Robbie Farah's as good as Cam Smith, says Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter
WESTS Tigers coach Mick Potter reckons Robbie Farah's form in 2013 proves he now rivals Cameron Smith as the game's best hooker.
Backing up from Origin II, Farah was again inspirational as he masterminded the Tigers' upset over Melbourne on Saturday night with a magnificent wet-weather performance just three days after he clocked up 52 tackles for NSW.
All season Potter has been signing the praises of his skipper and this is not the first time the coach has compared Farah to the Australian and Queensland captain.
"He is right up there (with Smith)," Potter said.
"I mean, it all depends on how you look at both players but they both have great attributes and I don't think you can split them.
"I'd hate to be the Australian selector to say who is in and who is out.
"It's good for Australia that they can both play 80 minutes for a team competing in the World Cup.
"To be fair to Robbie, he has been performing like that all year. He has been performing between a nine out of 10 and a 10 out of 10 every week. It is a credit to him how he maintains that standard every week but it is no coincidence when you see how hard he works."
However, Potter woke yesterday to more headlines about his future at the Tigers and speculation Benji Marshall could play Super Rugby for Auckland next year.
Asked if he expected Marshall to be at the Tigers next year, Potter said: "I'd like to think so. Benji loves playing for this club and he'd love nothing more than to stay here. I can't say if he will or he won't, but I'd like to think he'd be more inclined to be staying than going."
