The ongoing Adam Doueihi saga has shone a light on the depths of the Tigers’ cultural problems and prompted a brutal call on the star halfback’s future at the club.
Doueihi sensationally withdrew from last Saturday’s showdown with the Raiders following a reported dispute with coach Benji Marshall.
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After winning at the judiciary earlier in the week, Doueihi assumed he’d come back into the Tigers team at halfback for the Raiders clash.
But when Marshall told him he’d be playing in the forwards so young gun Javon Andrews could make his NRL debut in the halves alongside Jarome Luai, Doueihi opted out of playing entirely.
The Tigers went on to be smashed 56-10 and journalist Brent Read, speaking on NRL 360 on Monday night, slammed Doueihi’s attitude.
“I’ve read stories for days about how Adam Doueihi was trying to shine the light on this football club and help this football club. He has smashed this football club with his behaviour. Smashed it,” Read said.
“If Adam wants to go at the end of the year, I’m telling him ‘there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out’.
“He’s got to go and front those players who he let down at the weekend.”
Wests Tigers player Adam Doueihi has been slammed for his actionsSource: Supplied
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NRL great Gorden Tallis said if Doueihi was so willing to help change the culture at the Tigers, he should have done what Marshall asked him to do.
“If you want to change the culture, if you want to be leading, and if you want to be a leader of that organisation, you play wherever the coach wants you to play,” Tallis said.
“I’m sure that there’s a lot of players that didn’t want to play in certain positions, but they did it for the blokes beside them. I was disappointed that he didn’t play for his teammates.”
Journalist Dean Ritchie argued that Doueihi was a “highly principled” man who would stand his ground if he believed he was being treated poorly.
“I don’t think he wants to be a martyr here. I think he wants to try to help the club change these perceived issues,” Ritchie said.
Read fired back: “You don’t help the club by sitting on the sideline when they’re going to Canberra and getting walloped like they were on the weekend. That does not help the club. That damages the club, and it damages the club immeasurably.”
“If Adam wants to change that (culture), you don’t change it by not playing football. You don’t change it by walking out of the footy club. You change it by staying there and driving standards. That’s how you change those sort of things,” Read said.
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Read went on to highlight perceived culture issues at the Tigers.
There’s long been rumours that certain players get treated differently and Ritchie even suggested that some players are vaping in the club gym.
Ritchie said the next six weeks of the season were a defining moment for Marshall’s career.
He said the coach needed to draw a line in the sand and let everyone know who the boss at the Tigers is.
“This is an ideal moment for him to really show his power and to show the fact that he is in charge of this club,” Ritchie said.
When host Braith Anasta asked Tallis what Marshall’s next move should be, he said he needed to fall back on an old mentor.
“He rings Wayne (Bennett),” Tallis said.
“He rings a couple of old coaches that have been around, and I’m pretty sure they’d help him.”
Doueihi to return to Tigers training | 01:43
Meanwhile, with Jarome Luai already headed out the door and Doueihi a chance of following at the end of the year, naturally questions have also been asked of the Tigers’ recruitment and roster management.
To that extent, the next challenge for Marshall will be on what kind of players he potentially brings into this youthful core to help them take the next step towards the finals.
Ritchie called for Marshall, for example, to start signing players with character like Penrith’s Liam Martin who is free to talk to clubs on November 1.
“I think he’d be ideal for that club,” Ritchie said.
Anasta, meanwhile, said it was important the Tigers handled the next period in the right way and showed strong leadership in order to be able to attract players from rival clubs.
“You’ve always got to hold your integrity in these moments, and that’s why the Doueihi situation is a tough one because you don’t want anyone doing that at your club,” Anasta said.
“That’s why they probably should take a strong stance and not play him this week because there are punishments for your actions. If you’re not putting the team first, you get punished for that. The club looks strong if they do that.”