we definitely need to bank you some games to be able to play finals this year and that's our goal."