Bad back troubles Farah
Robbie Farah has played through excruciating pain during the past fortnight – so much so that he could barely walk the day the Tigers took on the Panthers in round four of the NRL.
The Wests Tigers favourite has started the season in strong form while secretly working around the clock to manage his troublesome back.
Coach Michael Maguire revealed last week that Farah may have missed tomorrow’s opening of Bankwest Stadium against Parramatta had there not been an 11-day break after the Tigers’ win against the Broncos in Brisbane on April 11.
‘‘It’s something I’ve had through my career – I’ll be good for a certain period of time, and then it will just go on me,’’ Farah said.
‘‘We were playing the Bulldogs and in the first five or 10 minutes I went for a run and I felt it go. I could barely run. I was a passenger most of that game.
‘‘I couldn’t walk the whole week leading up to the Penrith game. I actually had a few epidurals into the spine on the Tuesday to try and get myself out on the field. I didn’t train, I didn’t do captain’s run, and Madge [Maguire] said, ‘If you tell me you’ll be right Friday night, I trust you’. I said, ‘I’ll be right for Friday night’.
‘‘Up until kick-off, I was on the physio table. I brought my chiro to the ground to also treat me.
‘‘There was another short week to the Brisbane game, I lightened the training load, but I struggled through the warm-up and even then wasn’t sure I’d play.
‘‘It’s one of those things when I warm up I’m fine and I can get through it, but once it cools down I feel like a 60-year-old man.
‘‘We had the good win, Madge gave me four days off, and Wednesday was my first day back training. With the long turnaround, I’ll have enough time to get firing again.’’
Thankfully for the Tigers and Maguire, the star hooker is back fighting fit.
‘‘He’s come out the other side now and he’s in really good shape,’’ Maguire said. ‘‘Robbie’s professionalism when it comes to looking after his body is some of the best I’ve ever seen.’’
Farah underwent back surgery for a bulging disc more than a decade ago.
‘‘Arthritis starts to creep in, especially playing dummy half for 17 years and bending over all the time,’’ Farah said.
‘‘I’ve tried to strengthen my core to get through. Nine times out of 10 it’s all right, but then one day it will go. Anybody who has a back problem will understand.’’
It remains unlikely he will play an 18th season in the top flight next year, but nobody expected Farah to have such an impact for the Tigers at the start of this campaign.
Farah won’t take a backward step against Eels opposite Reed Mahoney, who was just seven years old and in primary school on the Sunshine Coast when the Tigers and a baby-faced Farah celebrated the club’s only title.
Tigers and Kiwi halfback
Benji Marshall’s hamstring injury has forced him out.