Politoni preparing to cover Farah

[Discussion_Bot]


A 21-YEAR-OLD rookie who has based his game on Robbie Farah is in line to replace the Wests Tigers captain after he was charged by the NRL match review committee.

Farah faces a two-match ban for a dangerous throw on St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby in last Friday night's spiteful encounter at Jubilee Oval unless he successfully challenges the grade-two charge at tomorrow night's judiciary hearing.

A guilty finding would result in a three-match ban but Farah may seek to have the charge downgraded to a grade-one offence, ruling him out for just one game.

[Original Article](//component/content/article/48-round-4/493-politoni-preparing-to-cover-farah)

 

[westy81]

if he gets chosen when farah is out i hope he goes well

 

[happy_tiger]

Benji is going to have to have a couple of almighty games in Farah's absence Big chance for Politoni to stand up and make a big statement

 

[Spartan117]

<big>Rookie Politoni preparing to cover missing Tigers skipper</big>
**Brad Walter
March 20, 2012**

Big shoes to fill … Pat Politoni.

A 21-YEAR-OLD rookie who has based his game on Robbie Farah is in line to replace the Wests Tigers captain after he was charged by the NRL match review committee.

Farah faces a two-match ban for a dangerous throw on St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby in last Friday night's spiteful encounter at Jubilee Oval unless he successfully challenges the grade-two charge at tomorrow night's judiciary hearing.

A guilty finding would result in a three-match ban but Farah may seek to have the charge downgraded to a grade-one offence, ruling him out for just one game.

The loss of Farah leaves Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens with a dilemma as the 28-year-old usually plays the full 80 minutes and rarely misses a match.

Back-rower Liam Fulton is an option but he would struggle to play a full match at dummy half and the Herald was told Balmain junior Pat Politoni was the most likely replacement for Farah. Politoni has been in the Tigers system for four years and played SG Ball in 2009 before graduating to the Toyota Cup team the following season.

The Tonga World Cup hopeful is a member of the Balmain-Ryde NSW Cup squad that Sheens is using as the Tigers feeder team.

A goalkicking hooker, Politoni said he had studied closely the way Farah plays and tried to emulate his game - meaning Sheens wouldn't have to greatly alter the Tigers' playing style to accommodate him.

"I always make sure I watch game highlights of Robbie Farah to see what he does,'' Politoni said in an interview on the Wests Tigers website. ''You watch Robbie and he is an 80-minute player who always has plenty of energy. He is a smart player. Not only can he run but he looks for that second phase play or looks to offload.''

Tigers official Grant Jones, who coached Politoni for the past two seasons in the club's under 20s team, said he possessed similar attributes to Farah. ''He has certainly got a skill set similar to Robbie,'' Jones said. ''He has got the nice catch, nice pass, he has got good feet and he has enough speed to worry the defensive line. From a quick play-the-ball he can just get out and go, and he has got a really nice kick as well - he can kick long, he can kick short.''
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**Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/rookie-politoni-preparing-to-cover-missing-tigers-skipper-20120319-1vft4.html#ixzz1papMaAiU**

 

[Tiger_Watto]

Lets hope commonsense prevails and Pat is wearing the 9 Jumper this week if Farah is rubbed out… I'm confident he will be a hit and everyone will be talking about him next Tuesday!

Good Luck Pat!

 

[AJ1]

I'm hoping Pat is given the starting hooker role and not warming the bench for the first 70 minutes. As much as I love Fulton and know he would try his best, replace a specialist with another specialist.

 

[Knuckles]

Sounds like yet another NYC success story in the Making

 

[Captain_Awesome]

Hope Pat kills it and forces himself onto the bench for the rest of the season

 

[biggest_tigers_fan]

time's like this we could of used the handy john morris.Better hb than moltzen

 

[bigdamo]

politini over that clown anyday did yousee him last night nothings changed.

 

[tigervicas]

I hope farah contests the charge for a downgrade and only misses one week, it will give him ample time for his broken nose to recover

 

[simonthetiger]

time's like this we could of used the handy john morris.Better hb than moltzen

That hydro stuff really is strong.

 

[851]

I'm hoping Pat is given the starting hooker role and not warming the bench for the first 70 minutes. As much as I love Fulton and know he would try his best, replace a specialist with another specialist.

Exactly,we can't afford another loss,we need people playing positions that know their job.

 

[Pawesome]

Woods Politoni Groat.. now that's a green front row.. sink or swim..

 

[magpiecol]

politini over that clown anyday did yousee him last night nothings changed.

Morris is a better player than Moltzen will ever be.

 

[hellman]

time's like this we could of used the handy john morris.Better hb than moltzen

I mean Moltzen hasn't been good but Morris killed us for years. We'd have a 3 man overlap and he wouldn't pass it.

 

[Kul]

Rob pleads guilty
When was the last time we had a player suspended?

Remember the good old days of senter and co always being busted?

 

[system]

I think his fight to downgrade was gone after Williams got a Grade 4 charge

 

[Strider]

Could be a good thing.

Give his nose more time to heal. Watch the team play, see what's missing. Have a re-think for the rest of season.

…Provided they can beat Raiders without him of course.

 

[izotope]

I hope he hasn't emulated Robbie's bad options or kicking.
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