The Melbourne Storm have earmarked their favoured replacement for Cameron Munster, should the southern power weights lose their star five-eighth at the end of the 2023 NRL season—mispositioned Tigers star Adam Doueihi.
Should Munster walk out the door, the club will push hard to bring Wests Tigers halves player-turned-centre Doueihi to the club to play in the halves alongside Jarome Hughes and as a free-wheeling playmaker alongside Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen.
The Sporting Base has heard Doueihi is certainly open to the move.
Melbourne actually already made a play for him too: Before securing veteran David Nofoaluma on a loan deal earlier this month, Craig Bellamy and the Storm inquired about loaning Doueihi for the remainder of the season.
This deal would be more permanent than that—the 24-year-old Tiger would join the purple NRL giants in the 2023-2024 preseason. That coincides with when Munster would leave Melbourne.
The swap should come as bad news for Wests Tigers fans. Doueihi has long been touted as a possible playmaking main stay for the Concord outfit well into the ‘20s. An injury dented early hopes to see him play alongside Jackson Hasting this season. He has since slotted into the centres.
If Doueihi leaves, Luke Brooks may remain the central commander in the heart of the Tigers offense and defence beyond his own 2023 deal. Jock Madden would leave the club around a similar time if the dominoes fall that way.
All the action will happen in November when the signing window opens.
And, it’s worth remembering the Storm still want to keep Munster too—if they can ward off big money bids from the Dolphins and Dragons, they may be able to keep their five-eighth.
