Adam Doueihi has cheekily suggested he should’ve waited another week to sign a deal with the Wests Tigers after his try-scoring return ended a 441-day absence from the NRL.
Coming off his third knee reconstruction, Doueihi was one of the side’s best in a comprehensive victory over the Raiders on Sunday.
The utility signed a fresh one-year deal prior to the game, and negotiated the contract himself after becoming his own manager.
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Asked about his new contract ahead of the Tigers’ clash with the Roosters this week, Doueihi was in a cheeky mood.
“Should’ve waited an extra week,” he smirked.
“I saved the club a bit of cash there.”
Doueihi’s negotiation wasn’t straight forward, having rejected an initial minimum wage $150,000 offer.
Eventually, the club and player saw eye to eye.
“The club came to me with an offer that was what I wanted and we were able to do a deal pretty quick,” he said.
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“It’s still the cooling off period now I guess so maybe I can rip up the contract and go back in there and knock on Richo’s (CEO Shane Richardson) office and ask for a bit more cash,” he added with a laugh.
“I’ve loved the club ever since I’ve been here. We obviously haven’t had the success I’ve wanted. I’m here for another year, hopefully we get a few more wins and build for next year.”
The centre/five-eighth added he was happy to stick with a one-year deal, backing his ability to extend that in the future if he stays injury free.
“We both agreed on another year … I’ve always said my footy will do the talking and back my ability for the rest of this year and start of next year to get another deal after that,” he said.
Doueihi, who was previously managed by Sam Ayoub, was coy on his decision to go out on his own putting it down to “personal reasons”.
“I love it. I guess that’s probably the hardest contract I’ll ever do having not played for 14 months and to still be able to do a deal on my own and get the money I wanted, it was a big goal of mine to try and get a deal done,” he said.
“I love dealing with people and knocking on CEOs’ doors and asking questions and having tough conversations. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and probably something I’ve struggled with in the past so it’s going to help me grow as a person off the field as well.
“I don’t want to go into the reasons too much but I’ve got my own personal reasons. It was more for me as a person.
“I’ve always said my footy ability would do the talking on the field and I’ve always roughly known what I’m worth, it’s not hard to figure out, as long as you’re willing to back yourself and back your footy ability and make sure you’re a good person and behaving off the field then there’s no reason why you can’t do it.
“They were the main reasons for me and save a bit of cash for me, save a bit of commission and invest it.”
The Tigers will be shooting for three consecutive wins this week.