Tension between Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah and coach Tim Sheens a storm in a tea cup by: James Hooper From: The Sunday Telegraph December 04, 2011 12:00AM No rift: Tim Sheens. Source: The Sunday Telegraph
WESTS Tigers coach Tim Sheens has broken his silence on the Four Nations rift with Robbie Farah, labelling suggestions the hooker wanted out of Concord "wrong" and "a storm in a teacup".
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Sheens and Farah held a "clear-the-air" meeting last Tuesday over the Tigers captain's 11th-hour omission from the Kangaroos team to play England at Wembley Stadium last month.
Sheens has strongly denied the pair engaged in an argument in London, stressing Farah accepted the decision and barely uttered a word.
"Rob accepted the decision and got on with the job, there was no heated exchange," Sheens said.
"Rob's passionate about his footy, but to suggest he wants out of the club or there were issues with us getting along is wrong. There was definitely an issue there, but the way it was blown out of proportion was a storm in a teacup.
"The more you defend it, the more people think there's something to it, so I don't want to make too big a deal of it.
"The facts are Robbie's very competitive. I don't blame him for the situation and I probably could have communicated it better to him."
Having prepared all week to earn his fourth Test cap at England's spiritual sporting home last month, Farah was understandably frustrated.
The Tigers captain had discussed flying his family over for the occasion and trained as part of the Kangaroos' final 17 at London's exclusive Harrow secondary college.
But Sheens has moved to clarify the decision to cut Farah, outlining how injury concerns with Darren Lockyer and Cooper Cronk were the deciding factor.
"We had Darren Lockyer, Cooper Cronk and David Shillington under an injury cloud and we were preparing all week for Robbie and Beau Scott to play," Sheens said. "In my opinion that was what was going to happen, but Darren made the decision he wanted to play based on a very rigid fitness test on the Thursday.
"I was very keen for Darren maybe not to play because there were two games to go in the series and I didn't want to lose him.
"I wanted to play Cooper Cronk at five-eighth and have Robbie on the bench.
"But when Darren insisted on playing and Cooper passed a fitness test on his broken nose, then I had to carry Cooper on the bench to cover Darren … to say then that that has caused a rift at the club and Rob and I can't work together is pretty poor."
The Sheens decision clearly dispels any conspiracy theories about Tigers players being shown favouritism inside the Kangaroo camp.
The Test coach also pointed to the bond between the coaching staff and Tigers players at the club's Concord headquarters.
Farah re-affirmed his commitment to the club last week and is signed until the end of 2013\. He He had groin surgery last Wednesday and will enjoy a well-earned break until the New Year.
...........
Sense at last !
WESTS Tigers coach Tim Sheens has broken his silence on the Four Nations rift with Robbie Farah, labelling suggestions the hooker wanted out of Concord "wrong" and "a storm in a teacup".
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Sheens and Farah held a "clear-the-air" meeting last Tuesday over the Tigers captain's 11th-hour omission from the Kangaroos team to play England at Wembley Stadium last month.
Sheens has strongly denied the pair engaged in an argument in London, stressing Farah accepted the decision and barely uttered a word.
"Rob accepted the decision and got on with the job, there was no heated exchange," Sheens said.
"Rob's passionate about his footy, but to suggest he wants out of the club or there were issues with us getting along is wrong. There was definitely an issue there, but the way it was blown out of proportion was a storm in a teacup.
"The more you defend it, the more people think there's something to it, so I don't want to make too big a deal of it.
"The facts are Robbie's very competitive. I don't blame him for the situation and I probably could have communicated it better to him."
Having prepared all week to earn his fourth Test cap at England's spiritual sporting home last month, Farah was understandably frustrated.
The Tigers captain had discussed flying his family over for the occasion and trained as part of the Kangaroos' final 17 at London's exclusive Harrow secondary college.
But Sheens has moved to clarify the decision to cut Farah, outlining how injury concerns with Darren Lockyer and Cooper Cronk were the deciding factor.
"We had Darren Lockyer, Cooper Cronk and David Shillington under an injury cloud and we were preparing all week for Robbie and Beau Scott to play," Sheens said. "In my opinion that was what was going to happen, but Darren made the decision he wanted to play based on a very rigid fitness test on the Thursday.
"I was very keen for Darren maybe not to play because there were two games to go in the series and I didn't want to lose him.
"I wanted to play Cooper Cronk at five-eighth and have Robbie on the bench.
"But when Darren insisted on playing and Cooper passed a fitness test on his broken nose, then I had to carry Cooper on the bench to cover Darren … to say then that that has caused a rift at the club and Rob and I can't work together is pretty poor."
The Sheens decision clearly dispels any conspiracy theories about Tigers players being shown favouritism inside the Kangaroo camp.
The Test coach also pointed to the bond between the coaching staff and Tigers players at the club's Concord headquarters.
Farah re-affirmed his commitment to the club last week and is signed until the end of 2013\. He He had groin surgery last Wednesday and will enjoy a well-earned break until the New Year.
...........
Sense at last !
