Robbie Farah, the man is a patriot, is clearly very proud and has a wealth of supporters thanks to being a one team man and current captain of Wests Tigers.
ARTICLE: HAS HAYNE ALREADY MADE THE 49ERS’ 53-MAN ROSTER?
So where has the situation of the Tigers coach Jason Taylor inviting Farah to look elsewhere for game time come from?
The results
With the exception of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, the Tigers have underachieved. With the playing roster they have had there should have been more consistency. For the Tigers to come out and beat the Warriors, albeit understrength, 50-16 last weekend just confirms this team are serial underachievers.
Where is that passion and intensity each week and why has it taken the call for the captain to move on to bring this out in the players?
The man
Farah may not get the best press and it is true that the media has a way of putting a slant on most situations involving him. What does seem to be a general consensus with Farah is that the guy has his heart on his sleeve and that no one can deny his efforts.
Farah has been rightly or wrongly portrayed as petulant, moody and selfish by the press over the years. There have been several prickly encounters, some clearly emanating from selective editorial licence and some of what appeared to be his own making.
However, it would be fair to say that Farah is portrayed as a prickly character to deal with. He doesn’t seem to have too many friends in the media.
The captain
The captain’s role is multifaceted. They are the conduit to the coach and the board the players need. They are on-field leaders and earn respect with their actions and words. They are motivators and spokespeople for their clubs. They also must take a great deal of the responsibility for the results produced.
It has been extremely unfortunate to hear reports of Farah refusing to turn up for training on occasions when he has been thrust into the spotlight. That tends to go against what is expected of a captain.
Also, there must be a major breakdown in communication if coach Taylor does not see a future with Farah. Taylor has been employed to win football games. With Farah at the helm, that has not happened under the guidance of previous coaches. To do his job, the coach needs the players he wants.
The player
There is no denying his dedication on the field based on his efforts each match; there is never much left in the tank come full-time. He has the ability to attack with a running and kicking game and is prepared to stand up in defence. But like his NSW teammate Paul Gallen, Robbie Farah has been accused at times of taking too much control of the ball playing role.
Often the effort made is in vain and the wrong decision is taken. The pivots must sometimes wonder what their role in the Tigers team actually is. When the hooker takes on this extra responsibility is it because he genuinely thinks he is the best attacking option toward the end of a set? Is he the best kicker in general play in the team?
It would be interesting to know what the current and previous coaches think when Farah decides to take the responsibility of attack upon himself so regularly.
The conjecture
Farah was anointed early in his career as the future of the Tigers. Yet what may be simply determination comes across as sheer arrogance in the media. It might have been useful to have someone tap Farah on the shoulder a few years ago to advise him that some media training would be a step in the right direction. It may have helped him deflect some of unneeded attention in the press.
From an outsider’s position it certainly looks like Robbie Farah has had too much power for too long at the club. He has seen coaches go in less than stellar circumstances, and the club is still paying for those dismissals. And the departure of Benji Marshall will always be closely associated with Farah.
It seems that with Taylor on board, he is of the opinion that Farah is blocking the future progress and results of the club. As outlined above, Farah casts a very long shadow at the Tigers and under his guidance as captain and go-to player, the team has not performed. Taylor has now called out Farah and believes he is the one stifling the club from reaching its potential.
The outcome
Many a player in the game and in life have had that tap on the shoulder and been told their time is up. The most recent to come to mind is that of Justin Hodges. Under the tutelage of Wayne Bennett, Hodges, like several other players before, seems to been given that tap on the shoulder. Hodges is a competitor and no doubt would have been hurt if indeed his retirement wasn’t 100 per cent his decision.
The point is, Hodges is a club man and saw the benefit in the whole scheme of things and will go out graciously.
Farah is a club man but from his responses in the past week, it would not be hard to see his actions as purely selfish and he would happily continue to tear the Tigers apart. And if you believe the reports of Robbie having players and coaches removed from the Tigers’ ranks, the only outcome is for him to finally fall on his sword. He has run out of scapegoats.
Farah has made it clear he will put his personal wants and needs ahead of the club. So if Farah gets his way and plays on, there may well be another coach being paid out because the situation will become untenable.
Robbie Farah is the last common denominator at the Wests Tigers. For the club to move on and begin to heal and unite he needs to let them go. Farah is the only person who can help Wests Tigers right now. With all the baggage he carries – rightly or wrongly – he cannot be a part of the club’s future.
As hard as it would be after all the effort, he needs to think not of himself, but of the club he has bled and sweated for, and call a press conference to call an end to that chapter of his career.
Rick
Guest
Having no insider knowledge but sifting through what I read it seems that Farah is not a leader and is in fact a destabilising influence as a result of his petulance and immaturity. His destabilisation has apparently resulted in the exit of two coaches and the current one won't accept the behaviour any more. Farah has to go. On the other hand Farah has given great service to the Tigers - both on the field and in sacrificing salary in order to help the club - and does not deserve the manner in which he has been treated. This announcement should have been made months ago when he could have secured a new club. The management has left a lot to be desired. The administration appears either incompetent or just out of it's depth. Ms Go just talks corporate jargon and from what I understand has no background in sport administration whatsoever. The whole thing is a mess and unfortunately the fans who want to go to Leichhardt and watch talented footballers play exciting football are being badly let down.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Well you're saying it's not Farah's fault that the club cannot manage the cap. None of them were around when Farah's cap sucking deal was signed.
Merry Gerry
Guest
What does that have to do with anything?
Merry Gerry
Guest
Mate, we know where the problems started, those "genuine" tigers fans know the history and where thr problem started buddy. Thats in the past now and unfortunately it looks like nothing has changed with this new board, at all! We get intelligence insulting keyword talk from Marina Go, its embarrassing and the only person she is impressing seems to be herself. Keywords and impressive corporate talk doesnt mean success on the field or even off it for that matter! We have Jason Taylor who has talked in roundabouts and trivial matters about working on our defence this year. You tell me where are the improvements? Remember we were battling fir the spoon only last week! We havent had major problems with injuries and our young stars havent made much of an improvement apart from tedesco. Its been a nothing year and that doesnt point to great leadership or a coach who knows what he is doing. It seems they are relying on luck and time. Unfortunately that also doesnt mean automatic success from Taylor and Go who in there position have had no success at all in the League industry At least Farah has and knows about winning a premiership, i would have thoughtthat knowledge would have been worth more than any salary cap, but no lets ger rid of our one and only major asset somtaylor can puff his chest and let me veryone kniw who is in charge. Amateur and ridiculous!
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
John, how many members of the coaching staff and board were there when Farah's contract was registered?
john
Guest
I have followed the tigers for over 45 years and over that time they have won a couple of premierships. Over the past they have been a down to earth and loyal club. When they merged with the Magpies I thought that was a great fit. Both battler clubs without the arrogance treachery of the richer clubs. What I see now makes me cringe. I don't know whats going on behind the scenes but the way Robbie Farah has been dumped is disgusting. Its nearly driven me to AFL. For all this new corporate governance and accountability the way it has been handled has been a disgrace. He signed a contract, delayed some of his agreed payments until the end of his contract to help the club. Now the coach and board want to renege. Is it his fault that the highly paid club officials are so incompetent that they don't know how to manage the salary cap and the board so pathetic that they don't know or control what goes on? The easy copout is to blame it on previous coaches and administrators but both the board and coach knew what they were taking on. This has been their mess alone! Who of you would walk away from a contract that's been stuffed up by others especially when you love the place you're working at? Why doesn't the coach and board earn their money and honour the contract and work out how to use one of the best clubmen in the game to the clubs benefit? This corporate bullying of people where they make it so hard for a person at the workplace that a person resigns has no place anywhere. I hope Robbie stands his ground and stays. He's proved he's been a great player and deserves to be a one team person if he wants to. Jason Taylor should be working out how he can harness Robbies experience not how to get rid of him. The last few weeks the Tigers have been playing like old and throwing the ball around. They didn't win all of their games but it was a lot better viewing than the rubbish we have watched all season with aimless punts on the 5th tackle gifting opposition possession. Jason Taylor was an average player , so far he's a very average coach. Lets hope he becomes a better coach because his track record is pathetic. As a tiger supporter for many years I really hope the board and coach do the honourable thing and swallow their pride and work together with one of the best players in NSW so the club and the young talent prosper.
john Try
Guest
Let's keep it short and sweet. When are the individuals who had the run of the Tigers between 2009-2014 going to put their hands up and accept all current problems started with them ????. Jason Taylor, Phil Moss and Marina Go have only been there from season ending 2014, according to my understanding, but seem to be coping an absolute belting in the media for trying to correct problems caused way before they arrived. How about all genuine Tigers fans do a bit of research and see when this mess really started. It certainly didn't start in the last 12 months. The place was already stuffed by then,
chivasdude
Guest
The problem with this (nicely written by the way) piece is that...Robbie has a contract! This has been (very) heavily back-ended because the Club could not honour its commitments. The Club wants to push him out. He is still playing well (he is a current Blues player and Daley has said he would be probably be picked next year..). The players respect him (maybe all may not like him, but that is the same as any Club and a leader cannot get on with everybody). He is professional and demands performance - often brusquely but that is his job. It doesn't seem that the problem is Robbie does it? Pointing the finger at ONE individual when the WHOLE Club is performing badly does not sit well with me. That is the background. This said, it happens that Clubs need to move players (and coaches/Managers) on from time to time. But they gave him little notice and left him with few Club options. Most Clubs have full rosters, so where does he go? Overseas? What if he doesn't want to go? And doing so means he would walk away from a Blues role. What a price to pay. At the end of the day we are where we are because of the Club's mismanagement of salary caps, playing rosters (we put too many eggs in the junior player basket) coach appointments. Robbie's axing is another example of poor management - they should have allowed a new deal to be negotiated or else a staged exit from the Club. As it is, we are suffering from bad press, reputational downside and have upset players. If you think about it, any Board of Directors' has as a principal responsibility the need to protect reputation and governance. Why is the Board not being held accountable? This is not all about Robbie.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Some very important and thought provoking points you bring up, Alex. There is no doubt this club is staggering from one mess to another. You asked the question would I move on in his position. Yes, I most certainly would. He will get his payout no matter if he plays reserves or the Warriors or heads overseas. As you said there is a contractual obligation in place. The end game is to give the Tigers club the chance to get out of this mess with the least collateral damage from now. They already have baggage and they will never come out of this clean, so let's look at the options and the ramifications; all they can do is minimise the future issues. 1. Sack the board. This does nothing to address the issue of coach and captain, so even if a new board were installed that were competent and rugby league savvy there are still issues. These issues in basic terms are to pay out existing board members, and find a way to have the coach and captain work in harmony until both their contracts are fulfilled. Coach or Captain still need to go. 2. Sack the coach. As others in the comments above have more eloquently put it, it seems coach Taylor's tactics have been less than stellar this year. Sack him and replace him with who? Name one sane and reasonable NRL worthy coach who would even consider taking on the Tigers job after the way Sheens, Potter and then Taylor were punted. The incoming coach would need to get along with the captain and history shows that is not an easy thing to do. 3. Have Farrah walk away. Farrah walks for the sake of the club in an act of true selflessness. The coach is allowed to play the game he wanted and is judged accordingly after his term is up. During this time the board issues are addressed and true planning can take place to take the club forward with a ground up rebuild. By then most of the contract payouts would be completed and they would be in a position to either seek a new coach or continue with Taylor. It would be unlikely Farrah would get a renewed contract after his current one due to age so he will not be considered in any long term planning anyway. If he left now, that healing and rebuilding can start now.
Gad
Guest
I hope Robbie Farah sticks to his guns and stays on for the Tigers reserve grade next year. Taylor will not be with the Tigers too long, yes they have some talent coming through, so do other clubs and the top 6 clubs will be staying strong and/or improving in 2016 I can not see the Tigers` 'powers that be' allowing a million bucks play reserve grade when the wheels fall off Taylors` coaching gig in 2016.
Dianne
Guest
A well balanced article Kurt. Tigers haven't played well for the last three years at least. The new Board (consisting of 5 members) and Coach have decided the club needs a change in culture and that involves requesting Farah to find a new club. This is not unusual. Many long term players leave clubs without the great storm conjured up by Farah and his manager Sam Ayoub. If Robbie had the best interests of the Tigers to the fore, he would leave the club for a reasonable deal in the UK - which is apparently on offer - not hang around for another year to play with the Blues in the hope of winning the title back, to the detriment of the Tigers.
Alex Tricolas
Roar Rookie
Hi Kurt, You make many valid points, but all are relatively moot once Farah’s contract is taken into consideration. Had Wests Tigers not given him four more years, had they not asked him to take a pay cut when he was at the top of his game, had this happened when he was coming off contract, then the tap on the shoulder would have had to be taken on the chin. As it stands, they have dug themselves into a hole again by moving people on before their contract has been fulfilled–but this time, they have done it to arguably the biggest club hero in their history, and it is leaving a stench that just won't wash out. If you were Farah, would you walk? He is well within his rights to stay, he has earned his payday and he will get it, what ever happens. Regardless of what anybody at the club may think of Farah, surely he deserves to have his contract honoured, or at the very least be given a proper opportunity to find a new home and to go out with dignity. Surely his manager could have been given the heads-up at the beginning of the year rather than a few weeks ago, and surely he could have been given a fitting tribute at a final home game. As it stands, we witnessed the absurd situation last weekend of a warm goodbye for Richards and Galloway at the Tiger’s final home game, but not a peep from the club about Farah. Of course, we keep hearing that rugby league is a business now, so perhaps there is no room for this type of quaint sentiment in the game any more. But let’s look at it from a business perspective. The Tigers will once more pay big bucks for a player to run out against them. There is no stealing away into the night for this one, they are stuck carrying the baby here to the tune of a million bucks a year. And while we are on the subject of business, the corporate gobbledygook coming out of Marina Go is quite possibly the most cringe-worthy part of this whole sorry tale. KPIs, winning culture, future success, moving forward... Blah, blah, blah. Members and fans are rightfully getting sick of hearing it. Truth is, we are waiting to see what this winning culture even looks like. Whatever it is, it can’t possibly be a culture where it is acceptable to tear up the final two years of the club’s longest serving captain – a player good enough to be the incumbent State of Origin hooker. It can’t possibly be a culture that remains addicted to moving players on before their contracts are up while paying them to play for other clubs. And it can’t possibly be a culture that accepts finishing at the bottom of the ladder while also blowing the club’s salary cap because of bad player recruitment and retention decisions, and then doing it all over again! At this stage, it may be the only thing to do for Taylor and the board to suck eggs and let Farah play out one more year of his contract. Sammy Ayoub will have time to find him a home for his final year, and Farah gets to say goodbye to the fans properly. The Tigers will only pay for Farah to play against them for one season rather than two, and at the very least, they will be assured of a packed Leichardt Oval for at least one match next year, regardless of where they sit on the ladder.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Dave, I made no real comment about the coach this year. That is a completely different subject altogether. But if Taylor is Farrah's excuse this year, what was his excuse for allegedly wanting Potter punted when they were playing top 8 football structures? I deliberately attempted to keep the coaches out of the article but I now see that was a mistake. Just how many more coaches will need to be punted before Robbie Farrah is finally satisfied? He also didn't want Sheens. If Taylor goes and Farrah stays there wouldn't be a sane NRL worth coach who would even consider taking the role on. No one is doubting the guy's talent but for the good and possible future of the club and indeed for Farrah himself, they need to part ways.
Didi
Guest
Totally agree curaeus! Having also been a supporter of rugby league (Magpies and Wests Tigers now), could not have said it better myself.
Robbo
Guest
There comes a time in all our lives when our time is up. Whether Taylor is right or wrong, whether Go doesn't know if she is coming or going ( sorry, couldn't resist ) whether Farah thinks he is bigger than the club or not, it's time. Move on, finish your career with dignity so we can remember you for the great player you have been. Just as long as you don't go to Souths. Stay away from us. We have 2 great, young up and comers, we don't need any more "experience" You'd fit well at Manly or Easts, go there.
dave tekani
Guest
What a joke Jason Taylor is probably why Faalonga punched him in the head when he was coach @ the Rabbits Farrah your a champion player whos having to deal with cry babies on and off the field.Go sign a 100k deal with a real premiership contender and let the Tigers pay the ballance.Taylor average player who could kick goals and his record as a coach just the sam didnt do anything at the Rabbits and still the same @ the Tigers
The eye
Guest
absolutely with curaeus..
curaeus
Guest
Do not agree at all. Taylor has had Farah playing "pass the parcel" all year under his crackpot "Taylorball" (structureless) structure with two talented (but still inexperienced) kids in Brooks and Moses running the team around the park. Stupid! Farah played on Sunday like he has always played when given the freedom so to do. You do not punt the best 9 in the State over some unsubstantiated rubbish that he isn't nice to the rugby league media or whatever. As a supporter of over 50 years (Magpies and Wests Tigers) I want a man leading my team who would kill to win a game. That man is Farah. Manaia Cherrington and Jacob Liddle will get their chances as they grow in experience but we will need all the seasoned players we can get-not less-in 2016 with Galloway and Richards leaving.
turbodewd
Guest
Nice piece Kurt. I never knew of the real Robbie Farah. He is the Kevin Rudd of the NRL - talented in front of the spotlight, but out of it he's an ordeal to deal with at times. Farah shows that power can corrupt minds and makes people behave bigger than the sport and everything revolves around them...just like James Hird at Essendon.