Jason Taylors Wests Tigers future questioned by Robbie Farahs lawyer
The Robbie Farah-Jason Taylor situation has taken a nasty twist with the lawyer representing Farah publicly questioning whether the Tigers coach will keep his job.
Julieanne Levick has been advising the NSW hooker in his ongoing battle with the Tigers.
The former skipper has asked for a release from the club and wants the $400,000 that he is owed up front plus his full contract paid out.
In an email to this column Levick said: . "An entirely appropriate move by Farah in the face of an untenable situation under Jason Taylor," Levick wrote.
"Farah's no fool, he's in charge of his destiny and once again he's made a wise choice to back himself.
"It's glaringly obvious that the club will suffer absent Farah and there is no doubt that Taylor will struggle in his attempt to steer the ship. I have every confidence that [Justin] Pascoe is a man of his word and he will pay Farah his full dues.
"All things considered, you really have to wonder how much longer Taylor has left at the club, it would be easy to get the feeling that Pascoe is hamstrung by the board."
Farah's manager, Sam Ayoub, explained the situation in an email.
"Danny, as disappointing as this is, it must be remembered that it was initiated by the Wests Tigers, it was publicly driven by the Wests Tigers and is still being driven by the Wests Tigers," he wrote. "The only parties that I feel sorry are Robbie Farah and the fans because this has been brought upon them.
"They have made it untenable but have publicly and directly committed to meeting all the financial obligations to Robbie.
"Today's speculation about which clubs Robbie will or won't join is nothing but that.
"We will deal with that side of things at the appropriate time but right now, there are other issues that need to be put to bed."
The issues at the club run far deeper than the Farah situation. Taylor doesn't know that the unconditional support that he thinks he has from Tigers officials is wavering. At the start of the year, he is a string of losses away from being a former coach of the Tigers. Let's put Farah to one side and start with the halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.
Make no mistake that Taylor wants them to be the focal point of his team it's a significant part of the reason Farah was snubbed. The problem is that both players are questioning whether they have long-term futures at the club.
They want to know who the coach is going to be after the first few months of the season. It's why they decided to postpone an option worth $600,000 for 2017 that was ready to be taken up in January. The club will tell you a different story.
When I first heard about the story, Tigers club boss Justin Pascoe set me straight.
"We, in conjunction with their management, proposed to extend their option date," he texted. Fair enough, but I'll believe what I'm getting told. And when rival clubs say they are getting told that the halves are on the market that is significant, but there will be denials they are being shopped.
Taylor also called me he has had media restrictions placed on him in recent weeks to explain his version and emphasise that it's wrong to think he is under pressure for his position. Point taken, and the board is making all the right noises. But there is enough underlying chatter to cast doubt on the situation.
