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WESTS Tigers coach Jason Taylor has thrown another tin of petrol on his simmering feud with Robbie Farah.
In the wake of the his side’s 32-18 loss to the Roosters, Taylor was more than happy to hand over his support for James Tedesco to be elevated into the NSW State of Origin team after his return from injury.
But Taylor also refused to confirm if the NSW incumbent hooker would be rushed back into the Tigers’ starting team for Friday night’s clash with South Sydney.
Jason Taylor seemed to leave Robbie Farah’s future intentionally ambiguous.Jason Taylor seemed to leave Robbie Farah’s future intentionally ambiguous. Source: News Corp Australia
On a wet and wild afternoon at Allianz Stadium, Taylor had four chances to shut down the conversation about Farah’s immediate future in a bizarre post match media conference but instead he intentionally chose to leave the debate open.
Farah was officially rested from the match following Wednesday night’s gruelling State of Origin opener.
But even after Matt Ballin was forced out with a knee injury Taylor made no apologises for not playing Farah.
“We thought it was the right thing right from the start (to rest Farah) and continued to believe it was the right thing,” Taylor said.
“It was really important to have a strong team in the middle of the field and just with what Robbie had been through the last couple of weeks we just thought that was right.”
Taylor was then asked if Farah would be brought straight back in for this week’s game but was very coy with his response.
“I will assume so, we will look at that,” Taylor said.
Asked again what he meant by that, Taylor continued: “Well, each week stands on its own.
“We will work out exactly what is happening next week with our team.”
Asked if the decision would be based on Farah’s health or what was best for the team, Taylor added: “Both things.”
Former Tiger Bryce Gibbs took to Twitter to criticise Farah’s omission.
“Some great coaching today by the tigers coach by resting farah, shit didnt know you blokes were already in the semi’s! #peanut,’’ Gibbs tweeted.
The Tigers went into the game with new recruit Elijah Taylor at hooker who played strongly.
But the upcoming game against Souths will be the first time Taylor has had to choose between Farah and Ballin who have not played together so far this season after Ballin’s switch from Manly.
The Tigers’ record without Farah this year stands at four wins from six games, while it drops to just one win from seven games with Farah in the team.
Meanwhile, Tedesco was impressive in his first game back from injury, playing a hand in the Tigers two first half tries and then scoring himself while he was outstanding under the high ball in extremely difficult conditions.
“He was very impressive,” Taylor said.
“The guys voted him as our players player in that match.
“It was great to see him back. I think that game would have been a lot tougher without him back there.”
Asked if he expected to lose Tedesco in the coming weeks to the Blues, Taylor said: “I don’t know.
“That is one everyone wants to engage in but I don’t know what the selectors will do there.
“I know he is the best fullback in NSW but whether they want to pick him or not is up to them.”
While Taylor was happy with the effort from his team, he said the kicking game of his halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses and poor ball control cost the team.
“We didn’t play the conditions as well as we would have liked to,” he said.
“We planned for it and we knew what it was going to be like out there and we tried hard to control what we did, particularly kicking.
“Our kicking let us down and unforced errors were the issue for us today. They know that.
“Our halves put their hand up in the dressing room after the game which is great.
“It is really great that they are taking ownership for that.”
When does this shit from Taylor about Farah stop, what does he think it will achieve? surely it is effecting the squad, management need to step in and fix it once and for all, as I thought it was sorted out.
In the wake of the his side’s 32-18 loss to the Roosters, Taylor was more than happy to hand over his support for James Tedesco to be elevated into the NSW State of Origin team after his return from injury.
But Taylor also refused to confirm if the NSW incumbent hooker would be rushed back into the Tigers’ starting team for Friday night’s clash with South Sydney.
Jason Taylor seemed to leave Robbie Farah’s future intentionally ambiguous.Jason Taylor seemed to leave Robbie Farah’s future intentionally ambiguous. Source: News Corp Australia
On a wet and wild afternoon at Allianz Stadium, Taylor had four chances to shut down the conversation about Farah’s immediate future in a bizarre post match media conference but instead he intentionally chose to leave the debate open.
Farah was officially rested from the match following Wednesday night’s gruelling State of Origin opener.
But even after Matt Ballin was forced out with a knee injury Taylor made no apologises for not playing Farah.
“We thought it was the right thing right from the start (to rest Farah) and continued to believe it was the right thing,” Taylor said.
“It was really important to have a strong team in the middle of the field and just with what Robbie had been through the last couple of weeks we just thought that was right.”
Taylor was then asked if Farah would be brought straight back in for this week’s game but was very coy with his response.
“I will assume so, we will look at that,” Taylor said.
Asked again what he meant by that, Taylor continued: “Well, each week stands on its own.
“We will work out exactly what is happening next week with our team.”
Asked if the decision would be based on Farah’s health or what was best for the team, Taylor added: “Both things.”
Former Tiger Bryce Gibbs took to Twitter to criticise Farah’s omission.
“Some great coaching today by the tigers coach by resting farah, shit didnt know you blokes were already in the semi’s! #peanut,’’ Gibbs tweeted.
The Tigers went into the game with new recruit Elijah Taylor at hooker who played strongly.
But the upcoming game against Souths will be the first time Taylor has had to choose between Farah and Ballin who have not played together so far this season after Ballin’s switch from Manly.
The Tigers’ record without Farah this year stands at four wins from six games, while it drops to just one win from seven games with Farah in the team.
Meanwhile, Tedesco was impressive in his first game back from injury, playing a hand in the Tigers two first half tries and then scoring himself while he was outstanding under the high ball in extremely difficult conditions.
“He was very impressive,” Taylor said.
“The guys voted him as our players player in that match.
“It was great to see him back. I think that game would have been a lot tougher without him back there.”
Asked if he expected to lose Tedesco in the coming weeks to the Blues, Taylor said: “I don’t know.
“That is one everyone wants to engage in but I don’t know what the selectors will do there.
“I know he is the best fullback in NSW but whether they want to pick him or not is up to them.”
While Taylor was happy with the effort from his team, he said the kicking game of his halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses and poor ball control cost the team.
“We didn’t play the conditions as well as we would have liked to,” he said.
“We planned for it and we knew what it was going to be like out there and we tried hard to control what we did, particularly kicking.
“Our kicking let us down and unforced errors were the issue for us today. They know that.
“Our halves put their hand up in the dressing room after the game which is great.
“It is really great that they are taking ownership for that.”
When does this shit from Taylor about Farah stop, what does he think it will achieve? surely it is effecting the squad, management need to step in and fix it once and for all, as I thought it was sorted out.
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