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Former West Tigers halfback Benji Marshall has alleged he and Robbie Farah took pay cuts to keep the club afloat.
Marshall told Fox Sports rugby league programme NRL 360 on Tuesday night that the WestsTigers approached the pair in 2012, asking them to take significant pay cuts to help alleviate salary cap pressures the club was facing at the time.
"The club came to us and said we're going to be 'X' amount over the cap", says Marshall. "I think I took an $80,000 pay cut and Robbie took a $200,000 pay cut for two years in a row."
Marshall, who won a premiership with Farah in 2005, stated that the public don't understand the personal investment Farah has made to the club.
"Everyone looks at the price tag of $950,000 and says he's not worth it, but that's really $750,000 and the $200,000 that he took off three or four years ago to keep the club afloat," he says.
"That's how much the club means to the bloke and that's how much it meant to me. We were willing to give up our money to keep the club under the cap."
Marshall can't see his good friend playing for a rival NRL club, saying that Farah's stubbornness will see him play out his contract with the Tigers, even if it means he plays reserve grade.
"I know how much the club means to him and as much as people might think he would go, there's no way he wants to leave that club and there's no way he wants to play for another club."
As rumours continue to swirl of a growing feud with coach Jason Taylor as the catalyst behind the club's actions toward Farah, Marshall gave some insight into the type of competitor Farah is.
"He's not everybody's cup of tea and the reason I say that is he's so passionate about the things he does and he's so invested that he's not shy to tell you what he thinks," said Marshall.
"If he thinks something is bad for the club he's the first guy to say 'I don't believe that's the best thing for the club."
Marshall went on to say that Farah's sheer competitiveness can make it hard to get along with him.
"He's a very bad loser and a very emotional person when it comes to defeat and games, and after games I think he lets it get the better of him sometimes," he says.
But Marshall says this is not an excuse for the way he has been treated over the past fortnight by the club.
"It's heartbreaking for me because I think if anyone deserves to be treated better and rewarded for the things he's done for the club in the past, it's him."
