Adam Doueihi insists God was the reason he returned to rugby league after rupturing his ACL for a third time. Doueihi started attending St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Croydon, in Sydney’s inner west, to pray every day after suffering an injury that could have easily ended his NRL career. Doueihi who plays for Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition has opened up about a bizarre in-game ritual he has. The Wests Tigers centre broke down in a game on Easter Monday nearly two years ago. When you politely point out the irony of the date, Doueihi laughs and says: “I was aware of that. “It’s hard to explain to people who are not of faith, or follow Catholicism or Christianity, but by me turning to Him and speaking to Him one on one, if it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t have come back from this injury. I truly believe that. “I still go to church every day. They have a midday slot through the week, and I’ll go on a day off, or even duck away from training because the church is only around the corner.
“I never thought the third ACL would happen. It was definitely a low point in my career and in my life. I was in a dark place. The only way I was going to overcome it was by turning to my family and my faith.” Adam Doueihi is the Wests Tigers’ forgotten feel-good story. He returned from surgery late last season but was always going to benefit from a full block of training during summer. Doueihi, now 26, spent his first two seasons in the NRL at South Sydney before he was let go to make way for Latrell Mitchell. He returned to the Tigers, the club where he began his career as a junior, only to struggle with injuries the past four seasons – he ruptured his ACL for a second time in 2021 – and was frustrated he could not help stop the rot as the Tigers collected three straight wooden spoons. Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson said Doueihi was one of the fiercest competitors he had met, “He’s a great kid from a great family, and we only want what’s best for him. It’s taken him a while to get there and, God willing, there won’t be any more setbacks.
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
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