Wests Tigers coach Jason Taylor admits he is on the verge of losing the playing group after failing to guarantee Robbie Farah the starting No.9 jersey.
Taylor refused to promise that Farah will start for the Tigers in their NRL clash with South Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Friday, fuelling rumours of a divide between the pair.
NSW State of Origin hooker Farah now faces the unpalatable proposition of being benched just three days out from the Blues side for game two being named.
While Farah is a certainty for Laurie Daley's team, Taylor on Thursday refused to give assurances Farah will start against the Rabbitohs.
Taylor was insistent the two had a good working relationship, despite last year asking the premiership-winning rake to leave the club and resting him against his will in Sunday's 32-18 loss to Sydney Roosters.
The coach said he using the threat of demotion as a spur for his troops and was unafraid of riling Farah.
"Decisions around harmony and decisions around what is going to get us out the other side of where we are are two different things," Taylor said.
"It's important for the team to be harmonious, and our club really is, our players are really tight, but some tough decisions need to be made and we have to have tough conversations.
"Because I don't believe we should be in the position that we're in given the talent in our team, we need to move up the ladder and we need to keep the pressure on ourselves to do so."
Asked if his neck was on the chopping block, Taylor said: "Everyone's job is on the line."
Farah has been named at hooker but could be shuffled to the bench in place of Dene Halatau while Elijah Taylor - who can slot in at No.9 - is also in the lineup.
While the Tigers have won three of their last four, Taylor is desperate to find a way to turn around their fortunes.
Taylor insisted that Farah was not different to any other player and he would pick his side in the best interests of the club.
"That creates competition for positions and I want to continue to build that," Taylor said.
"I told the guys a few weeks ago when we were in a run of losses that the pressure's on everyone to perform and if you don't you won't be in the team."
Meanwhile, South Sydney are desperate to atone after their last start 29-28 golden point loss to Gold Coast in Perth.
The Rabbitohs had seemingly turned a corner with back-to-back wins but blew a chance to grab a top eight spot against the Titans.
The Rabbitohs will have the services of prop Nathan Brown after he was controversially not charged for a stomp on Titans' Agnatius Paasi.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Despite it being their home ground, Wests Tigers have won just one of their last six matches at ANZ Stadium.
* The Tigers have scored the most points in the opening 20 minutes (96) but conceded the most (126) of any team in the 20 minutes after halftime.
* The Rabbitohs are making the second fewest errors at just 9.8 per game.
Source: Fox Sports Stats
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