Luke Brooks - Mega Thread

[Camel2281]

Consider the output of Clifford and Clune in yesterday's game in comparison to Brooks. Then consider that Clifford and Clune's combined salary is only half of what Brooks gets paid.

Makes me sick to my stomach

 

[Telltails]

It's so much bigger than a one man problem no matter who you point the finger at. They have been doing that at the club for years and still havnt figured it out. Pretty sure it's the mantra some of the players who have been here long enough take into each game.

 

[hobbo1]

He ain't no kid, he's a grown man.

Debatable 😂

 

[hobbo1]

Bwahahahahahah 😂😆😂

 

[earl]

You are forgetting that he brought Waste Anasta to the club and persevered with John Morris at half despite him being completely unsuitable for the position.

The idea that Sheens is going to be our saviour flies in the face of his history at this club and others.

Sure he can coach and he can build a winning team but he can't do that consistently.

 

[The_Patriot]

This post is mostly about the KICKING GAME.
And I'll preface this by saying that the whole spine were trash today, so were the forwards, and the backs, and that it is impossible to blame any one player for that disgusting performance.

Back to the kicking. I tagged all kicks with a time, description, kicker and basic judgment of
Very Good/Good/Average/Poor/Very Bad.

They are as follows:

1. Brooks 2 mins long Kick straight to fullback. Poor kick.
2. Brooks 13 mins bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
3. Brooks 15 min Penalty kick from centre field. Gained 10m. Very bad kick.
4. Brooks 17 min attacking position, bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
5. Brooks 22 min penalty kick. Gain of 5 metres. Very bad kick.
6. Brooks 25 min penalty kick. 1m gain. Very bad kick.
7. Brooks 26 min attacking bomb, straight to fullback. Poor kick.
8. Brooks 35 min cross field kick, gone wrong, straight to Gagai. Very bad kick.
9. - 27 min drop out (don’t know who took that, couldn't see on TV...was it Hastings?). Either way, it was out on the full. Very bad kick.
10. Hastings 43 min grubber dead in-goal. Poor kick.
11. Brooks 51 min “catastrophic” no kick at all. Positioning awful. Very bad no kick.
12. Brooks 64 min under pressure. Finds grass and easy for defenders. Average kick.
13. Brooks 71 min penalty kick. 10 min gain. Very bad kick.
14. Brooks 72 mins midfield bomb straight to defenders. Poor kick.
15. Simpkins 77 min. Solo grubber. Very bad kick.
16. Brooks 78 mins long kick (under pressure) straight to fullback. Poor kick.

The above is not making judgment of kicker but the kicks themselves. You can re-watch and judge how you like
.
Fact is, we did not put one single kick in which was effective. Brooks was responsible for 13/16.

For judgment of Brooks, need to look at his stats. Below is his contribution:

2 tackle infringements
6 missed tackles
0 try assists
0 line breaks
0 line break assists
0 effective runs
0 kicks for repeat sets.
4 hospital passes.
13 kicks for 303 metres - not one of them good kicks.
4 penalty kicks for total of 26 metres gained.

Not one kick from Brooks put any pressure on Newcastle. Rather, every single kick from Brooks relieved pressure. Again, I am not saying he is responsible for the loss, everyone sucked! Hastings was largely ineffective too, but at least he did a few good things. Brooks and Laurie were really just garbage. (It's no coincidence everyone has stopped waxing lyrical about the latter.)

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune completely outplayed both our halves (Adam Clune FFS!). Other than his general play, Clifford made 30 metres from nearly every penalty kick. In the kicking department alone he crapped all over Brooks. And all of us would have thought he was inferior. Fact is, he was far superior.

For all those that thought Newcastle were there for the taking, you were right.
But not by us.
Even as a Brooks critic it is undeniable that this was one horrendous team performance.

Having said that, I am 100% sure that the rest of the team's performance will be all the ammunition the Brooks army need for their excuses.

In the moments of being under the pump we needed our most experienced player to take the reigns, the one in the position of the general, the one with the kicking responsibility, the one who could pressurise the opposition, the one who is looked to to step up when we needed him most.
But once again he showed that his skills are weak, his experience counts for nought and that when the going gets tough he goes to water.

The coaching staff and management need to take decisive action. Now.

Clearly tanking to get the coach sacked

 

[The_Patriot]

There's always the chance that Moses the grub is getting into Brooky's ear and telling him to play shit.. Maybe he wants to get himself sacked
Just the way he did himself when Moses was at the Tigers.
Is Brooksy doing it on purpose??

-Unsuccessful conversions
-Kicks to touch
-On-field play

Or how about he is own man and he himself is doing it

 

[tiger05premier]

Just read a story online but don't know how to post it that apparently Brooks asked twice for a release during the off-season and that we would have to chip in part of his salary to get rid of him

Stuff that

If Brooks does actually want to go than we should let him go but make it clear to him that he is giving up his contract with us if he wants out and that his new salary will be whatever a new club is willing to pay for him

We pay nothing

Than let's see how good he plays when he is on a train and trial contract playing for his career

 

[tigerap]

Clearly tanking to get the coach sacked

We have seen that before

 

[The_Patriot]

We have seen that before

Yes we have. Also seen this guy position himself out of the way to avoid the action in these games where the group is off the coach. Has a history of it and did it again yesterday.

And people call Moses every name under the sun for doing it. This guy refused to run and take on the line yesterday. This guy hung out the back when his job was to be in position as a play maker. It's a new low for him.

Punt him!

 

[earl]

It's so much bigger than a one man problem no matter who you point the finger at. They have been doing that at the club for years and still havnt figured it out. Pretty sure it's the mantra some of the players who have been here long enough take into each game.

Reminds me of my job and my mate telling me don't worry there will be multiple lines of accountability and everything will be completely opaque.

 

[haberfield_tiger]

I don't believe he is tanking. He is trying. He just doesn't have the game plan or the confidence to do anything. He won't grubber any more scared to kick dead. Won't try a 40/20. Scared to kick out on the full. He's a left foot kicker playing on the wrong side of the ruck. Is it his fault? Or do u think it's the coach... I think current situation does not serve brooks well at half. I see him as a running 9 for this year...

 

[tiger_one]

I don't believe he is tanking. He is trying. He just doesn't have the game plan or the confidence to do anything. He won't grubber any more scared to kick dead. Won't try a 40/20. Scared to kick out on the full. He's a left foot kicker playing on the wrong side of the ruck. Is it his fault? Or do u think it's the coach... I think current situation does not serve brooks well at half. I see him as a running 9 for this year...

Good post; he's tackling like a demon, covering for his mates.

 

[BAGNF05]

Go for it. I've already done my essay for the day.

Your essay only highlights that as bad as he played (shocker) he kept putting himself in the game. He was also kicking into a strong wind I understand in the first half.

I’ll take that ‘effort’ over guys who last one tackle before limping around, or get themselves binned stupidity and then smile about it when getting whipped any day.

Brooks' confidence is completely shot and has been for years.

You can see it in the way he plays:
- Afraid to put a grubber in because he usually puts it too deep or into defenders
- Afraid to kick early in the tackle count in case he screws it up with a mis-kick
- Doesn't attempt a spiral bomb because he's afraid to mess it up
- How many cut out passes does he throw in a game?

Yesterday didn't have much to do with his performance, but he's had the same issues for years.

I don’t disagree with you. My problem now is he is the only one who is getting the forensic analysis from the masses. How’d Peachey go yesterday. Hint - worse than Luke.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

I don't believe he is tanking. He is trying. He just doesn't have the game plan or the confidence to do anything. He won't grubber any more scared to kick dead. Won't try a 40/20. Scared to kick out on the full. He's a left foot kicker playing on the wrong side of the ruck. Is it his fault? Or do u think it's the coach... I think current situation does not serve brooks well at half. I see him as a running 9 for this year...

I won't say he tanked on purpose. Sure he did at times put the body on the line but it was very hard to say his full effort was on show against the Knights.

On his defensive side he was nearly 10% below on effectiveness despite having less workload in attack and defence.

His output below shows the effort meter which on key stats merged was 25% below his Storm effort (runs,passes, receipts, tackles, kicks) this didn't factor he didn't have any try assists as well.

Runs 11 v 7
Passes 47 v 34
Receipts 64 v 46
Pass to run ratio 4.27 v 4.86
Tackles 29 v 26
Missed Tackles 2 v 6
Tackle Efficiency 87.88% v 78.79%
Kicks 10 v 9
Kick Meters 273 v 303
Cross field kicks 5 v 1

 

[TrueTiger]

I dont want to be a Brooks basher as I have done that as well as given him chances and praise to come good...I dont also want to speculate that he is tanking,what I would like to say that yesterdays performance wasnt anywhere near the first half against Melb...
what does that leave me,this group is very slow at learning,cant adapt to NRL standard and definately cant handle the pressure of 80 mins of NRL level football..
When you have a 5/8 that has been in ESL for 4 years trying his best to lift the team and OUTSHINES his NRL standard partner,it doesnt leave much hope for the rest..I will praise Hastings,it was his 2nd game in NRL and is starting to show more improvement than the guys on big money that have been in the system for much longer...
God help us as fans ....its gunna be a long season,hopefully the young guys may shine...

SIDENOTE....this statement may attract severe criticism HOWEVER,Madden played very well alongside Jacko in the trial,they both seemed on the same page,Jock is a better kicker in general play in my opinion and has a want to succeed ....

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Your essay only highlights that as bad as he played (shocker) he kept putting himself in the game. He was also kicking into a strong wind I understand in the first half.

I’ll take that ‘effort’ over guys who last one tackle before limping around, or get themselves binned stupidity and then smile about it when getting whipped any day.

I don’t disagree with you. My problem now is he is the only one who is getting the forensic analysis from the masses. How’d Peachey go yesterday. Hint - worse than Luke.

I defended Luke last week & have defended him alot over the years but can't this week. What he dished up was garbage. Sure he was kicking into a wind but it wasn't that hard to send the ball backwards. It also doesn't excuse his lack of kicking and attack in the 2nd half.

Other players who also had a terrible game against the Knights in the same class as Brooks was Ken, Peachey, Kelma, Stefano, Gildart, Laurie & Seyfarth.

Captain Ken 5 errors and 80mtrs, didn't chase 1 high kick and couldn't get close to support
Hastings break. The Captain led by example & the team followed him.

Stefano is our big forward leader made 44mtrs, 9 off a kick off. Our front row enforcer!!!

Kelma 46mtrs and 72% tackle effectiveness (missed 4 and ineffective on 3). I call him flash, does 1-2 good things a game which everyone remembers but does the rest ordinary.

Gildart run down whilst open, 77.78% tackle effectiveness

Laurie field positioning, errors, defensive miss reads

Seyfarth 37mins and made only 26mtrs also missed 3 tackles & made an error.

Only players who played better against the Knights than Storm was Hastings (debatable after his terrible 15mins that was very costly), Simpkin (the kid had a big dig) & JTJ which says alot really.

 

[batboy]

This post is mostly about the KICKING GAME.
And I'll preface this by saying that the whole spine were trash today, so were the forwards, and the backs, and that it is impossible to blame any one player for that disgusting performance.

Back to the kicking. I tagged all kicks with a time, description, kicker and basic judgment of
Very Good/Good/Average/Poor/Very Bad.

They are as follows:

1. Brooks 2 mins long Kick straight to fullback. Poor kick.
2. Brooks 13 mins bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
3. Brooks 15 min Penalty kick from centre field. Gained 10m. Very bad kick.
4. Brooks 17 min attacking position, bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
5. Brooks 22 min penalty kick. Gain of 5 metres. Very bad kick.
6. Brooks 25 min penalty kick. 1m gain. Very bad kick.
7. Brooks 26 min attacking bomb, straight to fullback. Poor kick.
8. Brooks 35 min cross field kick, gone wrong, straight to Gagai. Very bad kick.
9. - 27 min drop out (don’t know who took that, couldn't see on TV...was it Hastings?). Either way, it was out on the full. Very bad kick.
10. Hastings 43 min grubber dead in-goal. Poor kick.
11. Brooks 51 min “catastrophic” no kick at all. Positioning awful. Very bad no kick.
12. Brooks 64 min under pressure. Finds grass and easy for defenders. Average kick.
13. Brooks 71 min penalty kick. 10 min gain. Very bad kick.
14. Brooks 72 mins midfield bomb straight to defenders. Poor kick.
15. Simpkins 77 min. Solo grubber. Very bad kick.
16. Brooks 78 mins long kick (under pressure) straight to fullback. Poor kick.

The above is not making judgment of kicker but the kicks themselves. You can re-watch and judge how you like
.
Fact is, we did not put one single kick in which was effective. Brooks was responsible for 13/16.

For judgment of Brooks, need to look at his stats. Below is his contribution:

2 tackle infringements
6 missed tackles
0 try assists
0 line breaks
0 line break assists
0 effective runs
0 kicks for repeat sets.
4 hospital passes.
13 kicks for 303 metres - not one of them good kicks.
4 penalty kicks for total of 26 metres gained.

Not one kick from Brooks put any pressure on Newcastle. Rather, every single kick from Brooks relieved pressure. Again, I am not saying he is responsible for the loss, everyone sucked! Hastings was largely ineffective too, but at least he did a few good things. Brooks and Laurie were really just garbage. (It's no coincidence everyone has stopped waxing lyrical about the latter.)

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune completely outplayed both our halves (Adam Clune FFS!). Other than his general play, Clifford made 30 metres from nearly every penalty kick. In the kicking department alone he crapped all over Brooks. And all of us would have thought he was inferior. Fact is, he was far superior.

For all those that thought Newcastle were there for the taking, you were right.
But not by us.
Even as a Brooks critic it is undeniable that this was one horrendous team performance.

Having said that, I am 100% sure that the rest of the team's performance will be all the ammunition the Brooks army need for their excuses.

In the moments of being under the pump we needed our most experienced player to take the reigns, the one in the position of the general, the one with the kicking responsibility, the one who could pressurise the opposition, the one who is looked to to step up when we needed him most.
But once again he showed that his skills are weak, his experience counts for nought and that when the going gets tough he goes to water.

The coaching staff and management need to take decisive action. Now.

Some work there mate....
All that aside - Kicking for touch and not gaining ground has been a thing since the Benji and Robbie days,

I never ever understood it. Surely it's on purpose?
Every time Benji tried to get ground he wouldn't find touch....

It's that lazy and stupid that it has to be on purpose....
Same as when a winger goes into score - Ours never EVER bother to run it around to the post....
Falling over the line always seems to just be enough.

 

[bigsiro]

He was also kicking into a strong wind I understand in the first half.

🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant.

 

[Telltails]

This does my head in. I don't know what figure he his on but he is contracted to play to the best of his ability for the club and gets paid regardless of performance. He may want out, but clubs have no protection for their investment in these players when other clubs get in their ear as reported re Andrew Johns. It's a no win situation for the club - cant replace them when they want out and then pay for him to play for somewhere else.