Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) coach Mick Potter has been handed sole power to decide whether fallen star Benji Marshall should be axed immediately following his defection to rugby union and bizarre video farewell to the club.
Marshall infuriated fans and club officials by donning an Auckland Blues jersey and loading his own interview on YouTube to officially announce he would be leaving the top flight rugby league competition in Australia and joining the Super Rugby franchise from next season.
The slap in the face came the day after the Tigers were beaten by wooden spoon favourites Parramatta. There are now calls for Marshall to be shown the door or dumped to the NSW Cup three games short of his 200th NRL appearance.
"I will be staying out of that decision. At the end of the day, that will be Mick's call," Tigers CEO Grant Mayer told Sportal. "It will be up to him to decide whether Benji plays a part in our next game against the Roosters. It's not up to us to tell Mick who to put in his team."
It would appear Potter, who is under pressure to keep his job, has nothing to lose by dumping Marshall. The former pin-up boy of the club is hopelessly out of form and seemingly counting down the days until his move to rugby.
Axing Marshall would give Potter the chance to blood some of the club's promising youngsters over the closing month of the season.
Asked the response to Marshall's video, Mayer continued: "It's disappointing from a club perspective but it's obviously a decision Benji was comfortable with at the time. We certainly don't agree with it."
Dressed in an Auckland jersey and smiling into the camera for his home video, Marshall expressed his sadness at leaving the NRL but excitement at joining a new code.
"It's been a sad time leaving the Tigers ... it's a time in my life I will never forget," Marshall said. "To all the people back home who support the Blues and rugby union in general, I just want to say how happy and excited I am to come back. I'm really looking forward to hopefully bringing a title to the Blues and hopefully one day representing the All Blacks."