Tigers halves sidelined in gritty loss

The Wests Tigers are set to be without both first string halves down after a brutal double blow to Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi on Saturday night.

After the high of an opening performance that saw a demolition of the North Queensland Cowboys, the Tigers’ momentum came to a halt in a 20-16 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs with Luai and Doueihi leaving the field in the final stages.

Luai’s injury looms as the most concerning, but there is some early relief.

Coach Benji Marshall admitted post-match Luai's injury, 'doesn’t look good' but stopped short of fearing the worst.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look good. He’s going to get scans obviously, but medical staff said he’ll be up a little bit. Hopefully, maybe four [weeks], I don’t know. Not a doctor,” Marshall said.

“But importantly, there aren’t fears of the worst knee injury… not ACL.”

The marquee five-eighth was forced from the field in the 67th minute after appearing to twist his knee while chasing a kick with the game was locked at 16-all.

His exit stripped the Tigers of direction and control, and the side struggled to regain composure without their chief organiser.

Things went from bad to worse just minutes later when Doueihi succumbed to a hamstring issue in the 78th minute, leaving the Tigers without both starting halves at the death.

“Adam’s got some tightness in his hamstring,” Marshall said. “He’s had a pretty big week and the loads of what he’s had to do at seven, it’s different to what he’s done in the past. He’ll get a scan, but hopefully that’s not too bad either.”

The timing proved decisive. As Luai made his way up the tunnel, Alex Johnston crossed for the match-winning try, capitalising on a disjointed defensive effort from a side clearly rattled by the sudden reshuffle.

It was a bitter end for the Tigers who had come back from a 12-0 deficit and take a 14-12 lead into halftime. Despite the result, the coach took positives from the performance, particularly the side’s grit.

“I thought it was a high quality game… after that, to go into halftime leading and then come out pretty strong,” he said.

“If you put in that sort of performance and you don’t get the result you can cop that… there’s a lot of good to take away.”

“I thought tonight we played the way we want to play… it’s credit to the boys because they really dug in.”

Concern now shifts to the severity of the injuries - and what it means for the Tigers’ short-term outlook.

Marshall remains confident the system can hold, even if both halves are sidelined, noting Latu Fainu's return is on the horizon.

“No, not much [changes]. I think we’ve got some really good guys coming. We’ll suss out who steps in there,” he said.

“We’ll check him out… but we’ll just make sure he’s ready before we make that call,” Marshall said.