Tigers legend Robbie Farah denies calling coach Michael Maguire an ‘effing C’ in loss to Warriors

Wests Tigers legend Robbie Farah has dismissed rumours he is undermining Michael Maguire, insisting he remains fully behind the under-pressure coach.

On Sunday reports emerged that Farah, who serves as the Tigers team trainer, had to be restrained on the sidelines after insulting Maguire in the closing stages of Wests’ 18-16 loss to the Warriors at Campbelltown Stadium. 

Farah, who played 277 games over two spells for Wests and is now the team trainer shared screenshots of text messages he received from 2GB’s Continuous Call Team host Mark Levy. 

Robbie Farah shared screenshots of a conversation he had with 2GB’s Continuous Call Team host Mark Levy, in which he dismissed rumours he insulted coach Michael Maguire

In the conversation, Levy told Farah several Tigers fans had contacted the show saying Farah was ‘pointing up to the coaches box and being pretty abusive about the decisions being made by the coach.’

The Continuous Call Team host added he wanted to reach out to Farah to hear his side of the story. 

The Tigers great flatly dismissed the allegations: ‘When you’re losing people will try pick at anything,’ he replied, adding the incident was ‘nothing whatsoever to do with the coaches’.

Levy seemed to agree and acknowledged the under-pressure Tigers were ‘an easy punching bag’ after opening the season with three straight losses.

Farah played 277 games over 16 years for the Tigers during two spells for the club

Following his retirement, the 38-year-old now serves as the Tigers’ team trainer

However, those words were thrown back at him, once he ran the story on Sunday. 

‘Laughable how the media can make a story from nothing,’ Farah tweeted as he shared screenshots of his texts exchange with Levy. 

‘In the words of @marklevy2gb: “Tigers are an easy punching bag atm”. He was true to his word. I’m Madge’s #1 [Michael Maguire] fan. Gonna have to try harder than that to tear us apart!! Nothing to see here.’

During his show on Sunday, Levy said he received an email from a concerned Wests fan, who claimed to be sat just behind the interchange bench and alleged Farah ‘complained loudly about team decisions.’

The Tigers have now lost their first three games of the NRL season and are bottom of the ladder

Piling further pressure on the shoulders of already under-fire boss Michael Maguire

According to Levy, the listener claimed that as two interchanges were coming off the field, Farah told them: ‘Don’t complain to me, it was that f*****g c**t up there’, as he pointed to the coaches box.

The listener claimed Farah’s swearing got to so bad that Tigers defensive coach Nathan Taylor had to step in ‘to calm him down’.

Farah acknowledged he had lost his temper on the sideline, but insisted he was not angry at Maguire.

‘[The] only thing I can think of is I was blowing up at one of our staff on the sideline ’cause there was a communication breakdown about an interchange I was supposed to make. Nothing whatsoever to do with the coaches.’

Wests centre James Roberts was spotted using his phone in the dressing room, in breach of NRL policy which bans players from using their mobiles up to 60mins before games

The incident is the latest entry in a growing list of off-field distractions for the Tigers. 

On Friday night, Fox Sports cameras showed Wests centre James Roberts breaching NRL rules by using his phone in the dressing room before the game against the Warriors.

Last week, Roberts and teammate Daine Laurie were spotted playing poker machines in a pub in Newcastle at 10pm the day before Wests were hammered 26-4 by the Knights.

On the field, the Tigers are still winless after suffering a controversial loss to the Warriors on Friday, in which the referee wiped off a seemingly perfectly legitimate try.