Gorden Tallis reveals what happened when Robbie Farah approached him after Dragons loss
July 28, 2014 1:23PM
GORDEN Tallis has opened up on his escalating feud with Robbie Farah, saying he copped a “three minute barrage” from the Tigers captain when he offered Farah the chance to set the record straight about his relationship with Mick Potter.
Sunday’s match between the Tigers and the Dragons was relegated to the sideshow of a stunning verbal battle between Farah and Tallis after the former Broncos firebrand revealed on Triple M in the pre-game that Farah had told him “to my face” that Potter can’t coach in a private conversation last year.
Farah said that was “completely false” in the post-match press conference but refused to clarify his relationship with Potter when asked about it directly.
“I don’t have to sit here and justify myself and Mick’s relationship,” was all Farah would say, and on Monday morning Tallis was back on Triple M comparing that response to Lance Armstrong’s Oprah confessional.
Asked was Farah deliberately talking around the truth, Tallis responded with: “A bit like Lance Armstrong.”
Fireworks erupted on the field after the game at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, with Farah confronting Tallis before storming off the ground.
A sideline eye for Triple M, Tallis was asked to recollect the almighty spray he copped from the Tigers star and revealed it had gone for about three minutes.
“I went up to him after the game and said, ‘here’s the mic, you can have your say mate’, cause it doesn’t worry me,” Tallis recalled.
“It was a three minute barrage, the boys in the Triple M studio were laughing about how he unloaded on me. And I just sat there and said ‘Robbie, you can have your say, it doesn’t worry me’.
“And then, he didn’t want to have his say, and in the press conference he does that again.”
Tallis said he didn’t regret letting Triple M listeners in on his private conversation with Farah because he felt he’d been backed into a corner by Farah’s manager, Sam Ayoub.
Tallis had said on radio last Friday night that player power was behind the push to get rid of Potter without exposing Farah, but claimed Ayoub had then tried to discredit him.
“Sam Ayoub, who’s Robbie Farah’s manager comes on and says what you alleged the other night — you know, trying to discredit me, saying I was telling lies.
“And I said ‘hold on mate — I don’t go on Chinese whispers’. He said ‘where are you hearing it from?’ and I said, ‘no, he told me to my face’.
Robbie Farah had a bad day on and off the field on Sunday. Pic: Brett Costello
Robbie Farah had a bad day on and off the field on Sunday. Pic: Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia
“I didn’t want to say that, I didn’t want to put Robbie on the spot, but anyway, so I said it.”
Tallis, who played in a Dragons side captained by Potter when he first broke into first grade, admitted he was friends with the under-siege Tigers coach and felt he had to stick up for him.
“What happened was the rumours have been going around and I feel sorry for Michael Potter,” Tallis said.
“He can’t stick up for himself and hasn’t said anything because of his profile.
“Tim Sheens said the players got rid of him — this is the Australian coach mind you, the guy who took Canberra to all those grand finals — and it’s happening again, the player power at the club.”
And the Raging Bull wasn’t done there, finishing his Monday morning interview with Triple M’s Brisbane Grill team with another bombshell.
Earlier this season promising young Tigers fullback James Tedesco signed with the Raiders, only to renege on the deal before the June 30 deadline.
While it had already been revealed that Tedesco had confided in Farah before making that decision, on Monday morning Tallis revealed “Robbie Farah threatened to sack Sam Ayoub as his manager if Ayoub didn’t get James Tedesco” to renege on the deal with the Raiders.
