‘She was heartbroken for me’: Defiant Doueihi reveals pain of third ACL injury
By Michael Chammas
Updated April 24, 2023 — 8.38amfirst published April 23, 2023 — 5.00pmWests Tigers star Adam Doueihi has revealed he may not return to rugby league until midway through next season, outlining his detailed rehabilitation plan from a third ACL injury.
In his first interview since his season-ending injury against Parramatta on Easter Monday, Doueihi spoke about the pain of watching his emotional mother break down in the sheds as she embraced the injured playmaker after the game.
“She was a wreck,” Doueihi told the Herald. “She just knows how tough it is to come back from. She was heartbroken for me. It’s never fun seeing your mum cry or your siblings getting teary in the sheds. I was a bit teary.”
Doueihi admitted he had trepidation about coming back from his third ACL injury, contemplating retirement in a dark 24 hours after the injury.
However, the Tigers five-eighth insists those thoughts haven’t crossed his mind since as he eyes a return to the NRL next year.
“It does cross your mind,” Doueihi said about the prospect of being forced into retirement.
“At the start, there’s a million negative thoughts going through your head. But it’s not something I think about or stress over or lose sleep over. I’m staying
positive. This definitely won’t be the end of me, that’s for sure. I’ve been here before. I’ve come back before. I’m almost an expert in ACLs. I’ll be back.”
Given the fact it’s his third ACL rupture in the same knee, the road to recovery is longer for Doueihi than it would be for others. The 24-year-old is bracing for two surgeries given his history.
“The more you play around and go into your knee, the uglier it gets in there,” he said.
“Once you have two or three or four ACLs, there’s a two-stage process they like to do. They just fill all the previous keyholes or any holes in there with a bit of bone. You need to let that settle for three to four months. Then when you go back in four months, it’s like they’re doing their first ACL surgery.
“Everything is just clean and it’s a much easier process. They don’t have to change their hole from where the original ones were. It’s an option on the table. We’ll just see what happens. There’s a few other options we can do to make sure it’s extra secure this time. We’ve reached out to a few surgeons around Australia and overseas to make sure we get the best opinion and go from there.”
Adam Doueihi faces a long road back to the NRL.CREDIT:GETTY
Doueihi recently decided to sign a one-year extension, foregoing the opportunity to secure a long-term deal.
It appears to have backfired, but the Lebanese international says he’s not fazed by the prospect of returning as an off-contract player.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “The club and the coaching staff have been good to me. They’re not rushing it. They’re worried about me doing the right surgery and focusing on the now to make sure I can come back fit and available to play.
“But I’m not going to sit here and dwell on all the negatives. I’m trying to see the positive things in life. You can’t sit here and sook about results and injuries. You have to pull the socks up and go out and get it.”
