Adam Doueihi has signed a one-year contract extension with Wests Tigers, heaping more pressure on halfback Luke Brooks to deliver as the joint venture tries to lure Mitchell Moses back to Leichhardt.
Doueihi was delighted to remain at the Tigers for 2024, and should Moses agree to a whopping five-year deal reportedly worth about $1.3 million a season, Brooks looms as the odd man out as the club grapples with a three-into-two halves headache.
Club favourite Doueihi is capable of shifting to fullback should the Tigers land Moses and also keep Brooks, but Doueihi believes his best football is in the No.6. And the lessons he has learnt from one of the Tigers’ greatest five-eighths, Benji Marshall, have him primed for his best year yet.
Moses, whose contract is up at Parramatta at the end of this year, has a four-year option on the table from the Eels worth about $1.1 million a season. He told Fox League after Friday’s impressive trial performance that he did not want his future impacting on his teammates heading into the season proper.
“I don’t think it’s far off; I don’t want to have it coming into the season,” Moses said. “I don’t think it’s fair on Parramatta and the players I play with that we take it into the season and it’s spoken about it. I want to make a decision soon.”
Doueihi played with Moses in the halves for Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup last year, but says he is only focused on his game, starting with Sunday’s trial against Canberra.
Adam Doueihi is staying put another year at the Wests Tigers.Credit:Getty
“It’s hard to deal in hypotheticals, and I don’t know what will happen with Mitch,” Doueihi said. “I’m friends with him, we played at the World Cup together, and I like playing with him. But I won’t keep trying to guess if he’s coming or staying.
“I can play fullback if needed, and I feel really comfortable there. All I know is Benji and Tim [Sheens] have told me I’m the No.6 for this year. I haven’t spent any time at fullback over the summer.
“I signed under ‘Madge’ [former coach Michael Maguire] and played fullback in the short term here, but there was always one eye on being the No.6 in the long term. I feel I play my best attacking football in that position.”
Doueihi was happy to sign the one-year extension, which gave him and the club flexibility, especially given his history of knee injuries and uncertainty about how the Sheens-Marshall dynamic will work.
Eels halfback Mitchell Moses is weighing his future.Credit:Getty
Marshall has had many conversations with Doueihi during the pre-season, and his vision for the club aligns closely with what Doueihi had in mind.
“At the end of last year I spoke with Benji a fair bit; he told me he had confidence in me and my ability and my attacking strengths,” Doueihi said.
“We were on the same page when it came to how we wanted to attack. That is always a confidence boost for you as a player when the coach respects your strengths and thinks the same way.
“I also worked with [assistant coach] Robbie Farah at the World Cup and liked his coaching style.
“I love this club, I like the players we have recruited, I like the pack we will get to play behind. I’m really looking forward to a big 2023.”
Brooks is overcoming a calf injury and will be fit for round one, but will sit out the final warm-up game against Canberra, as will new skipper Api Koroisau. English recruit John Bateman has finally been granted a visa and touches down in Sydney at the start of the week.
