TheDaBoss
Well-known member
Maguire will wait and see with Farah but won't take risks
Author
Margie McDonald
Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Sun 1 Sep 2019, 08:25 PM
Coach Michael Maguire will sit down with Robbie Farah over the next 24 hours to explore the chances of his star hooker playing against the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval next Sunday.
He said Farah had to see specialists and doctors this week in combination with the work he's been doing with Wests Tigers physio and medical staff over the past fortnight. He fractured his tibia three weeks ago.
Farah has been running on the anti-gravity treadmill, so has not put the full force of his body weight on his left leg. He cracked a bone but has not needed to undergo surgery as yet.
The issue has been if Farah plays on it, he could damage the leg further and then need an operation to have screws inserted.
Maguire said he had no gut feeling.
"I really don't know. It's one of those ones where he could go to the surgeon and be told 'You can't play'. Until he actually does that I'm only guessing," Maguire said.
"I just spoke to Robbie and the last thing he's going to do is put himself forward if he can't play.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Wests Tigers
"So we've got to make some big decisions around that. I've also been really pleased with how the boys have found their game in the last couple of weeks," he said of the back-to-back triumphs against the Knights and Sunday's big win over the Dragons.
Maguire couldn't predict if he would name Farah on Tuesday in the hope he made it through to next Sunday.
"I'm talking again to Robbie tomorrow and work out the plan around that. I'll grab Robbie over the next 24 hours and talk to the doctors and physios and see where we are.
"We definitely won't be taking any risks."
The same safety-first theory was behind none of the Wests Tigers coaching staff telling the players the score from the earlier Sharks-Canberra game on Sunday.
Cronulla's loss gives more impetus to the 2019 Tigers finals campaign – they have not made the eight since 2011.
"We didn't speak about it. We can only control what we can do on the field and the boys were very focused around that," Maguire said.
He said he only found out the result himself at half-time. But the Sharks' loss played no part in his dressing-room sheds speech at the break.
"We didn't want to know about it … it was quite irrelevant to us. We were trying to do certain things in our game and we had to make sure we did that."
Benji Marshall has started at hooker for the past fortnight after replacement hooker Jacob Liddle suffered a season-ending knee injury in round 22. Josh Reynolds has come in around the 30th minute the past two games to provide extra spark.
"It's obviously the plan we've had the last couple of weeks. But Grubby [Reynolds] is starting to get match-fit too. So the opportunities of actually starting Josh are there.
"We'll have a look at things this week and see what's best for the team."
Author
Margie McDonald
Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Sun 1 Sep 2019, 08:25 PM
Coach Michael Maguire will sit down with Robbie Farah over the next 24 hours to explore the chances of his star hooker playing against the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval next Sunday.
He said Farah had to see specialists and doctors this week in combination with the work he's been doing with Wests Tigers physio and medical staff over the past fortnight. He fractured his tibia three weeks ago.
Farah has been running on the anti-gravity treadmill, so has not put the full force of his body weight on his left leg. He cracked a bone but has not needed to undergo surgery as yet.
The issue has been if Farah plays on it, he could damage the leg further and then need an operation to have screws inserted.
Maguire said he had no gut feeling.
"I really don't know. It's one of those ones where he could go to the surgeon and be told 'You can't play'. Until he actually does that I'm only guessing," Maguire said.
"I just spoke to Robbie and the last thing he's going to do is put himself forward if he can't play.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Wests Tigers
"So we've got to make some big decisions around that. I've also been really pleased with how the boys have found their game in the last couple of weeks," he said of the back-to-back triumphs against the Knights and Sunday's big win over the Dragons.
Maguire couldn't predict if he would name Farah on Tuesday in the hope he made it through to next Sunday.
"I'm talking again to Robbie tomorrow and work out the plan around that. I'll grab Robbie over the next 24 hours and talk to the doctors and physios and see where we are.
"We definitely won't be taking any risks."
The same safety-first theory was behind none of the Wests Tigers coaching staff telling the players the score from the earlier Sharks-Canberra game on Sunday.
Cronulla's loss gives more impetus to the 2019 Tigers finals campaign – they have not made the eight since 2011.
"We didn't speak about it. We can only control what we can do on the field and the boys were very focused around that," Maguire said.
He said he only found out the result himself at half-time. But the Sharks' loss played no part in his dressing-room sheds speech at the break.
"We didn't want to know about it … it was quite irrelevant to us. We were trying to do certain things in our game and we had to make sure we did that."
Benji Marshall has started at hooker for the past fortnight after replacement hooker Jacob Liddle suffered a season-ending knee injury in round 22. Josh Reynolds has come in around the 30th minute the past two games to provide extra spark.
"It's obviously the plan we've had the last couple of weeks. But Grubby [Reynolds] is starting to get match-fit too. So the opportunities of actually starting Josh are there.
"We'll have a look at things this week and see what's best for the team."
