Robbie Farah celebrates milestone as Wests Tigers beat North Queensland Cowboys
As milestone games go, this was a cracker. Robbie Farah celebrated his 301st NRL game in style as Wests Tigers made mincemeat out of North Queensland at Leichhardt Oval.
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Rarely before has the eighth wonder of the world heard such a thunderous roar.
After their favourite son crashed over to score from dummy half in the 19th minute on Thursday night, the faithful at Leichhardt Oval broke into a boisterous chant.
“Robbie, Robbie, Robbie.”
They were of course referring to retiring club legend, Robbie Farah.
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Each time Farah did something special — and that was often on Thursday night — the crowd at Leichhardt Oval, known cheekily by locals as the eighth wonder of the world, screamed as one.
Farah celebrated his 300th game despite passing the milestone last week.
And he was in everything — kicking, finding touch, putting pressure on kickers, collecting rebounds, ducking out of dummy half, scoring a try, denying tries and charging down kicks.
This was vintage Farah, who played the entire 80 minutes in Wests Tigers’ thumping 28-4 win over North Queensland.
There was an LED tribute at the northern end which read #ROBBIE300 and Farah T-shirts were being sold.
And when the Tigers legend led his side onto his beloved Leichhardt, he was greeted by the majority of fans wearing Farah face masks.
There was video tribute to Farah on the big screen, a post-match on-field presentation and he ran through a massive 300 banner.
“You fans are unbelievable,” Farah said. “We will do everything we can to get back into the semi-finals.”
Farah was involved from the start, charging down a Michael Morgan kick in just the first minute before regaining the ball.
“What Robbie is doing, he’s playing really composed. He understands what the team needs, he is playing a really controlled game for us,” said Wests Tigers coach, Michael Maguire.
Leichhardt Oval is outdated but the 10,016 fans there wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.
MADGE’S TAUNT
After his side’s loss to Canberra two weeks ago, Tigers coach Michael Maguire publicly challenged his side.
“We need to harden up as a group,” he said. He also said the players had to have a “look in the mirror.”
After back-to-back wins, the Tigers have their bite back and look like predators again.
The home side had some muscle and whack in defence and built a match-winning 16-0 halftime lead.
“That was our best defensive effort since I’ve been here,” Maguire said.
TERRIFIC TIGERS
The dream is still alive.
Wests Tigers move to 20 competition points with nine wins in 19 matches.
It was thought 28 points would be the finals cut-off but that may now be 26.
With five games remaining, the Tigers still have another 10 points on offer — more than enough to qualify.
They sit inside the top eight but that stay may be brief, depending on other results during the round.
In a memorable first-half moment, their fullback Corey Thompson, who is 178cm tall and weighs only 91kg, showed courage to stop a rampaging and runaway Jason Taumalolo from running over him to score.
“The more they believe in themselves, this group, the sky is the limit,” Maguire said.
LIMP COWBOYS
Despite the return of Michael Morgan, North Queensland could only muster one try.
They have just seven wins this season and are sure done for the year.
They have endured a horrid season with injury, but there can be no excuses.
There was, however, a dubious no-try decision against the Cowboys close to half-time when winger Kyle Feldt appeared to score.
The Cowboys haven’t won at Leichhardt since 2000.
“It’s very disappointing. A couple of decisions early went against us which I didn’t necessarily agree with,” said Cowboys coach Paul Green.
WESTS TIGERS 28 (E Marsters 2 R Farah C Lawrence P Momirovski tries M Mbye 3 P Momirovski goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 4 (K Feldt try) at Leichhardt Oval. Referee: Jon Stone, Grant Atkins. Crowd: 10,016.
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