After the Wests Tigers captain was unceremoniously dumped last week, many fans’ hearts were broken. He had been a one-team player, a fierce defender of the Tigers who, on the back of the sacking, pulled up his socks and turned in a man of the match-winning performance on the weekend.
Now Farah’s love for the club has been spelled out at the bottom line. Former teammate Benji Marshall claimed on Fox Sports last night that he and Farah took significant pay cuts to support the club in 2012 when it was at risk of breaching the salary cap.
“In 2012 the club came to us and said we’re going to be ‘X’ amount over the cap,” Marshall said.
“I think I took an $80,000 pay cut and Robbie took a $200,000 pay cut for two years in a row.”
Tigers coach Jason Taylor has been forced into damage-control mode. He met last night with reportedly furious club sponsors to appease their concerns.
Former Balmain coach and broadcaster Alan Jones has called for Taylor and CEO Marina Go to be sacked and for Farah to be made 'captain-coach'.
“These people have taken the club to the bottom of the bird cage,” Jones told Fox Sports on Tuesday.
Blues coach Laurie Daley said if Farah stayed with the club in its reserve grade, he would still be an Origin contender.
But for many, it was not the fact Farah was dropped, it was the manner in which it was handled.
Reporter Danny Weidler wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that the skipper was being frozen out. He was left out of leadership meetings. He had injured his shoulder in Origin and backed up for a club game, only to injure his hand -- and he felt the club wasn’t supporting him through his injury.
For some, it was a coach and CEO without proven track record who were presuming to oust a stalwart and talent.
As to whether Farah deserved better treatment from the club, we’ll leave the last word to the fans at his final home game.