Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens fears five-eighth Adam Doueihi tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a 28-22 loss to Parramatta that was masterminded by Eels halfback Mitchell Moses.
The Tigers fought back to cut a 16-point deficit to two points in the second half, but amid their best 40 minutes of the season, five-eighth Doueihi contested a high ball and appeared to injure his left knee that has twice been reconstructed.
Doueihi needed assistance leaving the field and the Tigers suspect his injury is season-ending.
"Given the narrowness of the game, the loss and all the other things and the contribution he put in, he's pretty disappointed," Sheens said of Doueihi.
"Most of the bounces went against us in many ways. But I'm very, very proud of the effort they put in."
The Tigers have struggled to settle on a spine combination this season and Doueihi's injury will cause even more movement at the selection table, as will the shoulder injury centre Brent Naden suffered in the act of scoring.
Sheens said it was too early to determine whether Brandon Wakeham would slot into the five-eighth spot, having done so earlier in the season when Doueihi played fullback.
In his first clash with the Tigers since declining their lucrative contract offer, Moses came up with an equal career-high four-try assists at Accor Stadium.
"He was good today. He kicked them to death," Eels coach Brad Arthur said.
When Moses split their defence with grubberkicks for two tries in three minutes, the Tigers appeared little chance of recreating the upset win they produced in last year's Easter Monday fixture.
But despite coming up with another try from the same play before halftime, Moses and the Eels never had the ball or the field position to kick on.
Parramatta finished with only 43 per cent of possession and 10 tackles in the 20-metre zone, compared to the Tigers' 29.
Much-maligned Luke Brooks was first to breathe life into the Tigers, sending a cut-out pass down the left for a try on the fifth tackle that had his side up and about.
English recruit John Bateman, one of the Tigers' best, sent Naden over as the weight of possession finally began paying dividends.
Two points behind and with all the momentum, the Tigers were left to rue a Charlie Staines knock-on from Parramatta's dropout.
"He's disappointed in himself on that," Sheens said of the error.
"(But) footy players don't blame each other and coaches worth their salt won't blame the players either on those things."
After the mistake, Parramatta marched down the field for the second of Maika Sivo's tries and held on.
But Arthur said the Eels would not be satisfied with the win, given their second-half lapses.
"The boys were pretty flat in the sheds after the game," Arthur said.
"I thought we've played better this year and gotten beaten but at the end of the day, at the end of the year, that doesn't matter, the two points does.
"We've got to dust ourselves off and we've got to be prepared to play a bit better footy than that."
