'He wasn't happy': Fresh twist emerges in Robbie Farah furore

A veteran rugby league reporter has leapt to the defence of Robbie Farah, after the Wests Tigers trainer was accused of publicly criticised under-fire coach, Michael Maguire.

Farah - the Tigers club legend who played under Maguire before taking a role on his support staff - found himself at the centre of an ugly storm, in the wake of Friday night's controversial loss to the New Zealand Warriors.

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The Tigers slumped to their third straight loss in the 16-12 defeat to the Warriors, with Farah accused of publicly berating Maguire in front of players and fans during the latter stages of the match.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the alleged incident took place late on in the game, with 2GB radio host Mark Levy reading out an email about Farah, purportedly from a fan at the game.

“On Friday night I was sitting in the western grandstand behind the players on the interchange bench,” the email stated.

“In the closing stages of the game, with the match on the line, Robbie Farah was venting abuse loudly about team decisions to the players. There was an interchange and he told the player coming off, ‘Don’t complain to me, it was that f****** c*** up there’, pointing to the coaches box.

“The F-words and C-words from Robbie were incredible, and all in front of a shocked crowd. It got so bad Nathan Cayless, our defence coach, had to summon Robbie over and tell him to calm down.”

Both the newspaper and the radio station contacted Farah to get his side of the story, with the Tigers trainer vehemently denying the alleged incident took place.

Farah - who was a staunch supporter of Maguire when he played under the coach - took to social media to claim it was another example of people trying to destabilise the footy club.

The 38-year-old shared a text exchange between himself and Levy, where he agreed that the embattled Tigers club were an "easy punching bag" for critics at the moment.

Crucially for Farah, veteran NewsCorp rugby league reporter Brent Read - who was in attendance on Friday night - also backed up the Tigers trainer's claims of innocence.

"Was on sideline on Friday night and had a bird’s eye view of @robbiefarah," Read tweeted.

"He wasn’t happy at one point but not once did I see him gesture towards coaches box or hear him say anything derogatory about the coach."

Tigers coach fumes over 'ridiculous' call

Maguire remained the focal point from the loss against the Warriors after fuming that an appeal for a try by Luciano Leilua was not sent to the bunker in the first half.

The Tigers looked to have scored what could have proved to be a decisive try when Leilua chased through on a Luke Brooks grubber kick and claimed he had grounded the ball.

On-field referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski did not refer it to the bunker, instead immediately awarding for a 20-metre tap as play moved on.

Quick replays were also unclear on if it had been grounded or bounced, further frustrating the Tigers.

"I just don't understand that. I really don't understand," Maguire said.

"When you've got that much technology in our game that you can't go back and see it. It's ridiculous really.

"They're big moments for teams that are going through a period like we are.

"Yeah, we had an opportunity at the back end. But it changes the mentality within a game."

Tigers captain James Tamou claimed he did not receive an explanation from Przeklasa-Adamski, questioning the point of the $3.2 million bunker if it is not used.

"I think he's just tried to continue to play the game, which at some points of the game later on in the night, was not there," Tamou said.

Maguire also drew comparisons between the bunker's ability to stop play to remove players after head knocks were spotted, but this play was allowed to be moved on.

Making matters worse, it came back to haunt the Tigers as they trailed 16-12 for the majority of the second half but couldn't take their chances.

with AAP

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