A defiant Tim Sheens has defended the choice to shake up his backbone and transfer Adam Doueihi to fullback.
The Tigers coach surprised commentators when he pulled Doueihi out of the halves in opposition to the Bulldogs and moved him into the backline with Brandon Wakeham taking up at six.
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It instantly sparked a late surge from the Tigers who scored three tries in 4 minutes to tug inside 4 factors earlier than finally happening 26-22.
A pissed off Sheens wouldn’t be drawn on the transfer in his post-game press convention however shed extra gentle on Thursday after Doueihi was named at No.1 to tackle the Storm.
“If you look at the World Cup … his size when he chimes in on the edges, he is a big fullback,” Sheens stated of Doueihi
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“Big fullbacks like Latrell and company are hard to nail one-on-one with the football.
“He’s got good skills to get the ball away, and he reads the game very well. It’s just him reading the game and organising the offence that is a bonus for us.”
The modifications within the halves have raised additional questions over Luke Brooks’ position within the staff. Wakeham is anticipated to tackle halfback duties controlling the staff and Sheens believes the transfer may capitalize on his $1 million playmaker’s strengths.
“It’s not that (Brooks) doesn’t understand the game. But he is much better as a runner than an organiser at this stage,” Sheens stated.
“Even with Mitchell (Moses), he was more of a runner off Mitchell as well.
“He’s got speed, a good kicking game, he’s a tough little competitor. And he can tell people what to do.
“But I’m comfortable with Adam controlling the numbers from the back and Brandon organising where we are going on the field, it becomes a little easier for Brooksy.”
NRL nice Braith Anasta agreed that the transfer may “unlock” Brooks.
“Those couple of tries at the end of the game really took some pressure off the Tigers,” Anasta stated on Fox League.
“… Give him [Brooks] some credit. He was very good at the end of the game. Maybe that [Wakeham’s addition] unlocks Brooks a little bit, that’s what they’d be hoping. He came up with a few tries that he would’ve scored in his heyday. He has it in there somewhere and we saw it.”
While Sheens wouldn’t be drawn on whether or not the transfer was long-term, Doueihi’s swap to fullback has created a clumsy choice headache with Daine Laurie named on the bench this week after lacking Round 3 on account of harm.
Tigers Press Conference | 06:50
Knights legend Andrew Johns stated Laurie should be a part of Sheens’ beginning aspect whereas Blues coach Brad Fittler declared Doeuihi’s future needs to be within the centres.
“For me if (Laurie) is fully fit he has to be fullback,” Johns stated on Freddy and the Eighth.
“Centre, I’ve always thought centre,” Fittler replied.
Fittler, in the meantime, applauded Sheens for shifting to cease the rot however warned it was placing plenty of stress on Wakeham.
“You need to try something, because they were going nowhere,” he stated.
“The good thing about what Brandon did, was his first tackle (Viliame) Kikau ran over him, and his second tackle he dug right in and stopped him on the spot.
“That changed everything, the fortunes of the game turned pretty much after that tackle.
“He is the key change. They are asking him to ignite their attack. It’s a big ask.”
The Tigers tackle the Storm in Round 4 at 6pm on Friday night time.
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
