Farah back on track for now
10/04/2008 4:11:22 PM
Steve Orme
Sportal
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens says Robbie Farah must simply learn to manage the back ailment which saw him miss Monday night's loss to the Panthers.
Sheens watered down comparisons between the 24-year-old's back problem and the separate injuries which saw Roosters star Anthony Minichiello miss the best part of two seasons, but agreed the situation had to be taken seriously.
"He has to manage it the same way guys manage hamstrings and bad knees and blokes running around with no cartilage in their knees have to manage it," Sheens said.
"It doesn't mean you can't play, it just means you tailor their weight training programs and that sort of thing."
"But it's not got to anywhere near that stage yet."
Farah showed no signs of discomfort upon his return to full-contact session on Thursday after a 10-day layoff.
But all eyes will now be focused on his recovery the morning after.
"I suppose the big question now will be how he turns up tomorrow after he was defending and knocking people over and running pretty comfortably and kicking the ball," Sheens said.
Farah has been named at halfback for the Round 5 clash rather than in his more familiar role at hooker - a move Sheens says is nothing more than a quick fix.
But the coach has every confidence Farah will excel in the all-important position.
"He played there (No.7) last year and he's played there as a kid," Sheens said.
"In fact the corresponding round last year I think he played Canberra in Canberra as a halfback."
"But it's only short term, it might only be a week or two at most."
"There's an argument about keeping your best players in their best positions but there's also an argument about putting your best players on the field and finding a position for them - and we're in the second category at the moment."
Sheens refuted suggestions he had been asked by NSW selectors to play Farah at halfback amid rumours he is a candidate to fill the contentious No.7 spot for the Blues.
"There's no way I'm going to affect our team for that at this stage," he insisted.
Meanwhile, injured five-eighth Benji Marshall has returned to the training paddock seemingly untroubled by the knee injury suffered with his first touch of the season in Round 1.
But while hopeful his star playmaker will return sooner than the initial prediction of Round 11, Sheens insisted the club would take a cautious approach with the Kiwi international.
"Without starting a media frenzy again on Benji and when he'll be back, I think we are hoping he'll be back early as you do with most injuries," Sheens said.
"He's working well but there's no way we're going to take a risk with it, we want him back healthy."
"But he's doing a lot of good things, he's already running around and there's no limp and there's no swelling."
