Tigers coach Tim Sheens has dropped a bombshell surrounding Adam Doueihi’s suspected season-ending damage, revealing he might have injured extra than simply his ACL.
The 24-year-old playmaker has suffered three ACL accidents to the identical knee and was sidelined in 2018 throughout his time on the Rabbitohs and in 2021.
Speaking within the post-match press convention, Sheens stated the blow is a “nightmare” after the Tigers delivered their greatest efficiency but in 2023.
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“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,” Sheens stated within the post-match press convention.
“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 record, most of the bounces went against us in many ways, but I’m very proud of the effort they put in.
“Yeah, will be (losing him for the year) if it is an ACL, it could be more than that.”
Captain Apisai Koroisau was additionally clearly upset his teammate may very well be sidelined for an prolonged interval.
“Obviously we feel very sorry for Adam, he’s a big part of the team,” Koroisau stated.
Wests Tigers Press Conference | 05:48
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“The boys we’ll get around him and make sure he has the support but he’s going to be feeling pretty down for a while.”
NRL360 co-host Paul Kent additionally stated the blow was a brutal reminder of how shortly fortunes can change in rugby league.
The merger membership reeled again an 18-6 halftime deficit to path by solely two factors with 5 minutes remaining earlier than a Maika Sivo attempt sealed an Eels’ victory.
“It is terrible news, you have to feel for Tim Sheens there, he sat through the almost victory, he saw some things that would make you think that they have finally turned it around,” Kent stated.
“Then he loses a player like Doueihi which is more than likely for the season.
“What he did say there that I didn’t like is that it could be possible more (than an ACL), given it was an ACL, you only hope Adam Doueihi can come back from this.”
Now the Tigers must area their fifth backbone solely seven rounds into the season, ought to Doueihi be dominated out for an prolonged interval.
The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield revealed he believes the choice to permit Jackson Hastings to depart has come again to hang-out Sheens.
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Hastings has been glorious for the Knights since he moved as a part of a swap deal, with prop David Klemmer going the opposite means.
Rothfield defined that Sheens wouldn’t have a serious halves headache on his palms if Hastings was fill the vacant spot.
“You go back to recruitment, I cannot for the life of me work out why he was released from that club, particularly when you get circumstances like this,” Rothfield stated.
“It was because of Bateman, Bateman and him has issues… his ability to play was not the issue,” Kent stated.
“But one of the first meetings when Tim Sheens went over and met with John Bateman in England, the word out of the meeting was that John Bateman expressed to him that ‘I’m happy to play with Jackson but I don’t want to play with him long term’,” Fox League’s James Hooper stated.
“So off the back of that, they made the tough decision.”
“They had a real dig today, but they’d be in much better shape if Jackson Hastings was at that football club,” Rothfield stated.
Source: www.foxsports.com.au