After spending two months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, Adam Doueihi has one simple ambition on Sunday.
Just to ‘get the job done’.
Doueihi makes a welcome return to halfback for the important clash with the Knights in Newcastle in Round 17 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
It’s a timely return with playmaker Jock Madden unavailable after suffering concussion in last week’s loss to the Dolphins.
With the Knights game always his return target, Doueihi is confident the dislocated shoulder is ready to stand the rigours of the NRL.
“I’ve never done my shoulder before, so it was something different and unusual for me,’’ he said.
“We just wanted to take every precaution and make sure all the testing was done right and the strength came back to a sufficient level.
“We’re at that now so we are good to go.”
Doueihi’s inclusion is a major boost to the Tigers who will have their main spine of Jahream Bula, Jarome Luai, Doueihi and Api Koroisau together for just the fifth time this season due to injuries.
The last time they were together was in the round eight win over the Canberra Raiders at Leichhardt Oval in late April.
"It's (been) hard having a lot of injuries over the past few months," Doueihi said.
"To see how well we started the season with our full team on the field is the bright side to it.
"We're starting to get some of our players back. I just want to form those combinations again, put our footy on and see where it takes us.”
Second-rower Alex Seyfarth said Doueihi brings plenty of attributes to the team outside of his natural ball skills.
“He brings a lot of calmness to the team and gets us around the park, so I’m excited to play with him again this week,’’ Seyfarth said.
“We got a taste of it at the start of the year when the team was healthy.
"(We've seen what we can do) when we can get our combinations. We've worked hard in the pre-season and we'll get a bit of a taste of it this week. It's good to see the boys back together.”
The 10th placed Tigers – who find themselves only 4 points shy of the top four in a congested ladder – will be looking to bounce back quickly against the Knights (5th) to continue their charge towards the finals.
It will be the second time this season the two clubs will meet after the Tigers ran in eight tries in a 42-22 win over the Knights at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Round 6.
Stat Attack
- The Knights have won four of their last five games at McDonald Jones Stadium.
- Wests Tigers have won their last two games against the Knights.
Knights five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe has scored 16 tries in 16 games at McDonald Jones Stadium. - Tigers fullback Jahream Bula has scored six tries in five games against the Knights.
- Knights winger Dominic Young has scored eight tries in his last six games against the Tigers.
Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.
