Wacko_Jacko
New member
'Pest' Farah is Cowboys enemy No. 1
ANTONY STEWART | July 20th, 2012
A DISLIKE for Robbie Farah will help fuel a mission to snap the Wests Tigers' stranglehold over North Queensland.
The Cowboys lit the fuse for yet another explosive showdown between the great NRL rivals at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Monday when Gavin Cooper identified the inspirational Tigers skipper as being a man they loved to hate.
"No one likes Robbie Farah to start with and I don't think anyone up here is any different," he said. The big back-rower, a notorious joker with the media, finished the sentence with a slight grin.
But asked why Farah was disliked, Cooper replied: "He's a pest on the field. He just knows how to get under your skin, he makes people do silly things because he does get under your skin and that's why he is the Origin hooker (for New South Wales)."
There is certainly no love lost between Wests and North Queensland. From 2005 when the Tigers beat the Cowboys in the grand final to the infamous "wish-bone" tackle on Luke O'Donnell in 2007 and Farah's fight with Anthony Watts in 2009 - tensions are never too far from boiling over.
Even in the meeting between the sides this season, Benji Marshall repeatedly punched James Tamou in the head while he was on the ground. Cooper brushed off talk of a square-up from the Cowboys' giant prop.
"Na … it would take someone to really get under his skin for it to happen," he said.
But Cooper said revenge for the 26-18 defeat was definitely in the players' thoughts.
"We got dusted down there last time and people don't like talking about payback but we haven't forgotten it," he said.
"They really handed it to us in the second half. We were close but definitely not good enough."
For all the drama, though, Wests have had the best of the rivalry since North Queensland's only premiership decider.
The Tim Sheens-coached Tigers have won 10 of 13 clashes since the grand final.
Hooker Aaron Payne knows that pain all-too-well, but said it did not place any doubt in Cowboys players' minds.
If anything, the club stalwart said the Tigers' hold on North Queensland made it easier to prepare.
"They do seem to be a bit of a bogey team for us, so we're getting a bit of a rivalry there, I guess," Payne said.
"They've knocked us off a fair few times, so it would be good to get one back on them. It just serves as extra motivation leading into the game (because) you're extra keen to train well and extra keen to cross the 't's and dot the 'i's.
"You just try to make sure that everything is right so that when you turn up on game day that you know how much you want to win it and it does mean a bit more to you, so it's a bit easier to prepare for."
Adding to the intensity of the contest is the fact that victory is crucial.
North Queensland must win to continue their quest for a top-four finish, while the Tigers - who snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Penrith last week - could fall out of the top eight with a loss.
"We have to push up to the top of the ladder, there's a top-four position we think we're good enough for," Cooper said.
The Cowboys are sixth and the Tigers eighth.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/ar ... sport.html
ANTONY STEWART | July 20th, 2012
A DISLIKE for Robbie Farah will help fuel a mission to snap the Wests Tigers' stranglehold over North Queensland.
The Cowboys lit the fuse for yet another explosive showdown between the great NRL rivals at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Monday when Gavin Cooper identified the inspirational Tigers skipper as being a man they loved to hate.
"No one likes Robbie Farah to start with and I don't think anyone up here is any different," he said. The big back-rower, a notorious joker with the media, finished the sentence with a slight grin.
But asked why Farah was disliked, Cooper replied: "He's a pest on the field. He just knows how to get under your skin, he makes people do silly things because he does get under your skin and that's why he is the Origin hooker (for New South Wales)."
There is certainly no love lost between Wests and North Queensland. From 2005 when the Tigers beat the Cowboys in the grand final to the infamous "wish-bone" tackle on Luke O'Donnell in 2007 and Farah's fight with Anthony Watts in 2009 - tensions are never too far from boiling over.
Even in the meeting between the sides this season, Benji Marshall repeatedly punched James Tamou in the head while he was on the ground. Cooper brushed off talk of a square-up from the Cowboys' giant prop.
"Na … it would take someone to really get under his skin for it to happen," he said.
But Cooper said revenge for the 26-18 defeat was definitely in the players' thoughts.
"We got dusted down there last time and people don't like talking about payback but we haven't forgotten it," he said.
"They really handed it to us in the second half. We were close but definitely not good enough."
For all the drama, though, Wests have had the best of the rivalry since North Queensland's only premiership decider.
The Tim Sheens-coached Tigers have won 10 of 13 clashes since the grand final.
Hooker Aaron Payne knows that pain all-too-well, but said it did not place any doubt in Cowboys players' minds.
If anything, the club stalwart said the Tigers' hold on North Queensland made it easier to prepare.
"They do seem to be a bit of a bogey team for us, so we're getting a bit of a rivalry there, I guess," Payne said.
"They've knocked us off a fair few times, so it would be good to get one back on them. It just serves as extra motivation leading into the game (because) you're extra keen to train well and extra keen to cross the 't's and dot the 'i's.
"You just try to make sure that everything is right so that when you turn up on game day that you know how much you want to win it and it does mean a bit more to you, so it's a bit easier to prepare for."
Adding to the intensity of the contest is the fact that victory is crucial.
North Queensland must win to continue their quest for a top-four finish, while the Tigers - who snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Penrith last week - could fall out of the top eight with a loss.
"We have to push up to the top of the ladder, there's a top-four position we think we're good enough for," Cooper said.
The Cowboys are sixth and the Tigers eighth.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/ar ... sport.html
