Farah relishing prospect of Test debut

[Guest]

Farah relishing prospect of Test debut
October 29, 2009 - 6:31AM

Kangaroos rookie Robbie Farah says he is relishing the prospect of making an impact from the bench when he makes his Test debut in Saturday's Four Nations match-up with England.

Named on a six-man bench by coach Tim Sheens, Farah is expected to earn his first game for Australia at the expense of game one utility Kurt Gidley with Sheens keen to utilise Farah's speed around the ruck against the lumbering English pack.

Normally an 80 minute player with Wests Tigers, Farah said he didn't think the adjustment of playing off the bench behind starting No.9 Cameron Smith would alter his game too much, while insisting playing alongside Smith was also an option.

"If anything it might be a little easier coming into the game with fresh legs when there are a couple of tired legs around the middle of the ruck," Farah said after training on Wednesday.

"Hopefully it will allow me a bit more room because of the freshness I've got in my legs.

"(Sheens has) mentioned that if he does go with me that (playing with Smith) would be an option, to play both of us in the middle of the ruck and try and exploit that area."

While Sheens had yet to finalise the make-up of his bench, it is widely believed Trent Waterhouse will be the other player to miss the cut, with the size of David Shillington something the coach wants up his sleeve.

The Australians had a tough two-hour hitout on Wednesday, with Sheens working particularly hard on his side's edge defence, which was brutally exposed in their tournament opener against New Zealand.

They have the day off on Thursday before travelling to Wigan on Friday where they will have a final training run at DW Stadium.

 

[softlaw]

C'mon Robbie!!!

 

[tiger_sean]

Congratualtions Robbie!
Grab the oppurtunity with both hands.

 

[Juro]

6 man bench, huh? Haven't seen the team list yet. Is it certain Robbie won't be one of the players dropped off the bench? Gees, I hope not.

And I assume if he does make the final 17, Sheens won't do one of his usual tricks and only have him play the last 5 minutes.

Hope Farah kills them, whatever role he plays in the game. Come on Robbie, we know what you can do!!

 

[G_Strombolli]

Great news for Robbie if he gets a run. It's one of the positives of the Aus coach also being your club coach, but Robbie also deserves it.

If he is named, I might even stay up and watch the game.

 

[Geo]

6 man bench, huh? Haven't seen the team list yet. Is it certain Robbie won't be one of the players dropped off the bench? Gees, I hope not.

And I assume if he does make the final 17, Sheens won't do one of his usual tricks and only have him play the last 5 minutes.

Hope Farah kills them, whatever role he plays in the game. Come on Robbie, we know what you can do!!

Team:
1\. Billy Slater
2\. Brett Morris
3\. Greg Inglis
4\. Justin Hodges
5\. Jarryd Hayne

6\. Darren Lockyer (capt)
7\. Johnathan Thurston

8\. Petero Civoniceva
9\. Cameron Smith
10\. Ben Hannant
11\. Anthony Watmough
12\. Paul Gallen
13\. Nathan Hindmarsh.

Interchange:
**14\. Robbie Farah**
15\. Brett White
16\. Luke Lewis
17\. David Shillington
18\. Trent Waterhouse
19\. Kurt Gidley (two to be omitted).

Gidley and Waterhouse/Lewis for mine…......drop off........White and Shillington need to be there.....the backrow all play 80 mins......Robbie SUPER SUB......can't wait.......

 

[Colonel]

6 man bench, huh? Haven't seen the team list yet. Is it certain Robbie won't be one of the players dropped off the bench? Gees, I hope not.

And I assume if he does make the final 17, Sheens won't do one of his usual tricks and only have him play the last 5 minutes.

Hope Farah kills them, whatever role he plays in the game. Come on Robbie, we know what you can do!!

Team:
1\. Billy Slater
2\. Brett Morris
3\. Greg Inglis
4\. Justin Hodges
5\. Jarryd Hayne

6\. Darren Lockyer (capt)
7\. Johnathan Thurston

8\. Petero Civoniceva
9\. Cameron Smith
10\. Ben Hannant
11\. Anthony Watmough
12\. Paul Gallen
13\. Nathan Hindmarsh.

Interchange:
**14\. Robbie Farah**
15\. Brett White
16\. Luke Lewis
17\. David Shillington
18\. Trent Waterhouse
19\. Kurt Gidley (two to be omitted).

Gidley and Waterhouse/Lewis for mine…......drop off........White and Shillington need to be there.....the backrow all play 80 mins......Robbie SUPER SUB......can't wait.......

That's a good backrow. Should have been that way for game 1.

 

[Aladinsane]

1\. Billy Slater
2\. Brett Morris
3\. Greg Inglis
4\. Justin Hodges
5\. Jarryd Hayne

6\. Darren Lockyer (capt)
7\. Johnathan Thurston

8\. Petero Civoniceva
9\. Cameron Smith
10\. Ben Hannant
11\. Anthony Watmough
12\. Paul Gallen
13\. Nathan Hindmarsh.

**Interchange:**
14\. **Robbie Farah**
15\. Brett White
16\. Trent Waterhouse
17\. David Shillington
\
\
**Omitted**
18\. Luke Lewis
19\. Kurt Gidley.

That's what I would hope would happen as well

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Waterhouse and Gidley will drop off. 1-17.

 

[anderson_silva]

im just glad gidley will miss out, he really isnt a utility player, luke lewis is better suited to that role

 

[innsaneink]

Just hope our pack isnt on the back foot when he gets a run…the poms forwards do fancy their chances against us.
Good luck farah...you may need it.

 

[king_sirro]

Heaps happy for Robbie and cant wait to watch him go.
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But, if i have to be honest, i dont understand the selection. Gidley, while overrated, covers so many postions if there's any injuries, and they replace him with a specialist hooker? What makes it even more odd is that Cameron Smith is an 80 minute player, its sort of like having 2 halfbacks in the squad, u just wouldnt do it. What happens if an outside back gets injured?

While i believe Robbie is the best 9 in the world, i see this as a very biased selection by Sheens. But here's hoping he gets some good game time and gets an early jump on Ennis for the Blues job next year.

I'd really love to see Slater go down injured in the first 5 minutes and Robbie come at 6 pushing Lockyer to fullback and Farah get MOM.

 

[Guest]

Farah eyes rep redemption for Kangaroos

October 29, 2009 - 7:37PM

Preparing to play his first game for Australia, Robbie Farah is keen to show he's a better representative player than the one who flopped and lost his State of Origin jumper.

Farah on Wednesday revealed the torment he still carries from his Origin II shocker, and his desire to silence the doubters when he makes his Test debut in Saturday's Four Nations clash with England in Wigan.

The hooker showed enough in his NSW debut in the opening 2009 Origin game to suggest a long future in the sky blues No.9 jersey.

But he found himself on the Origin scrapheap just 80 minutes of football later following a display he described as "a one in a million game from me" in the series-sealing 24-14 game 2 loss at ANZ Stadium on June 24.

"The second game was one of the worst games of footy I've played in my career - there's no hiding that fact," Farah told AAP at the Australian team's hotel in Leeds.

"I was pretty shattered afterwards in myself.

"I had a lot of good people around me talk to me and they said 'don't let it break you'.

"I'd like to think I used that as a bit of motivation in the second half of the season, to prove to people not to judge me on that one game."

There was speculation Farah had played that match injured after nursing a rib complaint through the build-up, but the Wests Tigers skipper refused to look for excuses.

"The ribs were fine … I couldn't feel them during the game.

"It was just a poor performance - I'm not going to blame that on the ribs.

"It was just one of those nights when everything goes wrong - it's a one in a million game from me.

"I was hoping to get a chance in that third game to redeem myself because I knew I was better than what I produced that night.

"It was pretty disappointing (to miss out) - everyone wants a shot at redemption, I didn't get that chance."

So long described as the heir apparent to NSW great Danny Buderus in the No.9 jumper, the game three snubbing and subsequent starring role from replacement hooker Michael Ennis would have been hard to take for Farah.

But he didn't let it get him down, and he responded with a series of stellar performances over the back half of the season to secure a spot in the Kangaroos' Four Nations touring party ahead of Ennis.

He expected to play a bit part behind first choice hooker Cameron Smith through the campaign with his main objective being to soak up as much knowledge as possible from the experience, though he now finds himself set for a pivotal role in a match which will decide Australia's fate in the tournament.

"I didn't come here with any expectations - I came here to enjoy the experience and not everyone gets to go on a tour to the UK with a Kangaroos team," he said.

"For me it was just about that - to enjoying it and get as much experience as I can, train with guys like Cam, Locky (Darren Lockyer) and JT (Johnathan Thurston) and learn as much as I can and take it back to my club and if I got a game, that would be a bonus."

 

[anderson_silva]

Heaps happy for Robbie and cant wait to watch him go.
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But, if i have to be honest, i dont understand the selection. Gidley, while overrated, covers so many postions if there's any injuries, and they replace him with a specialist hooker? What makes it even more odd is that Cameron Smith is an 80 minute player, its sort of like having 2 halfbacks in the squad, u just wouldnt do it. What happens if an outside back gets injured?

While i believe Robbie is the best 9 in the world, i see this as a very biased selection by Sheens. But here's hoping he gets some good game time and gets an early jump on Ennis for the Blues job next year.

I'd really love to see Slater go down injured in the first 5 minutes and Robbie come at 6 pushing Lockyer to fullback and Farah get MOM.

luke lewis can cover most positions in the team and IMO is a better utility then gidley as for farah i think its a good move, i wont mind if farah plays the last 15 and first 15 of the first and second halves as a replacement for smith that way you have a more effective hooker for 80 minutes as opposed to a tiring one

 

[Marshall_magic]

Either Gidley+Waterhouse or Farah+Lewis will get the punt. It would be suicidal to go into the game without a benchie who can play in the outside backs like Lewis can. Personally I'd opt for the Farah, Lewis, White, Shillington bench.

 

[Paris_Cobbs]

In the NRL, many teams have four forwards on the bench. Even when we had John Morris in 14, he was really only a 'pinch-hitter' in the three-quarters. You don't go into a game expecting to lose someone in the backs, and if you do you just adjust. Lewis is good value and Robbie has played NRL half back, if it was desperation.

On the team, I'm surprised to see no changes in the backs. If Australia don't click in this game they only have a game against France to try a new combination. How many poor games does Slater have to play in order to get dropped?

Sheens has picked Robbie to provide some variety and creativity around the ruck. It's a good selection.

 

[innsaneink]

If Aus dont click in this game they, along with Sheens, are GOOORRRNE

 

[anderson_silva]

If Aus dont click in this game they, along with Sheens, are GOOORRRNE

well hayne has accused england that they will tank their game vs NZ if they beat us this weekend, not exactly the mindset you wanna here in a must win game

 

[stryker]

I find this to be quite a baffling selection.

The 9, 7, 6, 1 for the Roos is the same combination that has had massive success at rep level for at least 4 years now yet in game 1 they looked totally disjointed - I'm not thoroughly convinced that Tim hasn't had some role in this btw, Smith and Thurston were two of our best, Lockyer and Slater two of our worst.

So what is Teflon's bright idea??

Replace either Smith or Thurston with Farah…...obviously.......Has he forgotten that Cronk is in the team??

Good luck to Robbie, I hope he kills it because he is going to be the whipping boy if he is average and we lose, more so than Origin 2......

 

[innsaneink]

If Aus dont click in this game they, along with Sheens, are GOOORRRNE

well hayne has accused england that they will tank their game vs NZ if they beat us this weekend, not exactly the mindset you wanna here in a must win game

Pretty dumb statement from Hayne with no thought whatsoever…they dont need to throw it should they beat us tomorrow, we'll be gone and they'll be playing NZ if as expected the Kiwis beat France