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Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah isn't feeling pressure to fill the void left by the injured Benji Marshall, but admits he's "got a lot on his plate" in the star playmaker's absence.
Marshall will be sidelined with a knee injury for the Tigers' NRL clash with Canterbury at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.
Jacob Miller, 18, has been named at five-eighth and will partner 21-year-old halfback Robert Lui to form the youngest halves pairing in the NRL.
But assistant coach Peter Gentle is confident Farah will be able to rely on the youngsters to share the load.
"In the past Robbie Farah has seemed to overplay his hand when Benji's been missing and the other calibre players have been missing," Gentle said.
"But … he's got a lot of confidence in the young halves and I think he'll relinquish some of that authority to them."
Asked if he was feeling more pressure with Marshall sidelined Farah replied: "No, not really.
"I think it's up to everyone to pick up the load.
"The halves are young, but they don't lack anything when it comes to confidence or talk.
"They're both very good talkers and we're expecting them to lead us around the park.
"It's very hard to replace a player like Benji ... so we're going to miss him, but hopefully we won't miss him too much."
Much is always made of the battle of hookers Farah and the Bulldogs' Michael Ennis.
State of Origin star Ennis bristled when asked about the clash earlier this week, describing the question as "ridiculous", and Farah also seems unfazed.
"It doesn't really faze me who I'm coming up against," Farah said.
"Last week it was Cameron Smith, there's great hookers playing throughout the competition.
"For myself, Benji's missing so I've got a lot on my plate not just to worry about who I'm coming up against."
With the sixth-placed Tigers coming off a 12-4 loss to Melbourne on Sunday and heading into a bye next round, Friday's clash looms as a crucial one.
The Bulldogs will be equally desperate following a disappointing 26-10 loss to Cronulla which left them languishing in ninth place.
"It would be pretty depressing if we came back from a bye off back-to-back losses so it's big one for us tomorrow night," Farah said
From: Nrl.com
Marshall will be sidelined with a knee injury for the Tigers' NRL clash with Canterbury at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.
Jacob Miller, 18, has been named at five-eighth and will partner 21-year-old halfback Robert Lui to form the youngest halves pairing in the NRL.
But assistant coach Peter Gentle is confident Farah will be able to rely on the youngsters to share the load.
"In the past Robbie Farah has seemed to overplay his hand when Benji's been missing and the other calibre players have been missing," Gentle said.
"But … he's got a lot of confidence in the young halves and I think he'll relinquish some of that authority to them."
Asked if he was feeling more pressure with Marshall sidelined Farah replied: "No, not really.
"I think it's up to everyone to pick up the load.
"The halves are young, but they don't lack anything when it comes to confidence or talk.
"They're both very good talkers and we're expecting them to lead us around the park.
"It's very hard to replace a player like Benji ... so we're going to miss him, but hopefully we won't miss him too much."
Much is always made of the battle of hookers Farah and the Bulldogs' Michael Ennis.
State of Origin star Ennis bristled when asked about the clash earlier this week, describing the question as "ridiculous", and Farah also seems unfazed.
"It doesn't really faze me who I'm coming up against," Farah said.
"Last week it was Cameron Smith, there's great hookers playing throughout the competition.
"For myself, Benji's missing so I've got a lot on my plate not just to worry about who I'm coming up against."
With the sixth-placed Tigers coming off a 12-4 loss to Melbourne on Sunday and heading into a bye next round, Friday's clash looms as a crucial one.
The Bulldogs will be equally desperate following a disappointing 26-10 loss to Cronulla which left them languishing in ninth place.
"It would be pretty depressing if we came back from a bye off back-to-back losses so it's big one for us tomorrow night," Farah said
From: Nrl.com
