Brooks

[supercoach]

As the no1 play maker its his role to call the 5th tackle play and on a few occasions yesterday it was chaos on the last tackle, in saying that the good sides the whole 13 players on the paddock play a part in setting a platform to make a play on the last tackle and that is certainly not the case with our mob.

Overall Brooks has looked a lot better player since Tui has arrived and come next year there will be NO excuses

[jirskyr]

Honestly I think if Brooks keeps playing like today, every round, he may get there. He's spent most of the past two years in his shell, don't know if it was Moses or the coaching, but he's not a player who can just relax and let the game come to him.

He needs to play up-tempo all game, get plenty of touches, take runs and get tackled. He plays into the game, he doesn't come out firing. DCE gave him a class yesterday in what to do with that energy, but for a long while Brooks had the opposition guessing, not necessarily because it was erratic, and Brandy noticed in commentary.

E.g. that grubber was a specky for sure, he was lucky, but it's that energy and effort that becomes lucky moments, because Tigers deserved the ball we had from 20-50 min mark and we scored fairly shifty tries, but it was the work leading into those tries that allowed them to happen. I.e. you aren't going to force those kind of errors from the opposition if you don't get them nervous and panicked.

BUT obviously a long way to go and as Brandy also noted, DCE gave Brooks a class in how to effectively end those good sets, Brooks still kicks into legs far too often whereas DCE's short kicking was immaculate, a real game-changer.

[Pawsandclaws]

I still believe that kick from Tedesco was the turning point. Had we kicked for field position on the fifth tackle and played percentage football I'm sure the game would have been a lot closer.

[ricksen]

I thought he was pretty good yesterday, given we barely had any ball.
Obviously his big issue at the moment is finishing sets - there's far too much ad hoc stuff going on, and lots of poor kicks.
Would like to see a bit more variance in his passing as well. One thing Moses did/does well was utilise width, especially on the short side. Brooks seems a bit tentative to throw a pass more than 5m.

[TIGER]

Nathan Cleary vs Brooks - Daylight
One full of confidence with a day to make decisions and the other doubting himself too much

Brooks needs t back himself, he needs to own it
He is still not owning the team and i doubt he will


Thankfully Lolo is finding form which is taking pressure off Brooks

Just image having JLJ next to him.. Mess and a half we would have been

The key difference between them two is the pack they each have laying the platform. Penriths forwards are a age above ours. It's why he has a lot of time to make decisions

I fail to understand this, how is a better forward pack going to improve Brooks ability to finish our sets with a better kick?
How is it going to improve his decision making?
How is it going to improve his execution?

I understand that halves have more time when they're on the front foot because their forwards are creating space for them but NO forward pack dominates for 80mins. Rugby league normally changes momentum during games, we get our share of momentum too, our forwards get a roll on and get offloads away and free up space for Brooks. My gripe with him is his poor decision making and poor finishes to sets a better forward pack won't address those issues.

[old man tiger]

I still believe that kick from Tedesco was the turning point. Had we kicked for field position on the fifth tackle and played percentage football I'm sure the game would have been a lot closer.

This is how I saw it. Was surprised he got points in the 3/2/1 thread. From memory we were up by 8 and we never got back into a groove after that.

For a start Brooks needs to overcall in these situations, even an ineffective bomb with a fair chase would have been a better outcome.

[king sirro]

Nathan Cleary vs Brooks - Daylight
One full of confidence with a day to make decisions and the other doubting himself too much

Brooks needs t back himself, he needs to own it
He is still not owning the team and i doubt he will


Thankfully Lolo is finding form which is taking pressure off Brooks

Just image having JLJ next to him.. Mess and a half we would have been

The key difference between them two is the pack they each have laying the platform. Penriths forwards are a age above ours. It's why he has a lot of time to make decisions

I fail to understand this, how is a better forward pack going to improve Brooks ability to finish our sets with a better kick?
How is it going to improve his decision making?
How is it going to improve his execution?

I understand that halves have more time when they're on the front foot because their forwards are creating space for them but NO forward pack dominates for 80mins. Rugby league normally changes momentum during games, we get our share of momentum too, our forwards get a roll on and get offloads away and free up space for Brooks. My gripe with him is his poor decision making and poor finishes to sets a better forward pack won't address those issues.

Short answer is yes, it will help him mske better decisions.

A more dominant pack definitely helps a halfs decision making becsuse it creates time and momentum. Behind a beaten pack you feel continually rushed and under pressure. Time is everything for a half.

[Chris]

Maybe im the only one who thinks this but Im not looking too much into our performances for the rest of this year. I couldnt care less to be quite honest. This team is JT's disaster. Next year it will be Ivan's creation. Let's wait and see then.

[innsaneink]

He needs to be thinking third and fourth tackle what he's going to do on the 5th...it's like he waits till he has ball in hand on the last before he decides... Often a mess

[TIGER]

Yep another Brooks thread, until he learns to take control of a game when his team needs him to I'm going to keep pointing him out.
Don't let two lucky bounces off kicks fool you into thinking he was good today, he wasn't awful by any stretch but once again he failed to do his number one job.

What are we feeling about him at the moment and looking towards the future?

I know a few are waiting to see how he goes in a new team next year but I can't see how a few new forwards and a different halves partner (who is also going ordinary I might add) is going to change the fact that his options and end of sets are atrocious.

Agree with most of it. Funny though how Brooks' 2 kicks are viewed as lucky, whereas if it was Cronk that kicked them people would be calling it genius. 90% of kicks are riding massively on luck to get a positive outcome IMO, especially once they bounce.

No, I call a spade a spade if Cronk got a lucky bounce I'd say so. If you think that the results of his kicks weren't luck I suggest you watch them again, also watch Manlys first try big Brooks defensive mistake Manly backrower strolls past him untouched.

[TIGER]

Nathan Cleary vs Brooks - Daylight
One full of confidence with a day to make decisions and the other doubting himself too much

Brooks needs t back himself, he needs to own it
He is still not owning the team and i doubt he will


Thankfully Lolo is finding form which is taking pressure off Brooks

Just image having JLJ next to him.. Mess and a half we would have been

The key difference between them two is the pack they each have laying the platform. Penriths forwards are a age above ours. It's why he has a lot of time to make decisions

I fail to understand this, how is a better forward pack going to improve Brooks ability to finish our sets with a better kick?
How is it going to improve his decision making?
How is it going to improve his execution?

I understand that halves have more time when they're on the front foot because their forwards are creating space for them but NO forward pack dominates for 80mins. Rugby league normally changes momentum during games, we get our share of momentum too, our forwards get a roll on and get offloads away and free up space for Brooks. My gripe with him is his poor decision making and poor finishes to sets a better forward pack won't address those issues.

Short answer is yes, it will help him mske better decisions.

A more dominant pack definitely helps a halfs decision making becsuse it creates time and momentum. Behind a beaten pack you feel continually rushed and under pressure. Time is everything for a half.

Are you saying that Brooks never gets time and momentum? Like I said our forwards also create space for Brooks sometimes, it's no excuse for poorly ended sets no excuse for poorly executed kicks, he's not under pressure on every kick.

[king sirro]

The key difference between them two is the pack they each have laying the platform. Penriths forwards are a age above ours. It's why he has a lot of time to make decisions

I fail to understand this, how is a better forward pack going to improve Brooks ability to finish our sets with a better kick?
How is it going to improve his decision making?
How is it going to improve his execution?

I understand that halves have more time when they're on the front foot because their forwards are creating space for them but NO forward pack dominates for 80mins. Rugby league normally changes momentum during games, we get our share of momentum too, our forwards get a roll on and get offloads away and free up space for Brooks. My gripe with him is his poor decision making and poor finishes to sets a better forward pack won't address those issues.

Short answer is yes, it will help him mske better decisions.

A more dominant pack definitely helps a halfs decision making becsuse it creates time and momentum. Behind a beaten pack you feel continually rushed and under pressure. Time is everything for a half.

Are you saying that Brooks never gets time and momentum? Like I said our forwards also create space for Brooks sometimes, it's no excuse for poorly ended sets no excuse for poorly executed kicks, he's not under pressure on every kick.

There are times where there is no excuse, i agree. However, he "should" improve this if he gets regular time and momentum.

[jirskyr]

I still believe that kick from Tedesco was the turning point. Had we kicked for field position on the fifth tackle and played percentage football I'm sure the game would have been a lot closer.

I agree, Tedesco's late options lately have been horrendous, he needs to take a step back and be that support person, not be putting in kicks. I'm not saying he didn't try hard yesterday, but he was all running and no passing, with bad kick options.

[tigerap]

I still believe that kick from Tedesco was the turning point. Had we kicked for field position on the fifth tackle and played percentage football I'm sure the game would have been a lot closer.

I agree, Tedesco's late options lately have been horrendous, he needs to take a step back and be that support person, not be putting in kicks. I'm not saying he didn't try hard yesterday, but he was all running and no passing, with bad kick options.

Look its clear teddy's mind is not with the WT...

[Balmain Boy]

Half of his grubbers beat the first man which is an improvement, but his game management is still costing us bigtime