It has become quite clear that as the Robbie Farah fallout continues, the Wests Tigers have made a mistake.
Wests Tigers premiership winner Robbie Farah has been told he can look elsewhere for a club in 2016 if he wants to play first grade.
The Tigers have told their longest-serving skipper that if he stays at the club, he’ll be playing reserve grade.
A local junior, Farah debuted for the Concord franchise in 2003, has two years left on his contract, and the Tigers want him out.
Word has it that he was behind the move to sack Tim Sheens a few years back, and didn’t do Mick Potter any favours when he was shown the door.
When the announcement was made last week, I thought to myself that the club might be better off without him – if in fact those rumours are true.
But then came the Tigers clash with the Warriors this past weekend at Campbelltown Stadium.
It was Robbie Farah’s finest hour.
The Man of the Match led from the front in the face of adversity, having a hand in three tries and scoring one of his own.
The reaction of the fans was staggering.
Balmain and Wests faithful flocked to Campbelltown Stadium in support of their number 9, filling the ground with banners to voice their support.
“Thanks Robbie Farah, ‘Legend!!’”, was held aloft along with “Robbie, we love you! You deserve better!”
It is clear that the little guy is winning the public relations war in this David and Goliath battle.
But still, the fans have been hard done by.
They haven’t been told why their club wants to get rid of Robbie Farah, and as a result the club has driven a stake between themselves and their supporters.
Hasn’t this club gone through enough trouble with its supporters since the unhappy marriage between Balmain and the Magpies took place?
Surely they, let alone any club, are not in a position to be alienating supporters like this.
Arguably the greatest player in the joint-venture’s history has been unfairly treated.
It begs the question, how can this club want him out?
They are yet to announce the actual reasoning behind their desire to part ways with a life member of the club.
Club chairwoman Marina Go said during the week that the Tigers were looking to “rebuild their culture”, and it was pretty clear they want to start with the skipper.
If the Tigers want to rebuild their culture, perhaps they should start with the club board.
So, if he is to leave the Tigers, where is Robbie Farah playing footy in 2016?
He’s been linked with a few clubs already, but cellar-dwellers Newcastle and the Gold Coast have already said they aren’t interested.
He allegedly met with Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire four weeks ago, and the defending premiers will have some space in the salary cap after Issac Luke signed with the Warriors for 2016.
It currently looks as though they are the favourites should Farah to decide to pack his bags for another NRL club.
If he considers his options overseas, he will be forced to choose between his NSW jersey or a big-money Super League contract – and that would be a damn shame.
Then again, he could just turn out for the Tigers in the New South Wales Cup.
If Robbie Farah is forced out of his beloved Tigers, it will take some time to get used to seeing him donning another team’s colours.
It will be like when Ryan Hoffman went to the Warriors, or when Ben Kennedy went to Manly.
Put simply, the Wests Tigers have made a mistake, and they’re running out of time to fix it.
Main Photo
