The Wests Tigers are on the verge of striking a significant blow on the eve of their season opener as Adam Doueihi prepares to ink a one-year extension with the club.
News Corp understands that Doueihi’s retention until the end of 2024 is expected to be confirmed within days, maintaining the feel-good momentum at the Tigers in recent months.
Head coach Tim Sheens and his assistants Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah have been doing everything in their power to revive the spirits at the joint venture, which has struggled to produce results in recent seasons.
Doueihi’s decision to stay is testament to that work. Only a matter of weeks ago, Doueihi spoke about how much he was enjoying the vibe at the club under Sheens, Marshall and Farah as the trio devote the majority of the pre-season to working on the Tigers’ attack.
Doueihi is set to remain a focal point of that attack for at least this season and next as he commits his future to the club.
With Doueihi now under lock and key for the immediate future, the Tigers can switch their attention to other key members of their spine – Daine Laurie, Charlie Staines and Luke Brooks.
All three are off contract at the end of the season and the club is playing a patient game with the trio as they wait to see whether they have struck pay dirt in their pursuit of Parramatta star and former Tigers half Mitchell Moses.
Moses is expected to make a decision as early as next week as he weighs up whether to take a mega-offer from the Tigers or a lucrative deal to remain at Parramatta.
Tigers officials have been quietly confident about securing Moses and the Eels star is expected to put both sides out of their misery within days.
Moses’ potential arrival will have ramifications for Doueihi. The expectation is that if Moses decides to rejoin his former club and the Tigers also decide to extend Brooks, Doueihi will switch to fullback.
Regardless, Doueihi will continue to be part of the Tigers’ future given his decision to accept a one-year extension.