{"id":819253,"date":"2026-07-23T18:57:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819253\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:57:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:57:26","slug":"nrl-2026-nathan-hindmarsh-urges-benji-marshall-to-drop-adam-doueihi-reaction-latest-updates-wests-tigers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819253\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Nathan Hindmarsh urges Benji Marshall to drop Adam Doueihi, reaction, latest updates, Wests Tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parramatta Eels great Nathan Hindmarsh has slammed Adam Doueihi\u2019s decision to withdraw from the Wests Tigers\u2019 clash with the Canberra Raiders on Saturday afternoon after he was involved in a reported dispute with coach Benji Marshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hindmarsh declared that the stat halfback should be sent down to reserve-grade after he refused to switch positions and play in the forwards as a lock<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be embarrassed. It is so bad. It is honestly so bad, not just for Doueihi but for Benji and the club,\u201d Hindmarsh said on Fox League.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like he hasn\u2019t played that position before. He\u2019s had a few cracks in the middle and at 13 last year. The defence took it out of him a little bit. But you\u2019re one of if not the best player in the side at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is talking about how well you are playing. You are in the talk about Origin and then all of a sudden you turn around and tell your coach you don\u2019t want to play 13… it sounds like a spoiled brat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we\u2019ve got it all wrong… there has to be more to it… not just the fact he\u2019s been named at 13 and doesn\u2019t want to play. And now he\u2019s got the week off. Go play him in reserve grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doueihi & Benji saga explained | 02:13<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Luke \ufeffKeary believes that the latest drama could be a sign that crack could begin to emerge within the Tigers playing group who are still dealing with the fallout from Jarome Luai\u2019s impending departure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bizarre situation,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my career, no player has not played because they are played out of position. I\u2019ve never heard of it before. I don\u2019t know how he walks back into training on Monday. The other thing is when you do that to your coach, I\u2019m unsure how the coach can bring him back. It\u2019s almost untenable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said it three weeks ago when the Luai stuff came out (with) that decision, you\u2019d see things come out after about three or four weeks because there is going to be a lot of people in that club and team who weren\u2019t happy. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe said before he was all-in… and there\u2019d be players that are against it and players who really back Luai and support his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s (Doueihi) probably saying to Benji why isn\u2019t Jarome not in the team, I\u2019m going to be here next year… that would be one of his arguments for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall\u2019s former Kiwi international teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves said the whole situation was a \u201cbit of a shambles\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously been one of their best players all year and he\u2019s been playing some some consistent footy. But I\u2019m a big believer of whatever the coach says you sort of have to follow suit, and him sort of kicking up the sink and saying that he doesn\u2019t want to play this week is a bit iffy,\u201d Waerea-Hargreaves added on \u2018The Late Show with Matty Johns\u2019.<\/p>\n

Doueihi reportedly rules himself out | 01:11<\/p>\n

Lost amid the fallout is teenage playmaker Javon Andrews who will make his NRL debut on Saturday after being called into the side.<\/p>\n

Continuing to speak about the situation, Hindmarsh believes that the drama involving Doueihi had overshadowed what should have been a memorable moment for the rookie Under-19s Queensland Maroons representative.<\/p>\n

This saw Panther great Greg Alexander label it an \u201cuncomfortable\u201d situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you think young Javon will be feeling… how bad would you feel, \u2018I\u2019ve forced Adam Doueihi to have a blow-up with the coach\u2019 because he has to play 13… you\u2019d feel shocking,\u201d added Hindmarsh, while Bryan Fletcher said Andrews would be questioning \u201cis it my fault?\u201d.<\/p>\n

While so much of the reaction has centred on Doueihi\u2019s refusal to play at lock, there hasn\u2019t been as much thought given to whether it would have worked in the first place. <\/p>\n

Doueihi has been in sensational form at halfback and a move to lock would have not made sense earlier in the year given Alex Twal was enjoying a breakout season at the position.<\/p>\n

However, with the Tigers\u2019 finals hopes fading fast there is something to be said about experimenting in new positions at the back end of the year and seeing what you have in a young kid like Andrews who could be the future in the halves.<\/p>\n

Matty Johns could see where Doueihi\u2019s frustrations may be stemming from, but he also suggested a move to 13 makes plenty of sense from a tactical standpoint. <\/p>\n

Johns can see the move making sense. Picture: NRL PhotosSource: Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see both sides,\u201d Johns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can imagine Doueihi would feel undervalued at times. He has been their most important player and I think he\u2019s been their best player and he\u2019s been moved around a lot of times. Often times if there\u2019s a press conference and they need someone to talk, it\u2019s Adam. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think in his mind he probably feels undervalued and if he does, I get it. Not (undervalued in terms of money) but how he\u2019s talked about because it\u2019s always been Jarome\u2019s side. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ll just say this… I know Adam considers himself a seven or six. He\u2019s been outstanding there, but I\u2019ve often thought for a while I can see Adam Doueihi being an outstanding 13. Actually becoming in time an Isaah Yeo class 13. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s Adam\u2019s career and he sees himself as a seven or a six, but I can support Benji on that. I think it was a combination that I believe would work.<\/p>\n

\u201cPurely from a tactical sense, I just see it working. Andrews is a very, very talented young bloke. I think an injection of youth and some fresh ideas in the creativity sense would be very good. <\/p>\n

\u201cLuai at six has got experience, and I\u2019ve watched Adam play since he\u2019s been a schoolboy… (he\u2019s) always been a very unbelievably talented kid. I\u2019ve always looked at him and thought to myself, \u2018I never quite know what position he is. Is he a fullback? Is he a centre? Is he a six? Is he a seven? He probably was not big enough when he was younger to be a 13. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen him start to play his best football in the last 12 months, and it has been in a playmaker role in the seven and six, but I\u2019ve always thought to myself that I thought Adam Doueihi as a player would settle and play his very best football over a long period of time at 13.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of all the drama though, Johns said he hoped Marshall and Doueihi would be able to find a resolution and that this would not be the end of the versatile 27-year-old\u2019s season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d hate to think this is basically a deal breaker,\u201d Johns added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parramatta Eels great Nathan Hindmarsh has slammed Adam Doueihi\u2019s decision to withdraw from the Wests Tigers\u2019 clash with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-819253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}