It's been bad enough with the injuries and winning two games since Jarome Luai confirmed he was heading to Papua New Guinea in 2028; now he will head to Parramatta next season, and Adam Doueihi ruled himself out after successfully challenging his charge from Round 20.
Benji Marshall wanted him to play in the lock position instead of halfback, and it's led to more headlines in the news and speculation around whether there is more to the story.
What was positive in the chaos from Concord is the debut of Javon Andrews, who played in the halfback role against the Raiders on Saturday afternoon.
After impressive performances in NSW Cup, Benji thought it was the best time to establish him in the first-grade side.
The Canberra Raiders defeated the Wests Tigers 56-10, keeping their finals hopes alive, and Benji, for the first time, spoke about the story that dominated in the rugby league world.
"We have to find a resolution," Marshall said after their loss.
"That situation was a tough one to deal with this week, unexpected to be honest.
"But at the same time, as a coach, I guess from my point of view is that I always try and make decisions on what I think's best for the team to try and win."
Benji understood Doueihi's perspective and made a decision he thought was the best for the team as the head coach.
"For Adam, I can understand his disappointment around me asking him to play a different role, and then he just wasn't in a good headspace to play this week," Marshall explained.
"You've got to respect that, which we did, and then we try to move on, but it's tough."
It's not the first time the club and Benji have clashed with Adam Doueihi.
According to reports last season, the halfback was frustrated in a training session when Marshall tackled him after words were exchanged.
Brett Kimmorley also confirmed that when he was the interim coach for the Tigers in 2022, he had a situation with the Lebanese player when he had returned from an ACL injury and he wanted to play five-eighth in first grade.
When Benji was asked whether his relationship with Doueihi was "salvageable", he did not hesitate in his response.
“Yeah (it's salvageable). I can understand it, to be honest. I'll always try and make the best decision for the club and the team to try and win,” Marshall said.
“That's my job, but at the same time Adam's human too, so he's going to feel how he feels.
“We'll obviously try and get to a resolution next week (at) some stage and put the noise to bed.”
The Tigers coach also revealed how his playing group dealt with the recent news unfolding.
"No other player came up to me upset, but I did have a lot of players in my office trying to get their head around the situation, but no other players came to me upset," the coach continued.
"I can't answer for them, but I guess the most important thing is this is their job that they get paid to do, paid pretty well to do.
"You've got to go out there and do your job whether you respect it or not. You've just got to do it
"We're also in the world where if you don't feel mentally right to play, you can't make him play.
"It's tough, man. We're men, we have feelings, and we're in the day and age where you need to express those feelings.
"He did so (and) as a club you've got to stand by that and move on."
The Wests Tigers will need to bounce back in their next two matches if they want to be in the top eight, hosting the Parramatta Eels in Round 22 before their bye in Round 23 and then hosting the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 24.
