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Guest
Guest
Family, football and Farah
Richard Hinds
March 3, 2012
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The Wests Tigers hooker does not allow his heart to rule his head, as Richard Hinds discovers.
ROBBIE Farah is sitting in the weathered grandstand at Concord Oval. He is talking about why he remains as familiar at Wests Tigers' modest training facilities as the fading black-and-white photos on the concrete walls. Why he is not enjoying the sun and surf on the Gold Coast.
It was late 2008 and the Titans had made Farah an offer he did not intend to refuse. For six weeks, he had mentally swapped Parramatta Road for Cavill Avenue. But he could not put pen to paper.
''I just couldn't leave, as much as I thought I could,'' Farah says. ''I love this club to death. When it came time to make the decision, my heart couldn't do it.''
That sentiment seems to encapsulate Farah, the Leichhardt loyalist. There is a raw emotion in the way the 28-year-old talks about club and, more particularly, family. Yet there is also a hard-headedness. A burning ambition. In both the way Farah plays the game, and the way he conducts business. Something that does not allow his heart to rule his head.
At the time Gold Coast came calling, Farah believed Wests Tigers had lost direction. There had been few new signings after the 2005 premiership and he detected a lack of front office ambition. ''In my opinion, we were going backwards on and off the field,'' he says.
So Farah made some demands. Not just for himself, but on behalf of the entire organisation. ''I wanted to see some change,'' he says. ''They made some promises to me that things would change, and they have. They have stuck to every single promise. I won't go into what they were. It was just an ambition to win, to get back where we deserved to be, where we should be.''
Which leaves you with a more complete picture of Farah. Not merely the heart-on-the-sleeve clubman who embraces the club's charities, but the eloquent businessman who runs a successful restaurant. The ultra-competitive character who likes - even insists - on being in control of his own destiny.
Farah always has. Right back when he was a kid living around the corner from Belmore Sports Ground, learning hard lessons from the three older brothers who, he says half-seriously, ''toughened me up with a barrage of physical brutality''. At 13, Farah converted from the halves to hooker so he could get first hands on the ball. ''At hooker, if you see something you just back yourself and go for it,'' he says. ''I enjoyed defending too. I took to it straight away.''
Control is easier on the football field than in life itself. Farah returned early from the Kangaroos tour in November after learning his mother, Sonia, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The youngest of five children, Farah lives at home. Recently, his time has been divided between preparing for the season and helping care for his mother.
''No doubt it's tough,'' he says. ''There are good days, there are bad days. She's like most mums, more worried that we look after ourselves. For me, I've got to try and leave that at home and concentrate on my footy when I'm here. And when I leave footy, I have to go home and be the best person I can for my mum. It's about finding that balance to ensure neither one is affected by the other.''
Ordinarily, you might think such a situation would help a young man appreciate family. For Farah, that has never been in question.
Peter and Sonia Farah emigrated from Lebanon, had five children and worked hard to give them opportunities. ''Dad didn't speak a word of English,'' he says. ''No money, no education. He woke up at two in the morning every night to drive a cab, came home, had dinner and did it all again the next day so his children would have a life.''
Farah visited his father's village in Lebanon in 2002 during a stint with an Australian Lebanese team. ''Going back there and seeing where my father came from, and my mum, it just makes you appreciate how hard they had to work to make a life for us.''
Despite his flourishing football career, Farah's father insisted he finish his tertiary studies, as his three brothers had done (he has an economics degree from Sydney University). ''When I told my father I wanted to play footy, he was adamant I had to study as well. So, to be honest, that degree is probably more for him than it was for me.''
So while many will suggest this season, particularly, is dedicated to family, for Farah that will be no great change. ''Every time I run on to the field I'm not just representing my club, I'm representing my family. Off the field as well. The way I carry myself, you've always got your family in the back of your mind. I know how proud my parents are of me. They ride every up and down with me. It means as much to them as it does to me.''
Farah's early career had an upward trajectory. Captain of Wests Tigers' Jersey Flegg team. At 21, an influential figure in a much-loved premiership team. He thought to himself back then: ''How easy is this?''
Seven years later, his reputation has been enhanced. He has played State of Origin, represented his country. Yet, at times, ambition has confronted disappointment. A combustible chemical equation for someone used to achieving his goals. Consecutive top-four finishes, without another premiership, have been frustrating.
''I still can remember it pretty clearly in my mind,'' he says of 2005\. ''But it is a long time ago now. We can't live on that for the rest of our careers. We have to do something else and create new memories with the squad we've got.''
Farah's chance to establish himself in State of Origin, in 2009, came and went in a flash. A strong performance in game one, some mistakes in game two that were ''punished with points''. That was it. ''Sometimes that happens,'' he says of those harshly marked errors. ''For me it happened on the biggest stage in footy. There are reasons. We weren't playing the best, but at the end of the day they were my mistakes. I would have liked the opportunity in game three to rectify those mistakes. That's what has hurt me the most, I never got a chance to fix that. But I've got to work hard to get back there.''
Farah was called into the Blues squad as 18th man last year, and spoke recently with coach Ricky Stuart. He hopes his cards have not been marked ''non-Origin player''.
''I'm seen as an attacking hooker,'' Farah says. ''Maybe that style doesn't suit the Origin arena. But there is a lot more to my game than that. Defensively, I've got a heap better in the last few years. Because I've got that bit of flair, I like to back myself and come up with that big play. I'm not going to change that, that's just the player I am. If they think that's not fit for Origin, there is nothing I can do about it.''
Farah was at the centre of some controversy during the recent Kangaroos tour. He had been told by coach Tim Sheens he would be playing against England at Wembley. But, at the last minute, he was relegated to the bench.
Farah acknowledges his disappointment, but denies there was any bad blood. It was merely an inevitable part of the player-coach relationship.
''Everyone has a disagreement from time to time with someone who you work with,'' Farah says.
''Me and 'Sheensy' are no different. Benji and Sheensy are no different. With senior players and coaches, you've always got different opinions, but you move on with things. I've been under Sheensy for 10 years now and, in my opinion, he is one of the best coaches in the game. He's done amazing things at this club, and our working relationship has never, ever been in question.'''
Incredibly, Farah has missed just two minutes of play in the past three years - he cramped during junk time against the Warriors in round two last year. He says he thrives on the physicality of his position. ''You've always got traffic coming your way and big guys running your way,'' he says. ''That's just part of it. Teams try to tire you out by trying to get you to make more tackles. For me, I've just got to be up to it every week.''
Yet a hard man's role has taken a physical toll. In November, he had an operation on a groin complaint that affected his long-kicking game, and has only been running for a month. The game extracts an emotional price too. The departure of several club veterans last year due to salary cap pressure upset Farah. The luck of the draw has Farah lining up against Cronulla, featuring his close friend and former teammate Bryce Gibbs, tomorrow. ''He says he's going to crush me,'' Farah says. ''It's a bit of banter. Our mateship will never change, regardless of where he goes.''
Gibbs is family. And, for Farah, that is something more important than the game.
Richard Hinds
March 3, 2012
\
\
The Wests Tigers hooker does not allow his heart to rule his head, as Richard Hinds discovers.
ROBBIE Farah is sitting in the weathered grandstand at Concord Oval. He is talking about why he remains as familiar at Wests Tigers' modest training facilities as the fading black-and-white photos on the concrete walls. Why he is not enjoying the sun and surf on the Gold Coast.
It was late 2008 and the Titans had made Farah an offer he did not intend to refuse. For six weeks, he had mentally swapped Parramatta Road for Cavill Avenue. But he could not put pen to paper.
''I just couldn't leave, as much as I thought I could,'' Farah says. ''I love this club to death. When it came time to make the decision, my heart couldn't do it.''
That sentiment seems to encapsulate Farah, the Leichhardt loyalist. There is a raw emotion in the way the 28-year-old talks about club and, more particularly, family. Yet there is also a hard-headedness. A burning ambition. In both the way Farah plays the game, and the way he conducts business. Something that does not allow his heart to rule his head.
At the time Gold Coast came calling, Farah believed Wests Tigers had lost direction. There had been few new signings after the 2005 premiership and he detected a lack of front office ambition. ''In my opinion, we were going backwards on and off the field,'' he says.
So Farah made some demands. Not just for himself, but on behalf of the entire organisation. ''I wanted to see some change,'' he says. ''They made some promises to me that things would change, and they have. They have stuck to every single promise. I won't go into what they were. It was just an ambition to win, to get back where we deserved to be, where we should be.''
Which leaves you with a more complete picture of Farah. Not merely the heart-on-the-sleeve clubman who embraces the club's charities, but the eloquent businessman who runs a successful restaurant. The ultra-competitive character who likes - even insists - on being in control of his own destiny.
Farah always has. Right back when he was a kid living around the corner from Belmore Sports Ground, learning hard lessons from the three older brothers who, he says half-seriously, ''toughened me up with a barrage of physical brutality''. At 13, Farah converted from the halves to hooker so he could get first hands on the ball. ''At hooker, if you see something you just back yourself and go for it,'' he says. ''I enjoyed defending too. I took to it straight away.''
Control is easier on the football field than in life itself. Farah returned early from the Kangaroos tour in November after learning his mother, Sonia, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The youngest of five children, Farah lives at home. Recently, his time has been divided between preparing for the season and helping care for his mother.
''No doubt it's tough,'' he says. ''There are good days, there are bad days. She's like most mums, more worried that we look after ourselves. For me, I've got to try and leave that at home and concentrate on my footy when I'm here. And when I leave footy, I have to go home and be the best person I can for my mum. It's about finding that balance to ensure neither one is affected by the other.''
Ordinarily, you might think such a situation would help a young man appreciate family. For Farah, that has never been in question.
Peter and Sonia Farah emigrated from Lebanon, had five children and worked hard to give them opportunities. ''Dad didn't speak a word of English,'' he says. ''No money, no education. He woke up at two in the morning every night to drive a cab, came home, had dinner and did it all again the next day so his children would have a life.''
Farah visited his father's village in Lebanon in 2002 during a stint with an Australian Lebanese team. ''Going back there and seeing where my father came from, and my mum, it just makes you appreciate how hard they had to work to make a life for us.''
Despite his flourishing football career, Farah's father insisted he finish his tertiary studies, as his three brothers had done (he has an economics degree from Sydney University). ''When I told my father I wanted to play footy, he was adamant I had to study as well. So, to be honest, that degree is probably more for him than it was for me.''
So while many will suggest this season, particularly, is dedicated to family, for Farah that will be no great change. ''Every time I run on to the field I'm not just representing my club, I'm representing my family. Off the field as well. The way I carry myself, you've always got your family in the back of your mind. I know how proud my parents are of me. They ride every up and down with me. It means as much to them as it does to me.''
Farah's early career had an upward trajectory. Captain of Wests Tigers' Jersey Flegg team. At 21, an influential figure in a much-loved premiership team. He thought to himself back then: ''How easy is this?''
Seven years later, his reputation has been enhanced. He has played State of Origin, represented his country. Yet, at times, ambition has confronted disappointment. A combustible chemical equation for someone used to achieving his goals. Consecutive top-four finishes, without another premiership, have been frustrating.
''I still can remember it pretty clearly in my mind,'' he says of 2005\. ''But it is a long time ago now. We can't live on that for the rest of our careers. We have to do something else and create new memories with the squad we've got.''
Farah's chance to establish himself in State of Origin, in 2009, came and went in a flash. A strong performance in game one, some mistakes in game two that were ''punished with points''. That was it. ''Sometimes that happens,'' he says of those harshly marked errors. ''For me it happened on the biggest stage in footy. There are reasons. We weren't playing the best, but at the end of the day they were my mistakes. I would have liked the opportunity in game three to rectify those mistakes. That's what has hurt me the most, I never got a chance to fix that. But I've got to work hard to get back there.''
Farah was called into the Blues squad as 18th man last year, and spoke recently with coach Ricky Stuart. He hopes his cards have not been marked ''non-Origin player''.
''I'm seen as an attacking hooker,'' Farah says. ''Maybe that style doesn't suit the Origin arena. But there is a lot more to my game than that. Defensively, I've got a heap better in the last few years. Because I've got that bit of flair, I like to back myself and come up with that big play. I'm not going to change that, that's just the player I am. If they think that's not fit for Origin, there is nothing I can do about it.''
Farah was at the centre of some controversy during the recent Kangaroos tour. He had been told by coach Tim Sheens he would be playing against England at Wembley. But, at the last minute, he was relegated to the bench.
Farah acknowledges his disappointment, but denies there was any bad blood. It was merely an inevitable part of the player-coach relationship.
''Everyone has a disagreement from time to time with someone who you work with,'' Farah says.
''Me and 'Sheensy' are no different. Benji and Sheensy are no different. With senior players and coaches, you've always got different opinions, but you move on with things. I've been under Sheensy for 10 years now and, in my opinion, he is one of the best coaches in the game. He's done amazing things at this club, and our working relationship has never, ever been in question.'''
Incredibly, Farah has missed just two minutes of play in the past three years - he cramped during junk time against the Warriors in round two last year. He says he thrives on the physicality of his position. ''You've always got traffic coming your way and big guys running your way,'' he says. ''That's just part of it. Teams try to tire you out by trying to get you to make more tackles. For me, I've just got to be up to it every week.''
Yet a hard man's role has taken a physical toll. In November, he had an operation on a groin complaint that affected his long-kicking game, and has only been running for a month. The game extracts an emotional price too. The departure of several club veterans last year due to salary cap pressure upset Farah. The luck of the draw has Farah lining up against Cronulla, featuring his close friend and former teammate Bryce Gibbs, tomorrow. ''He says he's going to crush me,'' Farah says. ''It's a bit of banter. Our mateship will never change, regardless of where he goes.''
Gibbs is family. And, for Farah, that is something more important than the game.
