Robbie Farah is back!
Yes, Wests Tigers fans, head coach Jason Taylor has named the NSW Origin hooker in the number 9 jumper for Easter Monday’s blockbuster against the Parramatta Eels at Homebush in round 4.
The club says Farah has recovered from a pre-season knee injury and will line-up for his first NRL match of 2016.
And the truth is even those fans who took the club’s side against Farah during the feud of 2015 will be glad he’s back after last week’s immature performance by the Wests Tigers young guns in the halves.
And that’s to be expected from precociously talented youngsters like Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses – they will be inconsistent from time to time.
They will be brilliant and then they will be awful, as was the case on the Gold Coast last Saturday night.
So having Robbie Farah among them should help, so long as the former skipper gets out on the field with just one goal: help his team win a footy game.
While the club welcomes back one old stager, another one will be missing this week.
Vice captain Chris Lawrence will miss the game after accepting a one week suspension for a dangerous throw on Gold Coast forward Ryan James on Saturday night.
The return of Farah and suspension of Lawrence means another veteran, Dene Halatau, is shifted from hooker to the backrow for the Eels clash.
The interchange bench remains the same from the Gold Coast match, however no 18th man has been named this week with Michael Chee Kam returning to the Intrust Super Premiership NSW side.
Other than those changes, Jason Taylor continues to be Mr Consistency in his selection policy, retaining the rest of the players who travelled north for round three
In Holden Cup team news, Jaleel Seve suffered a knee injury during last weekend’s loss to the Titans and is replaced by Bayley Sironen in the starting line-up.
Monday’s game will be the first year Wests Tigers have hosted the traditional Easter clash with the Eels since it was introduced in 2014 – with the club winning both previous encounters.
Wests Tigers NRL – Round 4 v Eels:
1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Tim Simona
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Jordan Rankin
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods (C)
9. Robbie Farah
10. Tim Grant
11. Kyle Lovett
12. Dene Halatau
13. Sauaso Sue
Interchange:
14. Josh Aloiai
15. Ava Seumanufagai
16. Jack Buchanan
17. Manaia Cherrington
UNAVAILABLE:
Matt Ballin (knee – Round 10 approx.)
Justin Hunt (back – indefinite)
Curtis Sironen (Round 6)
Chris Lawrence (suspension – Round 5)
