“It’s like a movie with a s*** ending.”

And with that Robbie Farah signed off on his illustrious 17-year NRL career in typical fashion: a little bit abrasive but with unwavering honesty.

Farah returned to the field to receive the send-off he so desperately wanted, and deserved, at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.

However he bowed out in unfitting fashion as the Tigers were comprehensively rolled 25-8 by Cronulla to end their season.

All week mystery surrounded Farah’s fitness as he recovered from a broken leg however post-game coach Michael Maguire said he’d actually been ruled out on Wednesday morning.

The club elected to keep people guessing and he wasn’t officially scratched from their side an hour before kick-off.

Maguire had told Farah to prepare as if he was going to play, in the event of an unlikely injury to one of his teammates.

And that’s exactly how it unfolded as Corey Thompson was ruled out in the warm-up with an Achilles problem.

Farah later revealed that even if his side had won through, it was unlikely he would have been passed fit to play in week one of the finals.

“I spoke with the surgeon when I got injured, he said ‘pick a game because you’re not going to get another shot, if you play one game while it’s broken, I don’t think you’re going to be able to play next week’,” Farah said.

“If we decided for me to play today and we won, I would have struggled to play the semi-final next week. Having spoken to Madge, we didn’t just want to make the semis, we wanted to give it a fair crack once we got there.

“So we decided not to play today. I thought I wasn’t going to get a last game at Leichhardt but I understood and accepted that.”

He played despite the threat that if he copped a knock on his fractured fibula he would be forced to undergo surgery to have pins inserted.

However he didn’t believe he had done any further damage.

“It was a crazy day, drama-filled, just like the rest of my career,” Farah said.

“I came here with mixed emotions, disappointed I wasn’t playing but Madge after yesterday’s captain’s run said ‘bring your boots just in case’.

“We were just trying to keep Cronulla guessing, I was no chance of playing.”

He almost didn’t bring his kit bag into the ground but decided at the last moment to do it just in case.

And when Thompson went down as they warmed up, he was forced to pull on his gear before leading the team out.

“I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was meant to be,” Farah said.

“But unfortunately, a pretty s*** ending.”