Farah opens up on rift with Taylor...

[Pokies]

Nothing like a rational discussion on here to get through the week hey! Farah has media commitments and the media still want to know about the JT situation. Farah gave an honest answer but it's really at the point now where he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

He can't win. No matter what he says there will a bunch of posters crucifying. I just hope he has a good season on the field and all of this goes away.

I hope he does have a brilliant year on the field this year,he has to earn his huge paycheque without the responsibility of being captain,he shouldn't have anything in his way except his ego…as for this going away,**if he does smash it this year,it just goes to show how mundane he has been for two years**..

Haha your post is a classic example of why he just cant win. Have a look at the bolded part, you have admitted that even if he has a great year you will still turn a positive into a negative against him. Your decision has already been made up and your bias is evident.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I agree with the Keep Quiet sentiments but what came out of Brooks interview was that maybe the coach was not the right guy for the players and therefore the troubles. I think what has been grossly overlooked is Robbie's big grievous loss a few years back - it was obvious that it knocked him badly. Is amazing actually how he still handled the on field stuff very strongly re taking the refs on. And loved to read he led the boys out on the Sunshine Coast and they did well. And maybe no points were scored against WT on his minutes on the field.

Robbie, stitch it up now and do the talking on the field.

 

[jirskyr]

I think Robbie Farah fails to realise that if he shys away from media, there can't me as much media storm.

Whether or not you support him or dislike him, or in-between, it cannot be argued that Robbie's comments in the media are divisive, as has already been said.

Have a look at old Mitchell Pearce, how quickly the coverage about him has subsided since he went O/S. Fanning the fire and all that.

Personally I believe if Robbie really wants to just get his head on footy and ignore the other stuff, if relinquishing the captaincy is helping him do that, then great. But don't also give "from the heart" interviews where you take a few swipes at your club, you are probably better off just keeping your mouth shut.

Hence I understand the reaction of some fans, because they feel that Robbie making these ongoing media statements is an indication that he cannot actually let bygones be, that he cannot go without getting his 2c in the press, to give his side of the story, give special interviews. You don't see Jason Taylor giving these kinds of revealing interviews about what happened last year.

The quickest way to put a story to bed is not to talk about it any more. I'm totally happy to hear players give boring and predictable interviews, it removes controversy. The role models for speaking your mind: Willie Mason, Anthony Mundine, Paul Gallen… not an overly popular group.

 

[innsaneink]

Hes clearly not over it…there is resentment smouldering, plenty of finger pointing but no admittance on his patrt, he NEVER acknowledges his coach yet will acknowledge assistant coaches, SOO coaches, teammates....this seasons gone before it starts Im afraid

 

[TrueTiger]

Nothing like a rational discussion on here to get through the week hey! Farah has media commitments and the media still want to know about the JT situation. Farah gave an honest answer but it's really at the point now where he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

He can't win. No matter what he says there will a bunch of posters crucifying. I just hope he has a good season on the field and all of this goes away.

I hope he does have a brilliant year on the field this year,he has to earn his huge paycheque without the responsibility of being captain,he shouldn't have anything in his way except his ego…as for this going away,**if he does smash it this year,it just goes to show how mundane he has been for two years**..

Haha your post is a classic example of why he just cant win. Have a look at the bolded part, you have admitted that even if he has a great year you will still turn a positive into a negative against him. Your decision has already been made up and your bias is evident.

pokies,he should be playing his best year to year for us not just in SOO…as for him not winning,I have given him praise on many occasions during his career,the last couple of years everything has been about Robbie and not the playing group or club as a whole,he may paint a picture for you to see him in a glowing light,however his name has been associated with to many dramas within this club to convince me otherwise...and as I said if he has a good year this year sobeit..he gets paid a mottza to produce the goods without the captaincy to worry him...

 

[rialto]

I think Robbie Farah fails to realise that if he shys away from media, there can't me as much media storm.

Whether or not you support him or dislike him, or in-between, it cannot be argued that Robbie's comments in the media are divisive, as has already been said.

Have a look at old Mitchell Pearce, how quickly the coverage about him has subsided since he went O/S. Fanning the fire and all that.

Personally I believe if Robbie really wants to just get his head on footy and ignore the other stuff, if relinquishing the captaincy is helping him do that, then great. But don't also give "from the heart" interviews where you take a few swipes at your club, you are probably better off just keeping your mouth shut.

Hence I understand the reaction of some fans, because they feel that Robbie making these ongoing media statements is an indication that he cannot actually let bygones be, that he cannot go without getting his 2c in the press, to give his side of the story, give special interviews. You don't see Jason Taylor giving these kinds of revealing interviews about what happened last year.

The quickest way to put a story to bed is not to talk about it any more. I'm totally happy to hear players give boring and predictable interviews, it removes controversy. The role models for speaking your mind: Willie Mason, Anthony Mundine, Paul Gallen… not an overly popular group.

Good post. Pascoe should have a quiet word with Farah - no more interviews!!! Media will soon get the message!

 

[happy_tiger]

If Robbie had his way we would of retired the No 9 jersey already

 

[Eddie]

So robbie does a couple of pre season interviews (in line with most senior players) and people jump all over him glazing over his every word (shock, horror)

I just watched his 8 minute press conference at Concord with the media.

I must have watched something different to everyone else. I have no idea how anyone can have a go at him for that. He was about as uncontroversial as you could get.

All he did was deflect questions about last year and say he wants to play good footy and win games. He did this a number of times. he talked about having a good pre season and being refreshed. Are people ignoring that.

Reminds me of a person who decided to airbrush Farahs comments supporting Potter out of his pre match press conference. What a low act that was from someone inside the club.

Who needs the media though to try and stick the boot in when you have fans like ours.

 

[Telltails]

Cant see the media ceasing the Farah stories while ever they receive the reaction that they do. If its a journos job to generate interest, Rob rarely fails to deliver. Doesnt matter if its truth or fiction, quote or no quote - those that intensely dislike him will be on board to lay in the boot, while others will defend him till the cows come home. If every club has to have a certain amount of stories dedicated to them, currently for WTs its always going to be about Farah, until we start playing some good footy that's worth talking about instead.

 

[Nelson]

So robbie does a couple of pre season interviews (in line with most senior players) and people jump all over him glazing over his every word (shock, horror)

I just watched his 8 minute press conference at Concord with the media.

I must have watched something different to everyone else. I have no idea how anyone can have a go at him for that. He was about as uncontroversial as you could get.

All he did was deflect questions about last year and say he wants to play good footy and win games. He did this a number of times. he talked about having a good pre season and being refreshed. Are people ignoring that.

Reminds me of a person who decided to airbrush Farahs comments supporting Potter out of his pre match press conference. What a low act that was from someone inside the club.

Who needs the media though to try and stick the boot in when you have fans like ours.

I don't know what he said in that 8 minute press conference you're talking about, I'm sure it probably was fine like most of the conferences he's done over the course of his career. What flared a number of people up (including me) was specifically the article that Geo posted on page 6\. I don't think many on here are out to attack him over every single thing he says (I'm not) but that article made him sound like a complete narcissist. It was like reading an interview with Floyd Mayweather with the humility dialed down.

Anyway that's enough bashing him over the one article, hopefully there won't be any more in the same vein…

 

[Eddie]

So robbie does a couple of pre season interviews (in line with most senior players) and people jump all over him glazing over his every word (shock, horror)

I just watched his 8 minute press conference at Concord with the media.

I must have watched something different to everyone else. I have no idea how anyone can have a go at him for that. He was about as uncontroversial as you could get.

All he did was deflect questions about last year and say he wants to play good footy and win games. He did this a number of times. he talked about having a good pre season and being refreshed. Are people ignoring that.

Reminds me of a person who decided to airbrush Farahs comments supporting Potter out of his pre match press conference. What a low act that was from someone inside the club.

Who needs the media though to try and stick the boot in when you have fans like ours.

I don't know what he said in that 8 minute press conference you're talking about, I'm sure it probably was fine like most of the conferences he's done over the course of his career. What flared a number of people up (including me) was specifically the article that Geo posted on page 6\. I don't think many on here are out to attack him over every single thing he says (I'm not) but that article made him sound like a complete narcissist. It was like reading an interview with Floyd Mayweather with the humility dialed down.

Anyway that's enough bashing him over the one article, hopefully there won't be any more in the same vein…

I have not read all 8 pages of this thread.

If there were some un-nessesary pot shots there i agree its time to put it to bed and move on (even if that he is saying is true) WHo knows when he did the nterview for an article>

I just went to the official site and watched his official press conference at Concord and was shell shocked the amount he was copping.

 

[hammertime]

I just read the article. My god.

Maybe he should have used this quote after his derogatory comment which triggered the Potter affair.

"If I'm being honest, it was wrong. It was disrespectful. But we've moved on from that. It was upsetting, it wasn't nice, but everyone (Robbie) has put their hand up and admitted their wrongs."

I hope to god he's in the ESL next year. It's just toxic and he can't stop. Pascoe is probably lamenting his decision now.

 

[stryker]

Eddie makes a great point.
Judging by Farah's recent presser it makes sense that the article posted before was conducted a while ago, maybe even last year. The attitude difference between the presser and that article is vast.

Wouldn't surprise me that a journo may sit on that interview until now as when it was conducted Robbie was talking like this constantly and it wouldn't have been headline news so to speak. Release it a couple of months later and viola!

 

[innsaneink]

Eddie makes a great point.
Judging by Farah's recent presser it makes sense that the article posted before was conducted a while ago, maybe even last year. The attitude difference between the presser and that article is vast.

Wouldn't surprise me that a journo may sit on that interview until now as when it was conducted Robbie was talking like this constantly and it wouldn't have been headline news so to speak. Release it a couple of months later and viola!

Are you referring to the article in the Opening post of this thread?

 

[stryker]

No the one later in the thread

 

[gallagher]

Robbie has had a bit more to say…

Robbie Farah: I felt disrespected by Jason Taylor, but we can work together
Date February 16, 2016 - 4:59PM
Michael Chammas
Sports reporter
\
\
Robbie Farah saw the writing on the wall in June last year. His minutes were dropping and he knew a heavily back-ended contract would bring with it question marks over his value to the team.

Weighed down by the relentless controversy at the club, Farah admits he began to contemplate an exit strategy from the NRL, holding talks with his manager about a move to the English Super League months before the "leave or play NSW Cup" bombshell was dropped on him.

It wasn't the fact he was told to leave. "I'm big enough to understand that footy is a business," he tells you.

But it's the manner in which last year's meeting with coach Jason Taylor unfolded that left the veteran hooker feeling disrespected, given what he had sacrificed for the club over the previous decade.

"I don't want to go into what happened in that meeting, but I was unhappy with the way I was spoken to and the things that were said," Farah told Fairfax Media.

"If I'm being honest, it was wrong. It was disrespectful. But we've moved on from that. It was upsetting, it wasn't nice, but everyone has put their hand up and admitted their wrongs."

Taylor and Farah are never going to be friends. Nor do they have to be.

But the pair insist they've reached a peaceful resolution and have a professional working relationship after Taylor apologised to the NSW No.9 in front of his teammates during the pre-season.

"I think there's a right way and a wrong way to go about things ... and we just had some honest conversations about it," Farah said of the peace talks.

"JT admitted there was stuff he shouldn't have said and apologised to me for that. Between everyone we came up with a resolution. Myself and JT have been professional throughout it, we had to be considering there were a whole bunch of players here looking at the coach and captain at the time.

"I'm big enough to understand that footy is a business. I'm not immune to that. But the way everything happened was very disappointing.

"There are circumstances there I don't want to bring up, but a lot of things happened ... everyone can form an opinion on it, but there definitely were things that happened that weren't nice and weren't necessary considering how long I've been at this club and the effort I have put into my job here for a very long time."

Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, you'll hear two different opinions of the 32-year-old heading into the final two years of his contract at the joint venture.

Most who play with him say you'll never play with a more committed footballer. But there are also those who believe his presence is toxic to a team's culture.

Blues coach Laurie Daley made it clear where he stood after publicly backing the besieged hooker when he was told he would play NSW Cup if he didn't leave the club.

"Laurie coming out and saying he'd pick me from reserve grade, I can't even tell you what that did for me," Farah said.

"The loyalty he showed to me and the fact he came out publicly and said it, it meant everything to me. I'd run through a brick wall for him. I wouldn't let him down because of the loyalty he showed me.

"He's a legend of the game, so for him to come out and say how big a part I am of the NSW culture and leadership group there, I listened to that, not the other stuff being said about me."

A decision by Farah to stand down from the captaincy has left him refreshed and rejuvenated, admitting he has finally remembered what it's like to have fun playing rugby league.

But at one point it looked as though Farah would finish his career elsewhere, sounding out interest from the Sydney Roosters before the Tigers backflipped on their original decision to show the former skipper the door.

"At the end of the day, if I had to go, I would have gone," Farah said. "But from day one I said it would be on my terms.

"When all of it started we didn't have a CEO, but then Justin Pascoe came in and spoke to me and he told me he wanted me here. In the end he wasn't entertaining the thought of letting me go. That threw a curve ball into it all."

But even before Taylor's ultimatum, Farah was already considering walking away from it all to escape the seemingly never-ending burden that came with his time at the Tigers.

"I remember sitting in the hotel around Origin III when I was out, I was sitting with my manager in the foyer up at the Sofitel," Farah said.

"I said to him, 'you know what, I'm done. I've got one more year left in me next year then I'm done. Get me out of here, get me overseas where I can just enjoy my footy'.

"I'm single, I have no kids, I can go and travel and see the world and play footy without all the stresses that come with it. I was thinking that at that time because everything had worn me down over a period of time."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/robbie-farah-i-felt-disrespected-by-jason-taylor-but-we-can-work-together-20160216-gmvbnz.html#ixzz40JZhQgUl
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Looking at his comments, it pretty obvious is a recent interview.

 

[innsaneink]

Eddie makes a great point.
Judging by Farah's recent presser it makes sense that the article posted before was conducted a while ago, maybe even last year. The attitude difference between the presser and that article is vast.

Wouldn't surprise me that a journo may sit on that interview until now as when it was conducted Robbie was talking like this constantly and it wouldn't have been headline news so to speak. Release it a couple of months later and viola!

You accuse someone who proved you wrong earlier of ''having way too much time on their hands"
Then you come up with this pearler.
Loosen that foil hat a bit

 

[stryker]

Eddie makes a great point.
Judging by Farah's recent presser it makes sense that the article posted before was conducted a while ago, maybe even last year. The attitude difference between the presser and that article is vast.

Wouldn't surprise me that a journo may sit on that interview until now as when it was conducted Robbie was talking like this constantly and it wouldn't have been headline news so to speak. Release it a couple of months later and viola!

You accuse someone who proved you wrong earlier of ''having way too much time on their hands"
Then you come up with this pearler.
Loosen that foil hat a bit

:laughing: how many more times you going to comment on this? I know you love the drama so fire away.

 

[Eddie]

Eddie makes a great point.
Judging by Farah's recent presser it makes sense that the article posted before was conducted a while ago, maybe even last year. The attitude difference between the presser and that article is vast.

Wouldn't surprise me that a journo may sit on that interview until now as when it was conducted Robbie was talking like this constantly and it wouldn't have been headline news so to speak. Release it a couple of months later and viola!

That is my gut feeling on it.

Farah's official press conference was along way away from what was said in this article.

 

[diedpretty]

Lawrence may have spent many years here but a great legacy isn't solely determined by tenure. A club legend he is not.

Side note: Lawrence-itis did catch on (he is one of the most maligned players on here and for good reason), it is just not the topic of this thread.

Now, back to the needless Farah bashing…...

He isn't? You can count on one hand the number of juniors we have produced who have gone on to represent Australia, he's one of them. Has his form dipped the last couple of yrs? Sure it has. But it hasn't been through lack of effort, he was still trying to find his feet after an horrific injury. An injury that happened when he was on the verge of being the best centre in the world and was our next captain in waiting that people have chosen to completely forget when analysing the player he is.

To say that he isn't a club legend is as disrespectful as anything said about Farah. This is a guy who almost crippled himself in our jersey. For people to brush him like he's insignificant shows how short peoples memories are with a "we only care about what you do for us today, we don't care what you did yesterday".

To put it more simply, if the same injury fell Tedesco this yr, and struggled afterwards, would his status as a a potential club legend go out the window? Would you forget the ability he had pre-injury and put down his poor form to just not having a go?

It is a fair post. Your entitled to your opinion.

I still don't classify a few good seasons as a club legend. You can blame injury for his whole rest of career if you want but i don't really buy it.

Farah was won a comp, won origin and played for Aus, whilst missing out for the Dally M by a point twice. Captained us for 7 years.

I guess don't throw around a word like legend. Lawrence I would describe as a club stalwart.

There is a fair difference there but i respect your opinion.

I would ask you Eddie if you considered Taniela Tuiaki a club legend or not.