Wests Tigers star Robbie Farah dropped from NRL to reserve grade

[diedpretty]

Wests Tigers CEO backs Jason Taylor’s decision to dump Robbie Farah to reserve grade
July 20, 20168:27pm

WESTS Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe has backed Jason Taylor’s decision to dump Robbie Farah to reserve grade — but insists Farah’s time at the club is not over.

In a bombshell that has reignited the ugly feud that has now dragged on for more than 12 months since Taylor first threatened Farah with the axe, the Tigers’ 247 game veteran was sensationally punted from the squad to take on St George Illawarra in Sunday’s crucial game against St George Illawarra.

After being initially named on the Tigers’ bench for the match that also marks Benji Marshall’s 250th NRL game against his former club, Farah will be expected to instead run out in NSW Cup on Saturday when the Tigers take on Newtown.

The news comes just a week after Farah played in the Blues’ Origin III victory over Queensland.

Farah did not return calls on Wednesday night but sources told The Daily Telegraph he was gutted, after basically being told by Taylor after training that the team “functions better without you”.

Pascoe admitted Taylor had informed both him and Tigers’ general manager of football Mark O’Neill of the decision on Wednesday morning before telling Farah.

“We had a discussion about the decision and why he thought it was in the best interests of the team for this weekend’s game,” Pascoe said.

Asked if Taylor told Farah that the team “functions better without you”, Pascoe admitted Taylor’s view was that the Tigers play best with young guns Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco are running the show.

“He believes, not dissimilar to what you are saying, that it is in the best interests of the club moving forward this week, that it is challenging to have more than three playmakers in one side under a game plan that has worked over the last five or six weeks,” Pascoe explained.

Pascoe added: “The ball needs to be, under the current coach’s game plan, it needs to be in their hands as quick as possible.”

While Farah’s supporters claim the timing of the announcement was the ultimate kick in the guts given Marshall’s milestone, Pascoe explained any NRL coach deserved to have ultimate power when selecting a team.

“The reality is it is the coach’s decision,” Pascoe said. “He is employed to make the decision that he believes is in the best interests of wining the game on the weekend.

“And he is judged on wins and losses from that. That is just the reality of it.”

Asked if Farah could still fight his way back into the NRL team, Pascoe said: “He is going to be given every opportunity.

“I know he is bitterly disappointed from today’s decision but he has committed and fought hard for 247 games.

“There is no reason why is not going to go and do that on Saturday and show what he can do and fight his way back into the NRL line-up.”

Pascoe added that while Brooks, Moses and Tedesco were the club’s future, “that is not saying that Robbie doesn’t have a future.

“It is just saying that Robbie’s game needs to evolve and I’m sure it will. This is not a blight on Robbie’s ability to play the game.

“He has been a fantastic player for 247 games for this club and with State of Origin representation every year.

“He can play the game. It is just as the game plan as it sits now is more focused on three playmakers.

“It is hard to have four in there. Different opposition may require a different game plan.”

What a load of BS,what's that saying about lies ''if you really believe it then it's not a lie'',so you replace a SOO hooker with two fill in rakes ,and if you believe the above dribble then we fans can expect the ball
service to be exemplary this weekend virtually above SOO standard.Pascoe if you want the fans to believe
that tripe at least replace Farah with a recognised hooker.

Farah's service to his halves isn't SOO standard. The only dummy half who is worse at providing quick ball to the halves is Wallace who takes 2 steps before passing every time. Farah has been given every opportunity to adapt to Taylors gameplan but continually goes off on his own tangent.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Wayne Bennett dropped W Lewis to end his career. Bennett terrible coach???
Warren Ryan punted Turvey Mortimer…awful coach think he coached 2 premierships??
Mick Hagan punted Matty John's...premiership winning coach with obviously no idea.
JT has to be admired for his stance in my view

Bennett also punted Langer.

 

[maxxy86]

Really hope we have a press conference free days ahead…..don't wanna see or hear the scarecrow 100%. And I really don't want to see our players put thru interviews that would solely be about this saga. Thanks scarecrow for ruining season 2016.

 

[rialto]

I have been thinking about this overnight

Whilst I conclude that our future is Broses and Teddy. I think it is disrespectful and poor PR.

Take away the salary element which isn't our business anyway, the guy is still deserved of his spot in the top 14.

Robbie lost my respect when he put himself before the club. I don't want the club to be in a position of losing vital young players because Robbie refuses to go no matter what.

 

[happy_tiger]

Wayne Bennett dropped W Lewis to end his career. Bennett terrible coach???
Warren Ryan punted Turvey Mortimer…awful coach think he coached 2 premierships??
Mick Hagan punted Matty John's...premiership winning coach with obviously no idea.
JT has to be admired for his stance in my view

Bennett also punted Langer.

And Gene Miles ,Trevor Gillmeister , Darren Smith

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

Farah's service to his halves isn't SOO standard. The only dummy half who is worse at providing quick ball to the halves is Wallace who takes 2 steps before passing every time. Farah has been given every opportunity to adapt to Taylors gameplan but continually goes off on his own tangent.

Probably argue his service was up to SOO standard. Remember, the NSW hooker just has to pass to Gallen.

 

[foreveratiger]

Pascoe said its not the end for Robbie …. So let's see if he gets picked the week after .... I don't think the result against St.George makes any difference. He's just as likely to be picked or not picked either way.

But what would you achieve by dropping him for one week??? You send the media into a frenzy,you get certain sections of your playing group offside, you probably get certain sponsors offside and you get plenty of punters offside, just to try and regig the way your team plays. Massive gamble, but as I have said a million times, its about more than football

Exactly !
Logic plays no part in this decision. Even if you put him on the bench, you don't have to give him much game time …. Then you don't set off all this division in the club.

Yeah that's the reason why this is personal cause we all know JT has left Buchanan on the bench for 80 minutes Round 1, Cherrington 8 minutes vs the Eels Round 5 and 17 minutes vs Manly Round 2, Aloiai has also played games less than 15 minutes in total.

But let's make a statement here and inform our supporter's that his not in our Top 17 :laughing: great PR I'm sure Pascoe also thinks Farah isn't in our Top 17.

We all know Farah isn't worth his current Contract, he would only be worth between $400,000 - $500,000 at best, but his obviously being crucified for past Management's stuff up in rubber stamping his current deal.

I suppose the Farah camp can't complain that he was warned this could happen ( playing Reserve Grade) , now I suppose it's up to him whether he wants to hangaround next year and play Reserve Grade? His call.
Common sense should prevail you'd think and not finish his Career in Reserve Grade and best he goes elsewhere but Farah is stubborn and might stay on in spite.
Nothing surprises me with this Club anymore.

I'm glad the EPL is around the corner :smiley:

 

[balmain boy]

This thread's only up to 20 pages? I'm a bit disappointed in that really.

 

[happy_tiger]

Pascoe said its not the end for Robbie …. So let's see if he gets picked the week after .... I don't think the result against St.George makes any difference. He's just as likely to be picked or not picked either way.

But what would you achieve by dropping him for one week??? You send the media into a frenzy,you get certain sections of your playing group offside, you probably get certain sponsors offside and you get plenty of punters offside, just to try and regig the way your team plays. Massive gamble, but as I have said a million times, its about more than football

Exactly !
Logic plays no part in this decision. Even if you put him on the bench, you don't have to give him much game time …. Then you don't set off all this division in the club.

Yeah that's the reason why this is personal cause we all know JT has left Buchanan on the bench for 80 minutes Round 1, Cherrington 8 minutes vs the Eels Round 5 and 17 minutes vs Manly Round 2, Aloiai has also played games less than 15 minutes in total.

But let's make a statement here and inform our supporter's that his not in our Top 17 :laughing: great PR I'm sure Pascoe also thinks Farah isn't in our Top 17.

We all know Farah isn't worth his current Contract, he would only be worth between $400,000 - $500,000 at best, but his obviously being crucified for past Management's stuff up in rubber stamping his current deal.

I suppose the Farah camp can't complain that he was warned this could happen ( playing Reserve Grade) , now I suppose it's up to him whether he wants to hangaround next year and play Reserve Grade? His call.
Common sense should prevail you'd think and not finish his Career in Reserve Grade and best he goes elsewhere but Farah is stubborn and might stay on in spite.
Nothing surprises me with this Club anymore.

I'm glad the EPL is around the corner :smiley:

Don't you mean the Championship :roll

You'd have to think something has happened as well as the potential loss of ET

I'm wondering whether a favourable offer has come to the WT's and we are trying to force Farah's hand

 

[simonthetigerrrr]

I hope Robbie slays it in reserves.

Gives me more reason to head out to Leichhardt!

 

[Spartan117]

I have been thinking about this overnight

Whilst I conclude that our future is Broses and Teddy. I think it is disrespectful and poor PR.

Take away the salary element which isn't our business anyway, the guy is still deserved of his spot in the top 14.

Robbie lost my respect when he put himself before the club. I don't want the club to be in a position of losing vital young players because Robbie refuses to go no matter what.

Agree Rialto but that is a side issue.

I person is allowed to get paid his contract Ims sure you will agree.

The Future of our club is not RF.

But Im just thinking that we didn't need this in the news. Parra must be be sooo happy .

 

[balmain boy]

In the end, if this is the kick up the bum that Robbie needs to leave this place freeing up the cash to re-sign ET then i'm all for it.

But then again if we hadn't re-signed so many squaddies so quickly then we may have had enough cash to re-sign Taylor as is… Sirro, Brooks and Moses all taking up their options is as much behind this decision as Farah's ability to play to a gameplan.

 

[TYGER]

If we beat the Dragons this weekend, Robbie should start looking at England or wherever he can get a contract as it will be like climbing Everest in underpants for him to get back in first grade while JT is at the helm. Club comes first , Robbie aint gunna win this one !

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

13 minute press conference with JT - answers all questions.

 

[hobbo]

But what would you achieve by dropping him for one week??? You send the media into a frenzy,you get certain sections of your playing group offside, you probably get certain sponsors offside and you get plenty of punters offside, just to try and regig the way your team plays. Massive gamble, but as I have said a million times, its about more than football

Exactly !
Logic plays no part in this decision. Even if you put him on the bench, you don't have to give him much game time …. Then you don't set off all this division in the club.

Yeah that's the reason why this is personal cause we all know JT has left Buchanan on the bench for 80 minutes Round 1, Cherrington 8 minutes vs the Eels Round 5 and 17 minutes vs Manly Round 2, Aloiai has also played games less than 15 minutes in total.

But let's make a statement here and inform our supporter's that his not in our Top 17 :laughing: great PR I'm sure Pascoe also thinks Farah isn't in our Top 17.

We all know Farah isn't worth his current Contract, he would only be worth between $400,000 - $500,000 at best, but his obviously being crucified for past Management's stuff up in rubber stamping his current deal.

I suppose the Farah camp can't complain that he was warned this could happen ( playing Reserve Grade) , now I suppose it's up to him whether he wants to hangaround next year and play Reserve Grade? His call.
Common sense should prevail you'd think and not finish his Career in Reserve Grade and best he goes elsewhere but Farah is stubborn and might stay on in spite.
Nothing surprises me with this Club anymore.

I'm glad the EPL is around the corner :smiley:

Don't you mean the Championship :roll

You'd have to think something has happened as well as the potential loss of ET

I'm wondering whether a favourable offer has come to the WT's and we are trying to force Farah's hand

At least FT gets to watch his team play of Fox !
Lmao !!!

 

[tigerman80]

The bigger this gets the,less another club will take of Farah's contract come 2017\. Let's face it any potential buyers know our mob are desperate to offload him,so they can afford to play hardball.

If Farah has something to offer another club $450 k is a steal .. The problem is Farahs reputation precedes him and to be honest he does not want to leave anyway , he has a contract his choice . Farah and his mate Ayoub are again going to drag the club through the mud once again. The coach wants the team to play in a way Farah cann't or will not adhere to he has been told this for over 12 months the coach has no other option IMO …with a person like Farah when is it the right time can someone entilighten us all!

So its Farahs fault he has a backended contract which he is not willing to walk away from. And its Farahs fault the Wests Tigers will have a media circus following them around this week to talk about not the gsme but the relationship between taylor and farah. This is FARAHS fault, lol lol lol. I cant believe how one sided some people on this forum are. You ask when is a good time to drop Farah? If farah is picked and we lose our next 2 games im all for it, becasue its a decision based on merit. But when Farah is involved in our last 3 wins.Plays the best he has played in the last 2 years against the rabbits and panthers then now is not a good time to drop him. And for who?? Drop farah to strengthen the team, not for HAlatau and it seems Elijah taylor. What a joke.

 

[cktiger]

I can't fathom any support for Taylor in this debacle.
Whether you like him personally or not Farah has played 247 games for this club, most as captain, and is a life member and a rarity in this day and age - a one club player.
He is also a current SOO player and has represented his country.
Taylor on the other hand is an under performing (never performing) coach with no allegiance to this club past his current contract - and will be out the door soon anyway.
I was always under the impression a coach moulded a team and improved and got the best from his players.
Can anyone illustrate this to be true of Taylor?
He has been gifted some of the best young players in our history and only Tedesco (a real freak), playing at the back, has managed to play consistently good.
His game plans have been all over the place, his emphasis on defence has us sitting as the 2nd worst defensive team (after nearly 2 years of his master plan) and his team selections (before this debacle) have had everyone scratching their heads in disbelief.
This makes me wonder why some hold such animosity towards Farah and stick up for a blow in coach with no great track record at NRL success or man management?
Could it be he's costing us so much of the cap?
If so it was the club who made the decision on his salary - the club you all support.
It is also well noted Farah's contract is backended because he took less earlier so we could retain other players.
Yet some people almost demand Farah just throw away a million dollars a year for 'the club' he loves.
I wonder how many asking him to do that would also be so accommodating if they were in the same boat.
Farah stated only a week ago he doubted he would be here next year so but would like to be associated with the club in the future - surely an opening for discussion there.
Could it be some people are choosing sides and STILL don't like the fact he came from the Balmain side of the venture and our illustrious coach once donned the black and white?
16 years on and you can still see it - you only have to look at the avatars or recall past comments from some of his biggest critics.
Could it be his ethnic heritage?
I'd hate to think this swayed some people but, unfortunately you can see it - even in some over the top comments regarding his manager.
In the end I am loyal to the club and have seen players come and go from my earliest memories of Rugby league in the early 60's.
I remember watching wonderful players from both our merged clubs.
Now I see a petty little man trying to destroy the last hurrah of this joint ventures greatest servant.
And some of you are soaking it up with glee…....

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Wayne Bennett dropped W Lewis to end his career. Bennett terrible coach???
Warren Ryan punted Turvey Mortimer…awful coach think he coached 2 premierships??
Mick Hagan punted Matty John's...premiership winning coach with obviously no idea.
JT has to be admired for his stance in my view

Bennett also punted Langer.

And Gene Miles ,Trevor Gillmeister , Darren Smith

Also let Lazarus go too.

 

[Alf_Duguid]

Its a big call by JT and if it doesn't pay off, he will be out of a job. You have to at least respect him for putting his jatz crackers on the line like this

 

[Icon]

I can't get my head around this one, it doesn't make any sense

1\. No person in their right mind believes he's not in the best 17 in the club, especially in his position.

2\. The timing is terrible, for the first time in years we actually have a fit roster, a decent draw, positive vibes (until now), a compromise that seems to be working with Robbie of the bench, a big celebration at Leichhardt in three weeks for Robbie's 250th Game.

3\. if it's about signing ET next year, how does this help? you can wait till round 26 and play it out in private, why play it out now in public?

4\. why dis stabilise the team, sponsors and fans?

Something else surely must be behind this, and it can't just be personal, JT has the approval of the CEO, if it was personal surely the CEO would get involved in something that was going to cause the club a major backlash (anyone gone through the facebook WT page, UGLY)

I'm totally at a loss, the only thing that could convince me this was an appropriate move, is that the 1, 6 and 7 said they preferred Robbie not to be on the field…and don't believe that would be the case from Teddy or Mosses, let alone the fact he has great re pore with other players like Woods and Dene.

Anyway, a shame, i was super excited about Sunday, feels like a huge let down again, we'll probably still win but the rest of the season looks shot!