Adam Doueihi is going to use the Tigers’ bye round this weekend to decide whether he’ll take up the newly-extended re-signing deal to stay at Wests or leave to play starting lock for the St George Illawarra Dragons.
The Tigers have submitted what the club says is a “final offer” to Doueihi, adding a second year in the re-signing package that would keep him at Campbelltown through to 2027.
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The Tigers had originally offered him just one more year, through 2026, and were happy to pay him $350,000 for that season, but the St George Illawarra Dragons came in with a 2026-27 signing plan, forcing Wests’ hands.
It doesn’t seem like Wests want to get dragged into a protracted signing battle with the interested Dragons, though, with Tigers CEO Shane Richardson coming out on Monday to declare that: “We’ve offered Adam a two-year deal, and it’s our final offer… if he doesn’t accept it, we’ll have to move on. We haven’t put a timeline on it. We’ll see what happens.”
One thing of note is that the Tigers’ offer is now the same length as St George’s, but is still less coin.
Positional decisions will weigh on Doueihi as he tosses up his choices, too. He played number seven on Sunday as the Tigers bowled over the Canterbury Bulldogs in a match with plenty in it — not least because it was the first time the playing squad had come up against wantaway Lachlan Galvin, who left Wests on bad terms some weeks ago.
Neither club sees Doueihi as a halfback, though. The Tigers plan to play Latu Fainu and Jarome Luai in the six and seven, respectively, while the Dragons consider the 26-year-old the perfect replacement for Jack de Belin as a ball-playing lock.
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Shane Flanagan has been keen to bring Doueihi to Wollongong for some time now and has led negotiations.
Add in the fact that he could cover the back line or halves, should there be any mid-game injuries — Damien Cook has done that job so far in 2025 — and the whole situation works very well for the Dragons if they can keep him fit.
The Sporting Base understands Doueihi’s preference is to stay at the Tigers to avoid an upheaval between seasons and his cheeky message to CEO Richardson at the end of his man-of-the-match performance certainly seems to suggest he’s leaning that way if he can get the right cash and years: “If Richo’s listening, how about that,” he said on radio after the game.
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield has said he’s “very, very close” to signing with the Dragons.
