Farah is more of a playmaker in general play than Buderus. He'll do his flashy stuff, it'll come off, and he's brilliant for that.
However, and I can't help but be biased here so forgive me for that, every time something needs to be done for the Knights it's almost always Buderus that does it and rarely fails.
What it seems to come down to is spark. Farah has a lot more spark than Buderus. He excites the crowd and gets the team fired up with a bit of individual flair. Really, who wants to see a hooker that only passes the ball to first receiver? This is what frustrates the hell out of me about Buderus in rep games, he never seems to DO anything in attack. Then someone like Wing comes on and makes a darting run, and everyone says 'about bloody time'.
Buderus is more than capable of that kind of play and he does actually do stuff for Newcastle. There's a reason why most Knights fans give Buderus points in our player of the week polls just about every week, whether it's a huge win or a crushing loss. He is at the centre of everything that Newcastle does and that's why I wouldn't swap him for anyone at Newcastle. His presence and efforts mean much more than individual stats.
But when it comes down to it, for me it's like comparing Schifcofske and Bowen, or Thurston and Johns, or Fittler and Campbell. Everyone wants someone in their side that makes 10 linebreaks a game, 5 try assists, puts a couple of chips over the top, worries the defense with every touch of the ball and make 40 metres from dummy half. It makes sense. Buderus isn't that player. It isn't his job in the team.
Where it gets unbalanced is, in reality, a lot of people would want their entire team to be flashy like that. Put a Bowen at fullback, one in each of the three-quarter positions, for both halves, at hooker and maybe a couple on the bench and you'd have a pretty gun team. In that instance, it'd probably make the more traditional position specialists look obsolete and struggling, and you'd question their role in the team when it's obvious Bowen would have more attacking spark than Bowman, so why put up with someone who's just 'safe'?
In that way it's increasingly difficult to elect who is more suitable for which role on the field. 5/8's today are either running support players with some ball skill, who could also play in the forwards, or quick and agile buggers that add more options, and could also do so from fullback. Some hookers can play at halfback, some bench players could do a capable job anywhere on the field. It's up to what the team needs and in a lot of teams now, position and number on the jersey is really a formality that doesn't indicate the role of the player. In a way, I tend to think a reliance on a flashy hooker means a deficiency in attack somewhere else on the field, but for a team like the Tigers that really isn't the case; Farah's just that good a player.
I'm only trying to justify the necessity of Buderus because Farah makes him look bad with his attacking play. But I don't really think you can assess a player, especially in this position sometimes looked at as a berth for utility players (and busy wingers), by a comparison of stats. It's a struggle with no chance of convincing anyone, but really it's 'just the vibe of the thing' ;-)
(by the way, they're both good players...)
