Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has left the door ajar for Adam Doueihi to make a return from injury this weekend, but he says it would be a \u201clong shot\u201d as the star halfback looks to play his first game since round 9.<\/p>\n
Doueihi injured his shoulder while scoring a try against the Sharks on May 3, but he\u2019s been named on an extended bench and remains in contention to face the Dolphins on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It would be a huge boost for the Tigers who roared back to form with a gritty win over the Titans a week after they were humbled 68-0 by Penrith. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long shot. He\u2019ll do some work today, but we\u2019re not banking on it,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not this week, it\u2019ll be next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall\u2019s plans have changed slightly after skipper Api Koroisau was an unused interchange player in Origin II, with local junior Josese Lanyon picked on the bench in case the veteran hooker needed a breather.<\/p>\n
Blues fans were flummoxed by coach Laurie Daley\u2019s decision not to bring Koroisau off the bench on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not getting dragged into that, I\u2019m not getting dragged into that,\u201d Marshall said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were probably expecting Api to play last night, so we planned a little bit differently. Now that he didn\u2019t play, he\u2019ll be right to play for us, so we\u2019ll just play it by ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brings professionalism, energy, and experience every week, and we\u2019re going to need that experience this week. We\u2019re looking forward to having him back. He\u2019ll be fresh; he got 30 grand for playing no minutes. Highest paid player last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall was thrilled with how Jarome Luai responded against the Titans after a poor few weeks for the club, and they\u2019ll need him to be at his brilliant best again after star edge forward Kai Pearce-Paul (pec) became the latest player to join their casualty ward. <\/p>\n
Tony Sukkar will start in the back row along with Sione Fainu, with Samuela Fainu also out injured. <\/p>\n
\u201cBig loss for us. I think he\u2019s been outstanding this year for us, and added to that injury toll that\u2019s already affecting us, it\u2019s a disappointing time for him,\u201d Marshall said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the same time, it gives an opportunity for another guy. I thought Tony was excellent on the weekend for us and he\u2019ll get another start there. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard because you can\u2019t dwell on the things that go against you, you just have to work out what you\u2019re going to do next. For us, that\u2019s give Tony an opportunity and be all in with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hear coaches talk about needing a bit of luck going your way to have success in the comp. <\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately for us, we haven\u2019t had that luck with injuries, but there are a lot of teams going through the same thing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the one who sits around and mopes about it and thinks about what could have been. I\u2019m the one who takes action and asks, \u2018what do we need now? What can we control?\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s who comes in, and for our team, we\u2019ve got belief and faith in what Tony can do for us there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamentals stay the same and the systems that we use stay the same, but what we encourage everyone in our team to do is bring what their strengths are. <\/p>\n
\u201cSione and Tony\u2019s strengths are a little bit different to Kai and Samuela\u2019s, but we want them to bring what they bring.\u201d<\/p>\n