His return to Wests Tigers may have polarised fans, but Robbie Farah’s focus is on helping his old club make the finals.
That starts this Sunday at 2pm when Farah runs out on to Leichhardt Oval once again with the number nine on his back.
Wests will be hosting the Gold Coast Titans and they won’t be a pushover – not even at Leichhardt, which is no far from being a fortress for the Tigers.
Wests Tigers head coach Ivan Cleary had no hesitation in including Farah when he named his side this afternoon.
Cleary has made a number of changes to the side that capitulated to the Canberra Raiders at Campbelltown before going down 48-12.
That last round loss was a major blow for Wests because it pushed them four points out of the top eight and threw a wrecking ball into their points differential as well.
But with Farah back at hooker and former Bulldog Moses Mbye named to make his club debut at fullback, the Tigers spine suddenly looks more than solid.
Josh Reynolds is at five-eighth, with Luke Brooks pulling the strings at seven.
And there’s still Benji Marshall to return from injury, expected to happen in round 17.
Either way the Wests Tigers need to win and win well against the Queenslanders if they want to be a serious candidate for the finals this season.
The good news for their long suffering fans is that the new look spine suggests a more creative attack and, hopefully, lots more points.
Wests Tigers NRL team v Gold Coast Titans:
1. Moses Mbye
2. Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
3. Esan Marsters
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Corey Thomspon
6. Josh Reynolds
7. Luke Brooks
8. Russell Packer
9. Robbie Farah
10. Ben Matulino
11. Chris Lawrence
12. Josh Aloiai
13. Elijah Taylor (capt)
Interchange
14. Alex Twal
15. Sauaso Sue
16. Michael Chee Kam
17. Matt Eisenhuth
Reserves
18. Tyson Gamble
19. Robbie Rochow
20. Tim Grant
21. Chris McQueen
