Rival clubs circle Robbie Farah as Wests Tigers catastrophe continues
James Hooper
The Sunday Telegraph
September 23, 2012 12:00AM
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WESTS Tigers will hold an emergency board meeting tomorrow, where four-time premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens is expected to have his contract terminated.
Only a week ago, Sheens told The Sunday Telegraph he intended to see out the remaining two years of his deal and outlined plans to instigate a roster shake-up at Concord.
But a player revolt - sparked by Beau Ryan and Chris Heighington being released to Cronulla - has led the 10-member Wests Tigers board to vote for change.
Rival clubs have begun circling the Tigers catastrophe, with The Sunday Telegraph learning captain Robbie Farah has been sounded out about a possible switch of clubs.
Off-contract at the end of next season, Farah playing for any club other than the Tigers seemed a ludicrous proposition 12 months ago.
But given the current situation, where dual international Lote Tuqiri openly admitted players were in the dark about whether CEO Stephen Humphreys or Sheens was calling the shots, it's now a possibility.
The NSW hooker's future won't be the only big-ticket item for Humphreys and the club's new coach to confront.
While Kiwi Test captain Benji Marshall no longer has a get-out clause in his contract should Sheens be sacked, he has outlined his discontent with the way Ryan and Heighington were shown the door.
It emphasises how Tigers directors have more to worry about than finding a new coach.
Untried NSW Origin assistant coach Matt Parish, who won one of six games at UK club Salford before resigning and returning home for personal reasons, has strong support among some influential Tigers board members.
Parish enjoys a close rapport with Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley and has spent the past 10 months as Geoff Toovey's assistant at Manly.
Current Tigers assistant coach Steve Georgallis also enjoys support among the playing group, while former Dragons coach Nathan Brown has been linked to the job.
Tigers players Tuqiri, Benji Marshall and Tim Moltzen were spotted at the Palace Hotel at Breakfast Point on Friday afternoon as the club's directors were thrashing out how to best terminate the contract of Sheens.
A proposal to make Sheens the club's director of football and appoint another coach was put forward at last Thursday's board meeting, but Sheens is not in favour of it.
The coach who guided the Tigers to the 2005 premiership either wants sole control or no role at all, forcing the Tigers board to end his tenure with two years remaining on a deal he signed 19 months ago.
With Sheens' contract believed to be worth around $450,000 a season, the coach is expected to walk away with a hefty pay-out.
Sheens will remain in his role as Test coach and has reportedly ruled himself out of the vacant New Zealand Warriors job.
Aside from the player revolt against him, Sheens also verbally guaranteed the Tigers he would step aside if the club failed to make the top eight this season.
The guarantee was given when Penrith were chasing his signature in April last year and the Tigers coach negotiated an extension at Concord until the end of 2014.
The next item on the agenda for the Tigers' new coach will be what becomes of the support staff assembled by Sheens.
Recruitment manager Warren McDonnell, football manager Bryan Hider, assistant coach Grant Jones, assistant coach Georgallis and physiotherapist Andrew Leeds are all part of the football operations review being conducted by Humphreys.
Sheens was unavailable for comment yesterday, but he told The Sunday Telegraph last weekend: "I know there are factions here at the Tigers that would be happy to see me go.
"They're not necessarily close to the club, but they are factions on the fringe. Look, you can never satisfy everyone. The main areas for concern are your players and the club management.
"From my perspective, I've had no issues with either, or certainly none that anyone's telling me about anyway."
As the old saying goes, a week can be a long time in rugby league.
