Inside the Sheds

OUR spies at Concord tell us Wests Tigers ace Benji Marshall will be back from his latest knee injury against the Sharks this coming Sunday.

Marshall has been secretly running for the past four weeks and is apparently on track for an earlier-than-expected return. The catch is Tim Sheens is now going have a lot of playmakers in his kitchen, so it'll be interesting to see what he comes up with at the selection table.

Mathew Head's been going ok in his first two games in a Tigers jumper, pushing John Morris to five-eighth. With Benji back, what does that mean for Morris? Despite having played a season at hooker for Parramatta, Morris doesn't favour being pushed into the dummy-half role.

So Sheens has got a selection headache, and that's without factoring in injured star Robbie Farah.

Still on Farah, we've heard some dire forecasts in terms of the champion hooker's long-term career. Problems with discs in your back are not something to be diced with. Everyone at the Tigers is hopeful Farah isn't forced into an early retirement. But I can tell you this is a distinct possibility and would be an absolute tragedy if it happens.

NATHAN Brown's coaching credentials continue to be questioned by Dragons supporters after another disastrous start to the new season.
Seriously, Brownie's had six seasons at St George Illawarra and he's still yet to find the magic remedy to get the Dragons to fly out of the starters block. To be frank, it's just not good enough. We've heard the truth is Brownie's been made look good by that quality roster from a couple of seasons ago before Trent Barrett and Luke Bailey left.

Apprarently, Barrett never really forgave Brown for the infamous face-slap, so the Dragons players were pretty much running the team on the their own. Judging by the results since Barrett's left, there's weight to that argument. We're tipping the Dragons may not win a game until round 11, when they play Souths. If Brownie hadn't already been sacked, you'd say he have to be a dead man walking. To be brutally honest, you just can't really see the players putting in for him. The Dragons have massive problems and it looks like being a long season.

ON a postive note for the Draogns, Wayne Bennett will bring his own support staff with him when he puts his stamp on the club next season. It's about time these red and white kittens got a little bit of edge about them and Bennett appears just the man to do it. The only bloke who we've heard will survive is recruitment manager Craig Young, whose son Dean is one of the Dragons better players. Otherwise the rest of the Dragons assistants _ the likes of Paul McGreggor, Kurt Wrigley and Neil Lovett _ have all been told to pack their bags.

DESPITE Jarryd Hayne having to dodge a bullett only last month in Kings Cross, not all Eels players have been sticking to the clubs ban on the well-known trouble spot. We spotted one Eels up at the Sapphire Suite only last week partying long and hard with one of the legends of the code who has recently retired.

CONGRATULATIONS to Lance Thompson, one of the toughest and most consistent NRL players never to pull on the sky blue for NSW. One story about Thommo which hasn't had much air time recently was the one about when he played for the Australian schoolboys with a broken jaw. Thommo was picked in the team, then busted his jaw that weekend. But rather than miss out on the honour, Thommo came up with his own crazy solution. First he went into his old man's garage and pulled the stitches in his mouth out, then he went down to McDonalds and ate a Big Mac, then he laced on his boots and played. A champion backrower and a champion bloke. Best of luck to him in retirement.

THE Roosters are predictably trying to deny attempting to offload Mark O'Meley and Anthony Minichiello, but believe us, it's right. The spin about "dark forces" at work trying to destablise the club is nothing more than lip service. An official has cooked the idea up and was starting to move on it when it was exposed in the media. It'll be interesting to see what they're next move is.