Adam Doueihi has revealed how close he was to a mid-season loan to the Melbourne Storm, becoming the fourth Wests Tigers star to announce that the Storm were chasing them for a two-month cameo.
Doueihi's Tigers team mate David Nofoaluma has joined the Victorian club for the remainder of the 2022 season, set to finally break his finals duck in the process, however that vacant roster spot could've belonged to Adam Doueihi.
The former Rabbitohs' five-eighth has joined Nofoaluma, Ken Maumalo and Daine Laurie as stars approached by Craig Bellamy's side as they deal with a growing list of injuries, but the difference between Maumalo and Laurie, and Doueihi?
Adam wanted to go.
The Lebanon international had hopes of joining the Storm for the rest of this season, allowing Cam Munster to switch to fullback, however the Wests Tigers dashed those dreams immediately.
The opportunity to play alongside superstars like Munster and Harry Grant swayed Doueihi into hoping he could join the club for a nine-week stint and learn off not just the stars in the squad, but the club itself and the standards they set, was extremely tempting for the half.
โI first found at about it through the media and didnโt look too much into it, I left it with my manager and the clubโs hiercharchy,โ Doueihi said on NRL 360.
โThen my manager Sam called me and discussed the options and what they were offering for me to go down there for the rest of the season.
โOn a personal level I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go down."
The move either would've seen Doueihi shifted to right centre for Melbourne, or more likely, start alongside Jahrome Hughes in the halves, shifting Munster to fullback for the remainder of the year.
The five-eighth had hoped that anything he learnt with the Storm, he could bring back to Concord in a bid to lift his side up the ladder.
โThe Storm has been one of the strongest organisations in the league for some time now, and to go down there and learn off players like Ryan Papenhuyzen, Harry Grant and Cameron Munster and players like this and a coach like Craig Bellamy.
โSpend two months there, learn under them and play some finals footy and bring it back to our club and hopefully come back a better player was the option I looked into but the club wasnโt a fan of it."
Doueihi believes that following his long-term injury, any re-injury in Melbourne would be a bad look for the Tigers, and says he is at peace with Tim Sheens' decision not to release him.
