NRL fans left shattered over news about Jayden Brailey and Adam Doueihi

The Newcastle Knights have confirmed that Jayden Brailey has suffered another ACL tear, while the Wests Tigers are fearing the worst for Adam Doueihi. The Knights announced on Monday that co-captain Brailey will miss the remainder of the NRL season after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus against the Warriors.

Brailey left the field midway through the second half of Newcastle's 34-24 win on Sunday night, with the initial thought that he'd suffered a meniscus injury to his right knee. But scans confirmed a graver prognosis for the hooker, who also faces surgery on the same ACL he injured in 2020.

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Doueihi suffered his injury late in the Tigers' 28-22 loss to Parramatta, which consigned the club to their first 0-6 start to a season in NRL history. The five-eighth, who has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee twice before, went down clutching the same knee after landing awkwardly on it following a contest for the ball.

He immediately hit the turf and struggled to place any weight on the knee before he was taken from the field looking distraught. “Ask me tomorrow how I’m feeling when I wake up and realise it wasn’t a nightmare,” coach Tim Sheens said in his post-match press conference when asked about Doueihi's injury.

“They think it is (an ACL). The doctor is pretty sure it is one, but we’ll know more tomorrow. If it’s confirmed to be an ACL, he’ll be out for the season. Maybe even more.”

'NRL Physio' Brien Seeney reported on Twitter: "Tigers confirm assessments suggest Adam Doueihi has suffered an ACL injury, the 3rd of his career to his left knee. Unfortunately hands on tests from medical staff very accurate in these cases. Would be facing surgery & 9+ months recovery. Just horrible news, thoughts with him."

He earlier tweeted: "Adam Doueihi off with left knee injury, same knee he has 2 past ACL reconstructions. Most significant concern here by video is ACL re-rupture: non-contact landing mechanism & appears to be some shift in the knee. Best case hope for meniscus injury/bone bruise, fingers crossed."

Fans and commentators were left shattered for Doueihi and Brailey. Many expressed their well-wishes on social media.

Tim Sheens remaining upbeat despite Tigers' 0-6 start

The loss sent the Tigers to 0-6 on the season - the first time in the joint-venture club's 24-year history they they've begun a season with six-straight losses. The Tigers fought back to cut a 16-point deficit to two points in the second half, but Doueihi's injury seemed to halt their late charge and the Eels hung on.

"Given the narrowness of the game, the loss and all the other things and the contribution he put in, he's pretty disappointed," Sheens said of Doueihi. "Most of the bounces went against us in many ways. But I'm very, very proud of the effort they put in."

Despite the historic low and a number of injury concerns, Sheens said the Tigers' second-half performances proved they were on the right track. The winless Tigers have outscored their opponents in four of six second halves and beat last year's grand finalists 16-10 after the break on Monday.

"Overall we've been resilient, coming back at them," Sheens said. "But giving them the start is always the problem."

Sheens lamented the Tigers' inability to defuse kicks, with all three of the Eels' first-half tries coming from the boot of Mitchell Moses. The Broncos also scored three tries against the Tigers in similar fashion last week.

"Three tries from kicks after last week, the kicking efforts by Brisbane, disappoints us. We put a lot of time into it," Sheens said. "This week coming will be analysing where we're going, what's happened in the first six round and where we need to improve."

"And then come back out fighting again. That's what the nature of the game is, we're not going to lay down. There's still plenty of football to play."

with AAP

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