- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Jason Taylor was spotted down the street earlier this week. He was dropping a mic.
This tells us the results are in.
Despite Robbie Farah’s departure being made official last night, a winner had already been declared in the biggest non-confrontational confrontation of 2016 outside of the Kanye West-Taylor Swift brouhaha.
Whether the Tigers charge in to the finals or line their livers for a post-season knees-up, Taylor can pop his collar and strut with finger guns because he has officially won the feud with Farah.
By finishing the season on a heater with no assistance from the Origin hooker whatsoever, the Tigers coach has truly earned the “grabbing his knackers and yelling ‘boom!'” moment he’s been working towards for twelve months.
With this development, we can now thankfully declare the cold war over. And good riddance to this divide both have repeatedly denied exists, yet is so silent and uneasy it makes the Soviets cringe.
Some may say using a small window of results to determine a winner from this regrettable saga is petty and childish. But so what?
This is rugby league, the game where you can’t toss a drink or hug a referee without earning censure. Frivolousness has been celebrated for 108 years, and I’m not about to change now.
By this, the numbers are clear. By finishing the season with discernible improvement to figure in the finals race, Taylor’s decision to callously pull the rug from under a premiership legend has been justified.
However, this doesn’t mean he and the club haven’t emerged with their reputations cherry ripe themselves.
In their defence, the Tigers hierarchy were always upfront and honest about Farah’s position from the beginning. They continually maintained there’s nothing wrong with the bloke, provided he is gone.
But after opening negotiations with such refreshing candour, it went toxic.
The way this favourite son was then maliciously ferried out by Taylor and company is the stuff of one-star Uber ratings.
There was miscommunication, plenty of potholes and wrong turns, and then the customary argument over money.
To put it mildly, they really need to tidy up their career execution strategy. Perhaps they should start by not baulking over money when the player wilfully offers to leave. Just a thought.
Nevertheless, let the record show it was Taylor who won on the personal front. For a man who allegedly played a handful of Origins, it surely must rank as his sweetest moment.
In all seriousness, it can’t be denied that this death-ridden coach has renovated the team to a different beast now, especially since sparking Mitchell Moses to extract enough fingers to cover Luke Brooks.
Taylor inherited a menopausal nightmare at the Tigers that at its worst was as defensively solid as a milk sandwich. Now, the side has developed enough intestinal fortitude to face a distraction of any scale, even a whopping tiff between two club bigwigs.
You can’t deny it’s quite the improvement.
If the coach can build on this progress while finding a way to effectively move forward without a scapegoat, the team could really challenge for finals next year.
Looking at the bigger picture, Taylor has also struck a telling blow for coaches’ rights.
Player power has long threatened to become a depressing reality of modern football, but by sticking to his guns and making himself a lifelong enemy, he’s proven that the coach is king.
This power play rightfully resets the food chain and proves the boss has autonomy to spear whoever he damn well likes provided there is boardroom approval.
Let this episode be a reminder that the head coach answers to nobody in this game. Except maybe the administration, Todd Greenberg, fans, the media, angry strappers, and players, if they can get the numbers together for a spill.
So congratulations to the Tigers coach and his tremendous cahones. Your courage has been justified.
It’s onwards and upwards from here with full control of your team.
You’ve deservedly earned the unconditional support of the club and your fans, right up until the next losing streak.