Could/should Farah have transitioned to the forwards/second row

[Harvey]

Did you not watch Farah in defence clinging on while being carried 15 meters? He struggled to defend in the middle with support, he would not have been able to defend one on one on the edge and certainly would not do dirty hit up work.
You could have argued that he may have been able to play in the halves, but to be honest he is too old and too slow.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

Did you not watch Farah in defence clinging on while being carried 15 meters? He struggled to defend in the middle with support, he would not have been able to defend one on one on the edge and certainly would not do dirty hit up work.
You could have argued that he may have been able to play in the halves, but to be honest he is too old and too slow.

You are correct about often how his tackling occurred, but at least he got hold of the guy and held on that is a lot more that can be said about other defenders. I remember him reading play far better than his mates and sometimes single-handedly nailing someone whom everyone else could not put a hand on.

 

[TrueTiger]

Did you not watch Farah in defence clinging on while being carried 15 meters? He struggled to defend in the middle with support, he would not have been able to defend one on one on the edge and certainly would not do dirty hit up work.
You could have argued that he may have been able to play in the halves, but to be honest he is too old and too slow.

You are correct about often how his tackling occurred, but at least he got hold of the guy and held on that is a lot more that can be said about other defenders. I remember him reading play far better than his mates and sometimes single-handedly nailing someone whom everyone else could not put a hand on.

He is a great tackler,his record speaks for itself…unfortunately some of his highly paid mates are no different than a turnstile....maybe he can give them private tuition so they can earn their paypackets....

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

Did you not watch Farah in defence clinging on while being carried 15 meters? He struggled to defend in the middle with support, he would not have been able to defend one on one on the edge and certainly would not do dirty hit up work.
You could have argued that he may have been able to play in the halves, but to be honest he is too old and too slow.

You are correct about often how his tackling occurred, but at least he got hold of the guy and held on that is a lot more that can be said about other defenders. I remember him reading play far better than his mates and sometimes single-handedly nailing someone whom everyone else could not put a hand on.

He is a great tackler,his record speaks for itself…unfortunately some of his highly paid mates are no different than a turnstile....maybe he can give them private tuition so they can earn their paypackets....

I always thought they should have been provided with strong shoulder pads, heavily cushioned crash helmets, elbow and wrist supports and if still didn't go in around the legs then say good bye. Maybe they were actually coached to just grab an arm of the bigger guys?

 

[innsaneink]

Ignorance naturally exposed eventually

 

[colmcd]

No fair point. I take the comments around being in say "lock" like Greg Bird but his best spot is at Dummy Half. Yep could not be a forward. However he does seem like a workhorse in defence.

Yes, he was holding our halves back. He wasn't able to adapt his style and by him doing a lot of runs it did not give them a chance to be creative with the ball. Lets hope Ballin doesn't break again and can actually play for a year. Lets see these dream halves actually live up too their hype.

Other then his player manager I did like Farrah. He gave Melbourne a hell of a lot of grief and when he joined our origin team suddenly the Blues were competitive. (note I am excluding the time he played Origin with broken ribs). He was exciting, created some drama but still good to watch. Ok Ballin, lets see you shine.

 

[Nors05]

Farah is an extraordinary Dummy Half, it's just unfortunate that his style didn't suit Taylor's game plan. I think going to the bunnies will re-ignite his game. Farah still has a lot to offer and will excel with that forward pack to work with. There are going to be times next year where we will scratch our heads and wonder why we let him go but considering everything that happened I think it is the best for everyone.

 

[TrueTiger]

Farah is an extraordinary Dummy Half, it's just unfortunate that his style didn't suit Taylor's game plan. I think going to the bunnies will re-ignite his game. Farah still has a lot to offer and will excel with that forward pack to work with. There are going to be times next year where we will scratch our heads and wonder why we let him go but considering everything that happened I think it is the best for everyone.

Quite agree with your summation re.RF,I wish him all the best in his future endevours,its time he did go to a fresh new environment where he doesn't have the burden of captaincy and high expectation on his shoulders….

 

[Masterton]

Farah is an extraordinary Dummy Half, it's just unfortunate that his style didn't suit Taylor's game plan. I think going to the bunnies will re-ignite his game. Farah still has a lot to offer and will excel with that forward pack to work with. There are going to be times next year where we will scratch our heads and wonder why we let him go but considering everything that happened I think it is the best for everyone.

Was. There were a few years where he was the best in the game. Unfortunately, he has slowed considerably and his defence has become quite passive.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

Oh don't worry True Tiger, Farah will have high expectations to deal with at the Rabbitohs. If he doesnt fire their toothless, mindless supporter base will want his blood make no mistake. Especially considering Cameron McInnes was basically forced out of their club to accommodate the signing of RF (even though he was behind Damian Cook in the pecking order at the back end of 2016). Swapping a young player with a bloke at the end of his career is risky.
And don't forgot WT won't be picking up the majority of RF's substantial pay packet after 2017\. The pressure will be on.

 

[stryker]

He will have high expectations but he also has something that has eluded him for the majority of his career….a big pack of forwards. He will be deadly close to the line with huge bodies in motion around him.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

^True in a sense that the bigger pack of forwards will help him out, but close to the line other teams will still be clued in to the fact that 99% of the time he will keep the ball to himself and roll the dice. Also Souths vaunted forward pack were bog ordinary last season, no guarantee that they will have more impact this season. It will be interesting to see how Robbie goes in his new surroundings.

 

[gallagher]

^True in a sense that the bigger pack of forwards will help him out, but close to the line other teams will still be clued in to the fact that 99% of the time he will keep the ball to himself and roll the dice. Also Souths vaunted forward pack were bog ordinary last season, no guarantee that they will have more impact this season. It will be interesting to see how Robbie goes in his new surroundings.

The whole team has been bog average since mid '15\. People are rating them based on 2014.

 

[stryker]

^True in a sense that the bigger pack of forwards will help him out, but close to the line other teams will still be clued in to the fact that 99% of the time he will keep the ball to himself and roll the dice. Also Souths vaunted forward pack were bog ordinary last season, no guarantee that they will have more impact this season. It will be interesting to see how Robbie goes in his new surroundings.

The whole team has been bog average since mid '15\. People are rating them based on 2014.

Yep and thats when they had a clever dummyhalf with vision who was a strong runner of the ball.
They have one again this year and itll be interesting to see if that reinvigorates their pack.

 

[Nelson]

^True in a sense that the bigger pack of forwards will help him out, but close to the line other teams will still be clued in to the fact that 99% of the time he will keep the ball to himself and roll the dice. Also Souths vaunted forward pack were bog ordinary last season, no guarantee that they will have more impact this season. It will be interesting to see how Robbie goes in his new surroundings.

The whole team has been bog average since mid '15\. People are rating them based on 2014.

Yep and thats when they had a clever dummyhalf with vision who was a strong runner of the ball.
They have one again this year and itll be interesting to see if that reinvigorates their pack.

They still had one of those in 2015…

Nathan Brown was their best forward outside of Sam Burgess last season and he's gone. Teo is gone. McQueen is gone (he was probably a better 2nd rower than Sutton and Turner who they have now). George Burgess is nothing like what he was in 2014 or early 2015.

They are a much weaker pack now. Having Farah will probably improve the effectiveness of the forwards but they're not suddenly going to hit 2014 form again just because he's there, they don't have the cattle any more (or the cattle no longer have the ability).