![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792441468_798_635402f1698dc5687fb8f98be5c093fe76cbc56f.png\")
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October 20, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Michael Cheika is heading back to the Waratahs<\/a>, but has backed his assistant and Wests Tigers legend Robbie Farah to succeed him as Lebanon coach.<\/p>\n Fresh from celebrating the NRL premiership with the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, where he was an assistant to Trent Robinson, Cheika will finish up in rugby league at the end of the World Cup.<\/p>\n Matt King, another Lebanon assistant who was also involved with the Roosters, will quit to lead the NSW Origin team next year, which leaves Farah to take the reins with the Cedars moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll decide all that once we\u2019re finished, but Robbie is a guy who is here, he has a nice balance between doing some consulting coaching, he wants to be involved in coaching here, he\u2019s very passionate, and he\u2019s the best equipped around the Lebanese team, per se,\u201d Cheika said on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cI see him as a guy who definitely in the future can be in charge of this team, without a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n Farah, who worked under good friend Benji Marshall as an assistant coach at the Tigers before stepping away at the end of 2024, said he was open to taking on a role like the Cedars position.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s humbling to hear Cheika say that about me, but he\u2019s still the coach, and I haven\u2019t given it much thought,\u201d Farah told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Lebanon asked me to run the water, I\u2019d run the water. It\u2019s about giving back. I\u2019m quite inexperienced when it comes to coaching, so to spend the 2022 World Cup with \u2018Cheik\u2019 in the UK, now this World Cup, he\u2019s a wealth of knowledge, and there\u2019s no better person to learn from when you see his resume in both codes.<\/p>\n \u201cI love coaching Lebanon, and it\u2019s something I\u2019m super passionate about. I was an assistant at the Tigers for a while, but I went straight from playing to coaching, and I thought the time was right for me to step away from the Tigers and freshen myself up, and just get away from footy.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cBut being here in camp, it\u2019s something close to my heart. I got my chance to play for the Cedars as an 18-year-old, and it springboarded my career because I was playing in the NRL within six months. I\u2019ll forever be in debt to the Cedars, this jersey, and what it did for me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to help out where I can, and see more Lebanese kids coming through \u2013 not just for the Cedars, but in the NRL.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first started, it was Benny [Elias] and Hazem [El Masri], then myself, Tim Mannah, Michael Lichaa, Adam Doueihi and Mitch Mose. Now it\u2019s [Tigers prop and Lebanon captain] Alex Twal, Jordan Samrani, Jacob Kiraz. They are growing, and there\u2019s no reason by the next World Cup we can\u2019t have double the amount of Lebanese players in the NRL.\u201d<\/p>\n Twal took to the stage at a fan day in Burwood on Monday, smiled, then told the vocal supporters: \u201cThere is one thing Lebanese people have \u2013 big hearts, and big hair. We won\u2019t let you down on Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Assistant](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7ad356f8f3107981340a77205376e30cde8b24fd13842439ed8e66722351a525.jpeg\")
Assistant Robbie Farah has been a hit with the Lebanon team.@Lebanonrl<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/29d807707d9499534f2629f592785f16ead63ea6.jpeg\")
Michael Cheika will finish up with Lebanon before returning to the Waratahs.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Talatau](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/85edaff173c324cfa583a2321975a7227861b60a.jpeg\")
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