Why Farah signing has a whole Lote positives for the Rabbitohs

Rabbitohs supporters needn’t look further than the last time they signed a Wests Tigers reject to bring a bit of confidence into Robbie Farah’s decision to join the club next year.

When the Rabbitohs signed Lote Tuqiri in the early months of 2014, a lot of supporters, myself included, questioned the decision.

The club had just signed a 34-year-old injury-prone winger from a club that was struggling to start in a team that was near the bottom of the table. Things didn’t look good, especially in the early rounds where he did everything in his power to get himself dropped to North Sydney.

But old man Lote did his time in reserve grade, and eventually came out a premiership winner, and Rabbitohs faithful alike are hoping that Robbie Farah can make a similar transition into Redfern.

As expected, there has been plenty of positive and negative comments and talk about the Rabbitohs signing Robbie Farah to a two-year deal.

Sure, they let go of one of their most promising youngsters in Cameron McInnes. Sure, this means that current hooker Damien Cook could up and leave. Sure, Farah has had a history of disagreement with management. And sure, Farah is in his 30s and past his prime.

But if there’s one place he can succeed, it’s South Sydney.

Firstly, on the matter of the overall hooking situation, it’s been well documented that McInnes was one of the Bunnies’ highly rated youngsters. He had captained the NYC team and Junior Kangaroos, and had a high workrate to boot, not to mention leadership qualities, and is well behaved off the field.

The problem with McInnes’ style of play is that it doesn’t mirror that of what the Rabbitohs need. He is a defensive hooker that isn’t the quickest with service, nor is he the fastest to scoot out of dummy half, which is exactly what the Souths’ pack thrives on. Just look at all the years they had Issac Luke for, and the last few months when Damien Cook was in the team.

The fact of the matter is McInnes just doesn’t fit the bill for Souths, and hopefully he can do well at the Dragons, where he’ll be much better suited. In Robbie Farah, they’ll have a number 9 that’s not only quick on his feet but quick between the ears.

The addition of Farah should come as a challenge to Cook, and as we all know, competition is great for a team. Cook has a lot of great qualities at dummy half, quick services, great speed off the mark and a decent kicking game to boot.

However, we all know that he is still relatively new to the top league, which is exactly where Farah’s experience can come in handy, and could help set him up for a long time at the Rabbitohs. Farah’s experience and knowledge will be invaluable for Cook to become a top flight dummy half in the future.

As for behaviour, we all know what a militant-like state coach Michael Maguire likes his training to be in. Farah won’t want to step out of line with him, or else he’ll be spending the rest of his days wearing red and black and playing at North Sydney Oval each week.

Make no mistake, Madge will not take any crap from anyone, especially not someone like Farah.

Let’s not forget that Souths have a more senior group than the Tigers, with the likes of Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis, John Sutton and Adam Reynolds all there to keep Farah at bay. He’ll have to start from the bottom and get to know a whole new group of people before he can get up to any trouble.

His brother, Eddie, has been the physiotherapist at the club for a number of years now, which will make life all the more easier for him to transition into.

Last but not least, Farah’s form. It’s understandable to think that being over 30, players may be past their prime, especially Farah who at one point was one of the best hookers in the world. He may have got slower in the legs, but in between his ears he’s still as sharp as a tack.

The thing I’m looking forward to most about having Farah don the cardinal and myrtle is that we’ll finally have a hooker with a brain. No disrespect to any of our past rakes, but this guy knows exactly what to do in each situation. He can read a game like an open book, which will only help the likes of Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker.

Not to mention, Farah has an oustanding kicking game, which will take an immense amount of pressure off the halves, and you can bet that with each coming game, his combination with NSW teammate Reynolds will grow and only get better.

You only have to look at the Michael Ennis’ time at the Sharks to see how well a player can adapt in a new environment, especially at an older age, and Robbie should be taking all the advice he can from his long time rival.

There may be a lot of doubts over the signing of Robbie Farah, but with that comes a lot of positives. As a Souths tragic I hope that Robbie can bring his all to the club and I know he has it in him to strike up some great combinations with our players and I sure as hell know he’ll be looking to prove his critics wrong. Give em hell, Robbie.