Robbie Farah back in favour as Wests Tigers edge Melbourne Storm 18-16 in NRL trial

ROBBIE Farah is back in favour at the Tigers and the NSW hooker combined with classy halfback Luke Brooks to save the Tigers’ bacon against the Storm.

Robbie Farah in camp with the West Tigers at Nelson Bay. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

ROBBIE Farah has defended his withdrawal from the Indigenous All Stars clash after helping the Tigers to a gutsy 18-16 trial defeat of Melbourne.

One of the code’s most polarising characters, Farah attracted criticism after pulling out of the All Stars clash to embark on a trip to America to watch the Superbowl.

Farah only returned from his 31,000km odyssey on Wednesday, but there were no signs of jet lag as he, Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses combined to sink the Storm at Sunshine Coast Stadium.

The NSW hooker played the opening 30 minutes and later broke his silence to discuss the most turbulent period of his career, including the ructions surrounding his All Stars absence.

“The truth is I was keen to play for the World All Stars,” Farah said last night.

“I wanted to fly straight in to Australia to play but the earliest I would have got back with the time difference would have been Wednesday so it wouldn’t have been fair on the other guys.

“I told Wayne (Bennett, World coach) I wanted to play, but he made the call that I was going to miss the first day in camp and he said you are better off just going off to enjoy yourself.

“I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to the Superbowl. I got the tickets last year and ‘JT’ (Tigers coach Jason Taylor) was never going to pick me in the Nines team so the timing worked out well.”

The 32-year-old Farah was given an early shower just before half-time but not before helping the Tigers to an early 8-0 lead.

The youthful Melbourne side stunned the Tigers to lead 16-8 at half-time, but the injection of classy halfback Brooks in the second half halted the Storm’s dominance.

Tigers winger Josh Addo-Carr finished with two tries and teammate David Nofoaluma delivered the 69th-minute match-winner as Farah savoured his renewed passion for rugby league.

“It’s good to be back, it’s the longest pre-season I’ve had in a while. It’s good to get out there and finally play some footy,” he said.

The Tigers fielded a stronger squad than the Storm. Wests rolled out regular first-graders Farah, Moses, Brooks and prop Tim Grant, while Melbourne fielded a vastly inexperienced squad skippered by forward Kenny Bromwich.

Aided by their big-game experience, the Tigers dominated the opening exchanges and converted pressure into points when winger Addo-Carr crashed over in the third minute.

The Tigers then extended their lead to 8-0 just seconds before quarter-time, centre Michael Chee Kam using his strength to finish a backline raid on Melbourne’s right edge.

The Storm barely enjoyed field position in the first 20 minutes but that changed with the injection of hulking prop Jordan McLean and Queensland Emerging Origin back-rower Tim Glasby.

Glasby made the run of the game early in the second quarter and the Storm capitalised shortly after when boom Kiwi prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona barged over from close range in the 27th minute.

The Storm then claimed the lead four minutes before half-time, winger Jeremy Hawkins outmuscling rival Justin Hunt for a 10-8 advantage.

Buoyed by a surge in momentum, Melbourne then edged further clear two minutes before the break. Exciting Australian Schoolboys centre Curtis Scott ran a superb straight line and sliced through some feeble Tigers defence to give the Storm a 16-8 half-time lead.

The Tigers received a minor scare in the 24th minute when slick playmaker Moses went down after taking a knock to his hand, but he eventually recovered to finish the match.

Trailing by eight at the break, the Tigers came alive in the third quarter with the injection of gun halfback Luke Brooks.

The future NSW Origin playmaker was on the park just seven minutes when he delivered a sublime cut-out pass for speedy winger Addo-Carr, who posted his second try to whittle the deficit to 16-12.

The Tigers should have taken the lead seconds before three-quarter time, but Brooks’ long ball to unmarked fullback Jordan Rankin was ruled forward.

Eventually, the youthful Storm side cracked, Nofoaluma showing impressive pace to win a dash for the corner post 11 minutes from time to break Melbourne’s hearts.