Farah unconcerned by AFL threat to league
By Ian McCullough, 1 Aug 2009 Ian McCullough is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- AFL, NRL, Robbie Farah, Rugby League, Wests Tigers
Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah says rugby league has nothing to fear from Australian Rules Football and believes the fact NRL players are being targeted by AFL clubs shows the code is in good health.
Karmichael Hunt’s decision to move from Brisbane to new AFL side Gold Coast FC on Wednesday shocked both codes and Farah said he will be intrigued to see how the Broncos star copes, but believes it is wrong to think rugby league will suffer from its players being poached.
“I see it as being a credit to our game that these other codes are coming in and looking at our players to play their game,” Farah said.
“It was a bit of a surprise, and I thought I was hearing things when I heard about Hunt, but good luck to him,” Farah said.
“It’s going to be a great challenge for him and I am sure everybody is going to be looking to see if he goes well or is a flop.”
The NSW hooker said he has never had any real interest in the game and admitted he would be stunned if any AFL club would show an interest in him as he was: “Too short and not real quick”.
Farah felt that apart from the occasional foray into rugby union, rugby league didn’t have to really look elsewhere for new players, and as such was in good shape.
“It is a credit to our players and how many great athletes there are that they can adapt to other sports,” he said.
Tigers and Australia Test coach Tim Sheens said he felt there may be some resentment towards Hunt from AFL players who are earning a lot less than the Queensland State of Origin fullback.
“I have to say that a lot of the AFL players who are receiving a lot less than a million dollars a year would be a bit upset at the news, I know I would be,” Sheens said.
“I am not begrudging him anything, good luck to him, but to be honest I can’t see players going from league to AFL as being something that happens too often.”
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Pippinu said | August 1st 2009 @ 11:12am | Report comment
I think Sheens makes a fair point – it’s human nature to be pissed off if the bloke next you is earning more than you, especially if they appear to be earning more for doing less.
The real test.
The new VFL team is out on the training track next season, doing a bit of circle work, or some intricate passing drills, and Hunt is shanking half of them – and at this level, missing the target by a couple of metres is considered a shank – some blokes are going to get pissed off for sure.
Andrew said | August 1st 2009 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
Is Hunt the highest paid player in the history of the AFL if the 1 million a year figure is correct.
He will be the highest paid player in the VFL next year for sure.
Pippinu said | August 1st 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Andrew
It’s hard to know the answer to your first question (but it’s bloody close!!)
I think the answer to your second one is straightforward enough – by a country mile.