Hammer blow for Wests Tigers as World Cup half-back facing season on the sidelines

Wests Tigers’ difficult start to the NRL season has been dealt a further blow with injury to stand-off Adam Doueihi.

The Lebanon international has suffered a high-grade partial tear of his ACL, the club has confirmed.

A statement said: “Further medical investigations are required to determine the full extent of the injury and prognosis.”

He sustained the injury late in the Tigers defeat to Parramatta Eels on Easter Monday as he took a short Clint Gutherson drop-out, pulling up in pain as he landed, going to ground and being helped from the field.

Doueihi, 24, has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee twice before, in 2018 at South Sydney and back in 2021 while at Wests.

The Tigers were beaten 28-22 at the weekend, their sixth successive defeat at the start of the NRL season. They also lost Brent Naden to a shoulder injury.

They are coached by former Australia, Hull KR, Salford and Widnes boss Tim Sheens.

He said post-match: “An ACL, same knee… given you know the narrowness of the game, the loss and all the other things, the contribution he put in, yeah pretty disappointed.

“Ask me tomorrow when I wake up and I realise it wasn’t a dream, or a nightmare, those sorts of things, we had a young kid in reserve grade have his second one as well.

“Not a good day for us in that regard.”

Respected Twitter account, NRL Physio, confirmed that the diagnosis was not good news.

Tigers confirm assessments suggest Adam Doueihi has suffered an ACL injury, the 3rd of his career to his left knee. Unfortunately hands on tests from medical staff very accurate in these cases. Would be facing surgery & 9+ months recovery. Just horrible news, thoughts with him

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) April 10, 2023

They tweeted: “Unfortunately hands on tests from medical staff very accurate in these cases. Would be facing surgery and 9+ months recovery. Just horrible news, thoughts with him.”

Doueihi has made 90 appearances in the NRL since making his debut for Souths in 2018.

He has played at the last two World Cups for Lebanon, including three appearances in England last year.

He was sent off for dissent in the 34-12 defeat to New Zealand at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, but returned to play a pivotal role in the 74-12 win over Jamaica.

The Australian-born stand-off played against his birth nation in the quarter-finals, as the Cedars were beaten 48-4 by the eventual winners.