After Cooper Cronk defied the odds to wear the Sydney Roosters' No.23 jersey in last year's grand final with a broken shoulder blade, it is never safe to completely rule out a big-name player from a big game. But Farah's best hopes of returning at least one more time for his beloved club now hinge on the Tigers beating Cronulla and booking a spot in week one of the finals. On a cool and windy morning at Leichhardt Oval, The Sun-Herald captured images of Farah standing around in a grey hoodie, beanie and tracksuit pants. He spent most of the morning session sitting in the stands, just behind Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe and near chairman Barry O'Farrell, sometimes checking his phone, before he returned to the field as his teammates gathered in a huddle at the end of the run. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video He shook hands with coach Michael Maguire, who did well to keep everyone guessing all week, before he shared a laugh and an embrace with halfback Luke Brooks.

Benji Marshall and Josh Reynolds ran at dummy half, the same arrangement the club has adopted during the past fortnight while Farah has recovered from a cracked tibia. To stick with the script, the Tigers culled their squad from 21 players to 19 on Saturday afternoon, but made a point of leaving Farah on the extended team list. Robbie Farah on the sidelines of training. Credit:Christopher Pearce The top-eight shootout sold out within hours of the Tigers' big win over St George Illawarra last Sunday – there was a significant spike in ticket sales around the time Paul Momirovski bagged his second try approaching the hour mark of the 42-14 win – and the black, white and orange faithful are still expected to give Farah an appropriate farewell. Cronulla coach John Morris had made a point of not buying into the intense Farah speculation.

"My head says that he won't play," said Morris, who played alongside Farah at Wests Tigers. "Obviously it's a huge call to bring him in there and disrupt a winning combination with [Josh] Reynolds and Benji [Marshall]. They've been doing a wonderful job for them. "My head as a coach says [Maguire] probably won't want to change that combination. My heart says Robbie Farah completes his fairytale and gets his last game at Leichhardt Oval. And I actually hope, for his own sake, he gets a chance to play. Loading "He's been a legend of that club, he and Benji have been spiritual leaders at Leichhardt Oval for all these years and I think it's a great story if he does get a chance to play.