Honestly, the Tigers have this issue where their best starting 13 probably is not their most expensive one. Between Luai and Doueihi there was a $1.9m problem that trying something different, or developing the future meant sitting that much of your cap out of a game. With Luai and Doueihi both not there it solves that problem in a non-negotiable way.
Out of all the niche Tigers discussion that I have seen, the issue was deciding where to go with Luai, Latu, Madden, Doueihi, Andrews all at once was one of the more unsolvable problems. Without Luai and now potentially Doueihi out of the frame, the picture is a now clearer in that regard and we have to all in on Latu and Andrews.
Now, to take a step back, have Luai and Doueihi given us $1.9m in value? I know what most Tigers fans believe. We know what their individual ceilings are within the club and perhaps the both of them being moved on to actually allow for the clearer picture is not the worst long term thing to happen for the Tigers. Given that we actually have options from our own pathways, it cannot be any less safe than what we have going on now.
Luai is a 4-time premiership winner when he played in a team of other multi-time premiership winners. He is 30-next year and by that time we have already had him for 2-seasons; would?Tigers fans be on board for giving him another $1.2m per year into his 30s with options in his favour only? I know how I feel about it.
And as for Doueihi, he is 27 years old and has played an average of 14 games per season since 2018, and has specifically only played an average of 12 games per season for the Tigers. More so, he has never thrown together more than half a dozen good games in a row. Is this really who we want hinging out future success on? I know how I feel about it.
That is not to say that Doueihi does not have good moments, in fact he has great moments. Bigger picture dictates that for the Tigers to actually evolve they cannot have situations where people's portion of the cap is the justification for them being there.