WESTS Tigers skipper Robbie Farah says a plan to simplify his game paid off with a starring role in the annual City v Country clash at Port Macquarie on Friday night.
Farah was among City's best as they fell to a 36-18 defeat against a Josh Dugan-led Country side in an entertaining contest.
City coach John Cartwright was effusive in his praise of Farah after the game, declaring him the "most creative player on the field".
The battle between City skipper Farah and his opposing hooker, Canterbury's Michael Ennis, was one of game's big talking points with the clash viewed as an audition for the NSW State of Origin side.
But Farah told BigPond Sports Weekend that thoughts of a Blues jersey didn't enter his mind in the lead-up to Friday night's game.
"I tried to get back to doing the little things last night. I tried to complicate my game a little bit at the Tigers and speaking to Carty, he just told me to be a little bit more patient and to get myself in the game that way and opportunities would come," he said.
"I thought defensively I got involved and I tried to put as much pressure on the kickers as I could, and tried to just get involved in that way."
Former Roosters coach Brad Fittler declared the City-Country game the most entertaining game of the season and Farah said the relaxed mindset of the players had contributed to the free-flowing action.
"We enjoyed the whole week. It was a very relaxing camp, they made it very enjoyable for us," he said.
"It was a bit less intense than a normal NRL game in terms of our lead-up but our attitude was right and I thought that showed on the field."
And Farah was full of praise for Raiders prodigy Dugan, who was a standout for Country in his first senior representative game.
The 19-year-old scored one try and laid on another to give the Blues selectors plenty of food for thought in the lead-up to Origin I.
"He's a player with a big future ahead of him. He's been performing week in, week out for Canberra and he showed again what he's capable of last night," Farah said.
