The Wests Tigers should pay Robbie Farah whatever money he is owed, thus allowing everyone to get on with their lives. Please spare the game from the headlines of this ridiculous public spat.
Let me say right from the outset that I regard Robbie Farah as a mate. I have personally witnessed the tremendous work he has done away from the playing field in using his profile to raise money for so many worthwhile causes. He is a quality person.
I also have a great deal of time for Tigers coach Jason Taylor. We may not agree with a coach's selection decisions from time to time, but I will defend to the hilt the right of any coach to select the team he thinks can win football games.
It goes without saying that the Wests Tigers are a massive brand in our game. They don't need this rubbish. Nor do they need to be choosing sides here in some battle of wills to resolve such a difficult situation.
This spat is about the salary cap. It's about Robbie's back-ended and now very expensive playing contract and the Tigers wanting to remove this player from their roster.
It's not Robbie's fault his contract was constructed this way. He was owed money and this is how the club chose to restructure the deal. Now the contract amount is a burden to the club. All Robbie wants is the money to which he is entitled.
Suck it up. Pay the man his money. Allow him to leave with the respect he deserves, in return for the service he has given the club.
Concentrate on the players you have now and keep building this great club for the future, as you are no doubt trying to. Twelve months goes by pretty quickly. By season 2018, the Tigers can be in a wonderful position.
We don't need to revisit suburban finals
Ever since we dispensed with playing Week One finals at suburban venues in 2010, we always seem to have a debate at this time of the year about bringing them back. The NRL correctly continue to knock such requests on the head. I can understand there will always be supporters who feel that if their team earns a home qualifying final, they will be somehow disadvantaged if that game is not played on their suburban home ground.
Keen for a Shark Park final Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan and captain Paul Gallen. Photo: Craig Golding
But really, people, we have moved on. The game can't survive, let alone grow, if we continue to look behind us. I'm not sure we should ever have played finals at suburban grounds. I loved the feel of finals matches being played at the SCG and, later, the Sydney Football Stadium.
More importantly, to those fans and others who advocate for their club officials to make representations to the NRL to move matches in these instances, they are doing a disservice to their own club.
The players at the club in question will need to play at that major ground in Week One of the finals and I don't think it does their confidence any good to have the message continually fed to them that they cannot perform as well away from their suburban ground.
Titans might just be the roadblock in Cronulla's way
Looking at Cronulla's draw, Monday night's clash against the Titans on the Gold Coast might be the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the Sharks breaking the Roosters' record of 19 successive wins, set back in 1975.
The Titans exceeded 30 points in a match for the first time since April, 2015, when they disposed of Parramatta last weekend and are building in confidence every week. While this is a huge test for the Titans, they will again have halves Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts steering the ship. When these two lads have played together this season, the Titans have won nine of 14. Taylor, who is certain to be the 2016 Rookie Of The Year, has been outstanding all season. He shows an on-field maturity well beyond his age and will cause the Sharks defence plenty of headaches.
With the return of Greg Bird from suspension the Titans can go a long way to securing a finals berth if they put an end to this incredible winning streak of the Sharks. If they can't, and the Sharks can overcome a five-day break and defeat the Raiders at home in Round 22, it's hard to believe they won't break the record, given that they then play the Dragons, Rabbitohs and Roosters, who have won just three games between them since the beginning of June.
Brilliant Barba is nearing his best
After three seasons, at three different clubs, struggling for form and confidence, it was hard to imagine that Ben Barba would again become one of the most dynamic attacking players in the NRL.
His first at the Sharks last year was spent mainly as a bench player. He only started in six games, with just three of those at full back. He scored three tries, made just four line breaks, four try assists, five line-break assists and had 35 tackle busts in 19 games. He ran for a total of 1,055 metres. This season, although having played one less game one less game, he has scored 13 tries, made 12 line breaks, 14 try assists, 14 line break assists and has made 71 tackle busts, running for a total of 1,898 metres.
Ben Barba celebrates a try with teammate Valentine Holmes.
This is a major transformation in form. His contribution to the Sharks this season has been nothing short of outstanding. Along with James Maloney and Chad Townsend, the Sharks have totally overhauled their spine in 2016.
The effect of these changes is not just reflected by their position on the competition table, but also in their ability to score points. Their game scoring average has gone up from 19.11 in 2015, to 26.77 this season.
Ben Barba won't win player of the year as he did in 2012, but he is again reminding us of his extraordinary talent. His form is a great boost for the game and a significant reason why the Sharks are currently leading the competition.
Trent Barrett proving his worth
It's so pleasing to see the Manly Sea Eagles making a late season charge in this competition. The club had a rocky start with so many changes to their playing roster and a number of injuries to key personnel. In typical Manly style, though, they have roughed it out through a very difficult period and are now playing some really good football.
I find this particularly pleasing for their first-season coach Trent Barrett, who has really been thrown in at the deep end with this tough initiation. I have always known this young man will make a quality NRL head coach and it's great to see his team starting to win games now they are getting closer to full strength.
The rapid development of young players like the Trbojevic brothers, not to mention the improvement in the form of several other experienced lads, is testimony to Barrett's confident and calming nature as a coach. He is the real deal.
On NRL refereeing
I have great respect for on-field referees, the difficulty of their jobs and the enormous pressure and scrutiny they are under. We know they are human and we know they will make mistakes. We accept this much. We also respect the fact that without referees, there is no game, at any level – from juniors through to the NRL.
However, NRL refereeing and NRL refereeing processes are now dominating our NRL product. Sadly, they are becoming the main focus. At the conclusion of the 2016 playing season, the NRL needs to have a serious look at the role of referees and video refereeing in our game. In fact, the whole refereeing process as it stands today needs a complete review.
When you watch a game of rugby league today, either on TV or at the ground, you get the feeling the whole event is about the refereeing. Everything is about the referees. Over time they have changed how rule are interpreted and applied. Referees are slowly having more and more say in how the game is played. This is wrong. That is not how this game should be portrayed.
Years ago, strong people in the ARL warned about giving referees too much power and allowing them to control the processes. These wise men were 100 per cent right.
Phil Gould is the general manager of football at the Penrith Panthers
