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Robbie Farah: Benji's Tigers renaissance & his latest venture to support athletes
Sport Nation •  April 1st, 2026 9:52 am
Robbie Farah | Photo: Photosport
During his 16 years in Campbelltown (and brief stint at Redfern with the Rabbitohs), Wests Tigers legend Robbie Farah always prided himself on his support play - and he's carrying that same ethos into retirement.
Now six years removed from the elite NRL level, the NSW Origin veteran has become quite the entrepreneur.Â
Now working as an investment banker, the 42-year-old established a travel experience company for sports fans, creating packages for punters to jet to some of the globe's most iconic sporting events.
But his latest venture, Athletes First, is a company designed to provide support for professional sportsmen and women to prepare for life after the boots are hung up - a predicament that hits close to home.
"As an athlete, when you're coming up in your career, you've got a great support network around you of doctors, physios, coaches, nutritionists, everyone helping you to perform to the best of your ability on the field," Farah told Sport Nation's Scotty & Izzy.
"We were just thinking, who's helping these guys off the field?Â
"It's something I'm really passionate about. I was fortunate enough to have some really good people around me and I made some smart decisions with my money, and a lot of my teammates would come up to me for advice whilst I was playing, so it made sense for me now to sort of help those guys.
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"The things that players can relate to is that I've walked through their shoes. I understand what it's like, being an athlete and earning a certain amount of money and sometimes not knowing what to do with it.Â
"So, it's just guiding them on that journey and making sure they set themselves up, because the transition out of the game sometimes can be just as hard."
As for his beloved Tigers, Farah loves what he's seeing from the team through the early stages of the season under head coach Benji Marshall - highlighted by their gritty win over the Warriors in Auckland last weekend.
"It's obviously early days and you don't want to get ahead of yourselves. And I'm sure Benji will be saying that to the players. But it's hard not to, mate, when you've had 15 years of heartache and not making the semi-finals.
"But there are definitely some great signs there. I think they definitely look fit. I know they had a really tough pre-season. They're playing for each other and there's a lot of desire there.Â
"I was at the game at Leichhardt against the Cowboys in round two. And they were outstanding that day. I thought they played really well, but just fell short.
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"Then they went over to New Zealand, such a tough place to go and win. It's a pretty daunting place and the Warriors were off to a 3-0 start.Â
"To come up with a win over there was huge. So I'm sure the boys will get a lot of confidence out of that one."
A huge factor in the team's early success has been put down to the no-nonsense approach of Marshall, who Farah admits has been rallying the troops with a renewed vigour and much more confidence, having had a couple of years at the helm.
"He can't be as angry as me, but he can be when he needs to be. I think that's a quality you need to have as a coach - knowing when to be calm and patient, knowing when to crack the whip.
"He's obviously had a tough couple of years, being thrown in the deep end. But I think he would have learned a lot from the last couple of years.Â
"You know what Benji's like, if he puts his mind to something, he's going to be successful at it. So I have no doubt that we'll start to see the fruition of his coaching over the next 6, 12, 18 months."
Listen to the full interview below:
