'I still like playing five-eighth': Doueihi eyes Benji's jumper

Adam Doueihi sees himself as a No.6 but might have to wait until next season to get his wish as the Wests Tigers look set to recall Josh Reynolds for this week's clash against Melbourne.

Tigers fans will be split over who should replace the suspended Luke Brooks in the halves alongside Benji Marshall for Saturday's game. Reynolds, Doueihi and even rookie Jock Madden all have supporters.

Madden is no chance of being given a debut against a tough opponent like the Storm, so Reynolds appears the front-runner, despite some club greats last week hoping he would be overlooked for the rest of the year because of his Brookvale Oval walkout.

Doueihi said he would love to play five-eighth after being tried at fullback and, more recently, in the centres.

The 22-year-old was being groomed for Cody Walker's No.6 jersey at South Sydney over the summer until the club decided to re-sign Walker. He was then told to prepare for fullback before they signed Latrell Mitchell.

'I played all my junior footy and under 20s in the halves.'Adam Doueihi

"I still like playing five-eighth, I played all my junior footy and under 20s in the halves,'' Doueihi said. "Long term, I'd like to see myself there but it's up to 'Madge' [Tigers coach Michael Maguire] where he sees me.

"We've also got Jock Madden coming up. I'm not sure if he's going to get a run [on Saturday] but if Madge gives me the No.6 or No.7 jersey, I'll definitely take it with both hands.''

At one stage last summer, Doueihi was linked to the Storm, only for the powerhouse club to baulk at the huge money he was on at Souths.

The chance to play alongside departing Tigers legend Marshall clearly had appeal.

"He's a freak of a player ... he's just an amazing bloke to play with,'' Doueihi said.

"He's a big leader in this club obviously. We have a young squad and we don't have much experience, for him to be around the boys at training and in the game ... he's a big name, has an aura about him around the club, loves the Tigers and you can see he's still got some footy in him.

"I think it helps [having someone with that aura], especially at our club. We're a young squad, not many boys have played finals footy or many first-grade games, so a big name does help us out.''

As for his first season at the Tigers, Doueihi said: "I'm happy with how I'm travelling. I've had a few niggles with the longer season and no byes this year. Everyone is carrying niggles now so you can't do many extras on the paddock at training, which is a bit disappointing.

"There's stuff I have to work on. It will be a big off-season for me to pick my speed up, get strong in the gym, get my endurance up. I haven't really done a pre-season. I've had surgeries the past few and the World Cup in [2017], so I'm looking forward to a really good pre-season next year and working on some things to fix up my game.''