ROBBIE FARAH has a habit of winning the important battles. And it doesn’t get more important than what is set to be a sizzling clash scheduled for this Saturday at Blackmore Oval.

Farah has premiership ring with the Wests Tigers in 2005, and has come out trumps in some well-publicised off-field stoushes in recent times.

But he reluctantly relinquished his Tigers’ captaincy to NSW team mate Aaron Woods this season, and you can be guaranteed the injured hooker won’t be letting Woodsy steal the spoils easily in a special event Saturday derby at Leichhardt.

media_camera Woods and Farah are great mates, and say that Saturday’s event is an opportunity for fans to support a couple of local clubs. Picture: John Appleyard

Pride will be on the line when Farah and Woods go head-to-head, as assistant coaches in a territorially charity match at Blackmore Oval.

It has been hailed as the 2040 Cup, with 2040 being the Leichhardt postcode and a popular hashtag by those who love the suburb’s roots.

Leichhardt Wanderers will wear the traditional red jerseys with two black rings and the Leichhardt Juniors will wear their traditional black jerseys with gold Vs.

As assistant coach of the Wanderers, Farah will be barking orders to some of his former team mates, in a strong team spearheaded by former New Zealand international Bronson Harrison.

“I never won a grand final in my whole life, going through juniors, other sports, until 2005,” Farah said.

media_camera Leichhardt Wanderers Billy Ratumaiyale (5), Leichhardt Juniors Ty Rokomaqisa (6) and Koli Rokomaqisa (7) with Leichhardt Wanderers Archie Ratumaiyale (8) are the next generation of young Leichhardt players. Picture: John Appleyard

“I played alongside a lot of the Wanderers boys who will be playing in this match, and they are all pretty competitive.

“There’s a strong rivalry between the clubs that’s for sure.

“That’ll come out on the field I reckon.”

For the Leichhardt Juniors, Woods will be looking to former Gold Coast Titans halfback Josh Lewis to spearhead his team’s attack.



“If I had any tips to tell the boys it would be to go hard and rip into it,” Woods said.

“Wanderers have always been our rivals, and as a player you always wanted to go one up on the other Leichhardt club.

media_camera Bronson Harrison had a stint with Wests Tigers. media_camera Josh Lewis is a former Wests Tigers player.

“Across the two clubs everyone was always mates, but it’d be a fierce competition when you faced the other Leichhardt side.”

Woods spent a fair amount of time at Juniors last year coaching some junior teams, and he said he didn’t have to think twice when asked to be involved in Saturday’s match.

“The Leichhardt Juniors team is going to be made up of all the guys I watched when I was a kid, and I was a ball-boy for a lot of the guys,” he said.

“We’ve got a good team, they’ll do well I’d say.”

Organiser of the match Adam Thompson said it was an important day to raise money for the two local rugby league clubs.

“The idea is that it is an old boys match played between former players of both clubs,” he said.

“Gates will open at midday, and there will be the usual games in the morning — and all the games will be Wanderers against Juniors

media_camera Wests Tigers Farah and Woods are two of the club’s most popular players. Photo: Jenny Evans

“The main match will kick off at 3pm and we’ll just be asking people to make a donation at the gate and we’ll have a raffle and a few other things going on.

“All the profits will be split down the middle, but the raffle money will go to the aid efforts in Fiji — as both clubs have a long history of Fijian members, which reflects the local community around Leichhardt.”

Mr Thompson said that players in the two sides would be aged 28 to 40, and they had to have played at least four years at their club previously.

“We’re getting each player to donate $100 to the charity, and also to attend a junior session and help out training the kids,” he said.

“The goal would be to make this an annual event.

“Council have been great in supporting the day, and have helped us out loads.”

Leichhardt Mayor, and long-time Wests Tigers fan, Darcy Byrne said he thought the match was an important concept to ensure grassroots footy stays alive in the area.

Woods and Farah both said they thought the day would draw some big crowds, and that with a scheduled rest day that plenty of the Wests Tigers NRL squad would be heading along to watch the main spectacle.

● The 2040 Cup between Leichhardt Juniors and Leichhardt Wanderers is on Saturday at 3pm at Blackmore Oval, with gates opening at midday

● Wests Tigers will take on Manly on Monday at Leichhardt Oval, from 7pm

● Use #NRLTigersManly to follow the action and keep up to date with all the latest Wests Tigers news at Inner West Courier’s Facebook page.