Farah plays down Titans bust-up - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Farah plays down Titans bust-up

By Ian McCullough 02/09/2010 06:55:46 PM Comments (0)

West Tigers skipper Robbie Farah has played down any talk of a potential flashpoint with Gold Coast hooker Nathan Friend ahead of Friday's crunch NRL clash at Skilled Park.

Farah and Friend traded blows when the two sides met in a bad-tempered clash at Campbelltown in round 18 after Farah accused Friend of trying to head butt him as they packed down for a scrum.

It was one of three bust-ups between the sides as the Tigers edged out the Titans 15-14, in a game that saw Gold Coast backrower Mark Minichiello sent to the sin-bin for striking.

However, Farah denied there was any bad blood between the sides, who will battle it out for a place in the top two on the ladder in the final round of the season.

"I think it will be a lively game because of the fact that it's an important game for both teams," Farah said.

"We are both trying to get in the top two and it will be a very intense atmosphere and that has nothing to do with what happened at Campbelltown, that is gone and forgotten."

Farah also admitted securing a finals spot for the first time in five years had lifted the pressure around the club and said it would have been a major failure had they failed to make the top eight.

"There was definite pressure on us to make the semis, with the squad we have assembled I think anything less than the semi-finals wouldn't have been good enough. (Coach) Tim (Sheens) will say the same thing," Farah said.

"But it is one thing to make the semis, it is another to do something in them and that is what we intend to do."

The Tigers will be without Bryce Gibbs, Geoff Daniela, Liam Fulton and John Skandalis for the trip to south-east Queensland.

Centre Chris Lawrence is also sidelined with a broken jaw, sustained in the win over Melbourne last week, and Sheens revealed he is considering handing a NRL debut to Balmain-Ryde NSW Cup fullback Sean Meaney, with Mitch Brown to play at centre.

"He is a specialist fullback who represented NSW Residents this year and played well," Sheens said.

"He has played very well in the Balmain-Ryde side that has done well. I'm looking at maybe giving him a start."

The Tigers also announced on Thursday that they would play their home finals matches at the Sydney Football Stadium.

"We are very fortunate to have three wonderful home venues and whilst we love Campbelltown Sports Stadium and Leichhardt Oval, the Sydney Football Stadium is the logical choice to host our much anticipated home final," said Tigers CEO Stephen Humphreys.

"The Sydney Football Stadium is widely regarded as the premier rugby league venue in Sydney and we feel strongly that the big games deserve to be staged at the best venues."

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