IT’S time for Robbie Farah to cut the cord and leave the Wests Tigers.

Or to put it bluntly — pay out his salary and show him the door.

Former Wests Tigers NYC coach Brett Kimmorley said while Farah may not admit it, it’s the best decision for the club and him as a player.

After the veteran hooker was axed from the NRL side last week, he ran around in front of a couple hundred fans for the Wests Tigers’ reserve grade side.

Round 20

He now faces the very real possibility of finishing his career there unless he cuts his losses and moves on.

Speaking as a player who has previously received the tap on the shoulder from a coach, Kimmorley said a change of scenery is exactly what the 32-year-old needs.

“Jason Taylor’s a rookie coach but I think it’s created a witch hunt because of how poorly it was handled last year,” Kimmorley said on Fox Sports News.

“It happened last year. You could tell the decision was going to happen at some stage.

“Just pay him his due entitlements and say ‘Robbie, please leave the football club,’ do we want another 12 months of this?

“… I got tapped on the shoulder when I left Cronulla … It happens. I moved on. I went and played two years at Canterbury and it was the best thing for me.”

Coach Taylor has been tough in his stance the Tigers are a better side without Farah and opted for an unlikely hooking partnership of Dene Halatau and Jordan Rankin in Sunday’s win over St George Illawarra.

Kimmorley believes both club and player have no choice but to part ways with their current situation untenable.

“(Jason Taylor’s) making a decision. Fans know Robbie Farah is a club legend and deserves to be a club legend but that doesn’t mean you deserve the right to have a fairy-tale,” Kimmorley said.

“The club, if they’re supporting the coach, they have to pay Robbie his money. That’s the only outcome I can see.

“You’re on $900,000 next year, it’s not your fault. You’ve looked after the club taking pay cuts (but) leave.

“He’s not going to get picked again.”

Welcome to the round 20 Highs, Lows, and Big Blows!

Newcastle coach Nathan Brown joins Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover to discuss the Knights’ recruitment strategy and the biggest challenges facing the club.

You can alsosubscribe via iTunesor for Android users, listen on the iPP Podcast Player app.

HIGHS



Captain Croker

Talk about your captain’s knock. Jarrod Croker’s hat-trick — including an 82nd minute matchwinner — and 18-point haul to sink the Warriors only tells half the story.

The devil was in the detail. His first try came when the Raiders needed it most. After they’d spent practically an entire half defending their line, it was Croker making the call for Aidan Sezer’s grubber, and he was all over it.

A minute later he was carving up down the left edge, grubber, regathering and laying on a try for Joseph Tapine when there was nothing doing. In the space of two minutes he changed the game. Then for good measure he won it as well with that matchwinner.



Benji honoured, Holmes serenaded

It’s always nice to see fans interacting with the game’s stars, no matter the outcome of the game.

Benji Marshall and Valentine Holmes walked away from their respective games with very different results, but both were treated to something pretty special after the siren.

Marshall was honoured with a haka by members of the crowd to celebrate his 250th game in the NRL despite losing badly to Wests Tigers.

Holmes was sung “happy birthday” by Sharks fans as he lined up a conversion after the siren — which he missed.

Milestone men make it happen

It seems 150 was the magic number for this round of rugby league.

First it was Penrith forward Trent Merrin who, playing his 150th NRL game, notched up some remarkable numbers to help sink Brisbane on Friday.

Merrin ran the ball 22 times for 207 metres gained, made 29 tackles and busted the line three times.

He then scored a try in the dying minutes just for good measure.

On Saturday it was Warriors veteran Manu Vatuvei who recorded his 150th try in the competition.

And in true Beast style it was a stunning effort, juggling the ball several times on the sideline before getting airborne to plant the ball in the corner.

Old-school scrum trick

Cronulla has won 15 games on the trot but they’re still pulling rabbits out of the hat.

On Sunday we saw something we haven’t seen for many years — and something we might not see again.

When Newcastle earned a scrum feed 10m from their defensive line, Wade Graham packed into the Sharks’ front row as a prop.

If that wasn’t strange enough he actually won the scrum for his side, raking the ball from the Knights backwards for his own side.

The Sharks threw the ball right and Valentine Holmes scored a try.



LOWS



Premiership claims plummet

Do we need to bother with a four-week finals series this year?

At the moment it seems any club outside the top three can just about pack their bags and go home.

Brisbane was embarrassed by a 31-12 loss to Penrith at Suncorp Stadium to continue a run of poor form for the 2015 grand finalists.

And on Thursday night Canterbury failed to fire a shot as North Queensland walked all over their southern rivals, winning 36-0.

Eels’ season over ... officially

Parramatta was never realistically going to play finals after the NRL imposed its 12-point penalty on the club.

But there was a glimmer of hope ... that was until the Eels were thrashed by Gold Coast on Saturday.

It’s now about saving some face for the club that has endured a horror year.

Obstruction rule confuses again

Debate over the NRL’s tightened obstruction laws reignited on Sunday when Ben Barba was denied what looked like a clear-cut try.

From halfway, Cronulla’s Michael Ennis passed to Paul Gallen who produced a perfect inside ball for Barba to run between his teammates and sprint 50 metres to score.

Upon review the man in the bunker judged Ennis has impeded a Newcastle defender.

The circus continues.





BIG BLOWS



Grant whacked, Ah Mau reported

There were disturbing scenes at ANZ Stadium on Sunday when Tigers forward Tim Grant was floored by Leeson Ah Mau’s shoulder in the first half.

With his first touch of the game Grant was collected high and collapsed to the ground, remaining there while club medicos and paramedics placed him onto a stretcher.

Grant was seen walking around the sheds soon after but he took no further part in the game.

Ah Mau was put in the referee’s book for his high shot.

Big guns hamstrung

Johnathan Thurston. Jarrod Mullen. Nathan Friend.

All three respected veterans of the game are staring at time on the sideline thanks to dodgy hamstrings.

Thurston could probably do with a rest anyway following the Origin period, and he’ll miss one to two games.

But for Mullen and Friend, the consequences could be much more sinister.

Friend is retiring at the end of the season and with Nathan Peats now occupying the No. 9 jumper, let’s hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of the likeable hooker.

Mullen has battled the injury already this year and will be hoping it’s not as severe as last time.

Blake’s rollercoaster 26 minutes

A lot can happen in 26 minutes of football. Just ask Waqa Blake.

In the seventh minute of Friday’s game against Brisbane the Penrith centre had the chance to open the scoring but spilt the ball in open space just metres from the line.

He redeemed himself two minutes later when he intercepted a Broncos kick on his own line, ran 100 metres and scored.

About 15 minutes later he was taken from the field after knocking himself out while attempting to take a speccy close to the tryline.

Over time could push Warriors over the edge

If the Warriors miss the finals for the fifth straight year you get the feeling it won’t be by much.

They’ve had much worse performances that have cost them throughout the year. But you’d hope the oh-so-close, oh-so-far manner in which they’ve gone down in the past fortnight won’t be the clincher.

For the second week running the New Zealanders were dusted in golden point, the Raiders having the last laugh after the Warriors had fought back from 22-4 down with 12 minutes remaining.

It was a particularly tough pill to swallow considering how they sent the game into extra time. If David Fusitu’a’s stunning last second touchdown wasn’t worthy of a win, then surely Issac Luke’s sideline conversion to level up was.

Download the new FOX SPORTS App to get the latest news and scores from your NRL team.



