Luke Brooks #167

[TCL]

They were huge errors at critical times. No one is actually lynching him.

Apart from those errors he didn't create anything when we were in a great position.

Apart from that sure he was fine but that isn't good enough for a professional footy player.

Not for or against brooks but Ad, api, DL we also in the same great positions. Ad created 1 try for himself and both AD and brooks were involved in the DL try.

 

[tony soprano]

Would like Luke or AD to learn of Mitch and run at ponga all day.

Need some more direct running

 

[wet tiger coloured bird]

It was his first game in 6 months. It seemed to me that he was eased into it a bit, whether that was his doing or a plan, I don’t know, but it was clear that he was not first or second receiver for most of the first half and often went into dh. In the second half he seemed to be more involved and ran the ball a bit as well as the ball started coming his way. Also noticed he did no long kicking at all. Basically it looked like he was working his way back into the game after returning from that calf injury.

old man keiran foran eased into it too?

 

[earl]

Not for or against brooks but Ad, api, DL we also in the same great positions. Ad created 1 try for himself and both AD and brooks were involved in the DL try.

Good points.Brooks wasn't all bad. Maybe it was just rust. Those mistakes were bad though. He was also involved in some good plays as well. It's just that he didn't do enough. Laurie had some good moments as well. It just wasn't enough though compared to the errors.

 

[TigerSJ]

old man keiran foran eased into it too?

Maybe he should have, and he might be playing this week.
Foran hasn’t been injured and not played a game since last August

 

[TCL]

Good points.Brooks wasn't all bad. Maybe it was just rust. Those mistakes were bad though. He was also involved in some good plays as well. It's just that he didn't do enough. Laurie had some good moments as well. It just wasn't enough though compared to the errors.

as I have said in other posts I’m not hanging them for the 1st week of the season. There was some good things and some some ordinary stuff from most of the team, even IP dropped one when we had field position and plays up our sleeve.

 

[BAGNF05]

Fifita is a flat track bully. His career highlights are dominating shithouse teams like us with the occasional barge over try against a top 4 team

I don’t disagree however you need a game plan for him because he’s a handful for one man.

 

[gregjm87]

On Sunday we were parked down the Titans end near constantly, particularly early, plenty of opportunities.

I'm not sure the Titans even had the ball for one tackle inside the first full five minutes of completed football.

The only 'good' play I can recall was the short kick through the in-goal to get a repeat set (managed to miss the opposition legs so I guess if nothing else that's a sign of improvement).

yeah. The limited opportunities was in reference to him never having done anything in 10 years. If you compare his attacking stats he is an average half, but given he has forever been in a below average team that is respectable output.

He definitely had opportunities on Sunday that he and the team failed to make the most of. A couple of times he was directly responsible for that.
Outside of those two times i think it was more a systems thing. His timing with Papalii was way off. He and Doueihi were often in each other's way, on the same side of the field calling for the ball but not in a position to link with each other, so effectively one was putting the other out of the play. particularly that first 20 mins.
If that was a round 8 performance and he played like that i would say it was unacceptable. But rd 1 with a limited preseason and a new system it was more just a meh performance than a horrible one. And my main point was it wasnt half as bad as the criticism on here would suggest. Some of the criticism was justified, but a bit of perspective also helps. Some of the criticism such as that of his defense based on a stats sheet, when his defence was fine or his last play options which were all fine or saying he created nothing/no space when he created the space for a few six agains due to Titans holding down after a half break he created was not justified.

 

[Saturnalia]

If that was a round 8 performance and they played like that i would say it was unacceptable.

It's closer to round 191 performance.

He's not going to improve

 

[tony soprano]

Dont recall and the replay doesn't show the inside players clearly. The quick play the ball was the catalyst but poor reactions and reads led to the try.

Real question is who's to blame for the Brimson try in the second half?

 

[Jolls]

Real question is who's to blame for the Brimson try in the second half?

I put that one down to AD, Daino and Stefano.

AD had no interest even though he had turned in, and the rest of the backline followed. He made absolutely no attempt to do anything about what was unfolding in front of him and just jogged on. His reaction was deplorable.

Daino was at the back of the scrum and his role there was to run an arc and follow the play to defend against exactly what unfolded. He was coming across, but with no urgency at all, and was caught well short of where he should have been.

Stefano broke early and took a few paces then gave up on the play instead of plugging that inside gap. AJ ran straight past one armed attempt at tackling him.

Everyone talks about the 1%s that matter - there's two 99% efforts and an I don't give firetruck from AD.

It is all about attitude. Laurie and Stefano were close to the right positions but were really going through the motions - tired? Maybe but that is the difference in attitude between good teams and us. AD - he may as well have been a lamp post for his effectiveness in defence on that play.

 

[tony soprano]

I put that one down to AD, Daino and Stefano.

AD had no interest even though he had turned in, and the rest of the backline followed. He made absolutely no attempt to do anything about what was unfolding in front of him and just jogged on. His reaction was deplorable.

Daino was at the back of the scrum and his role there was to run an arc and follow the play to defend against exactly what unfolded. He was coming across, but with no urgency at all, and was caught well short of where he should have been.

Stefano broke early and took a few paces then gave up on the play instead of plugging that inside gap. AJ ran straight past one armed attempt at tackling him.

Everyone talks about the 1%s that matter - there's two 99% efforts and an I don't give firetruck from AD.

It is all about attitude. Laurie and Stefano were close to the right positions but were really going through the motions - tired? Maybe but that is the difference in attitude between good teams and us. AD - he may as well have been a lamp post for his effectiveness in defence on that play.

Very pathetic moment of the game.

 

[Telltails]

Must of killed Sheens and Benji - they always loved a scrum play. Well executed play by the Titans.

 

[Jolls]

Must of killed Sheens and Benji - they always loved a scrum play. Well executed play by the Titans.

Well executed by GC but very poorly defended by us. Absolute shocker.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

I put that one down to AD, Daino and Stefano.

AD had no interest even though he had turned in, and the rest of the backline followed. He made absolutely no attempt to do anything about what was unfolding in front of him and just jogged on. His reaction was deplorable.

Daino was at the back of the scrum and his role there was to run an arc and follow the play to defend against exactly what unfolded. He was coming across, but with no urgency at all, and was caught well short of where he should have been. This is important because the fullback often controls defensive line breakdowns and he totally miss read this one

Stefano broke early and took a few paces then gave up on the play instead of plugging that inside gap. AJ ran straight past one armed attempt at tackling him.

Everyone talks about the 1%s that matter - there's two 99% efforts and an I don't give firetruck from AD.

It is all about attitude. Laurie and Stefano were close to the right positions but were really going through the motions - tired? Maybe but that is the difference in attitude between good teams and us. AD - he may as well have been a lamp post for his effectiveness in defence on that play.

We had numbers, if AJ doesn’t overcommit AD and Talau have Campbell covered. AJ then covers Brimson. The try is mostly on AJ but as a team our response time and awareness was terrible.

Watching the try a few times AD for some reason was flat footed and didn’t even react to it. It was like he was on a coffee break. No urgency at all or readability of the game at times. It’s my biggest issue with AD in that he just struggles to react at times unless he is running the ball. It’s just looks lazy.

Laurie response time following the ball out the back of the scrum was ordinary. He was a good 15-20mtrs behind Campbell. He didn’t follow the ball until late and should’ve been in a position to at least touch Brimson in some way but didn’t come close. He just didn’t read it despite Brimson accelerating before he got the ball. This is important callout as fullbacks are meant to see defensive gaps and direct the formations to accommodate. It was twice this happened on that side of the park.

Stefano couldn’t have done much more to cover the gap especially with the speed Campbell and Brimson have. At first I was critical of him but the more you watch the try he broke from the front of the scrum and was chasing.

 

[Jolls]

We had numbers, if AJ doesn’t overcommit AD and Talau have Campbell covered. AJ then covers Brimson. The try is mostly on AJ but as a team our response time and awareness was terrible.

Watching the try a few times AD for some reason was flat footed and didn’t even react to it. It was like he was on a coffee break. No urgency at all or readability of the game at times. It’s my biggest issue with AD in that he just struggles to react at times unless he is running the ball. It’s just looks lazy.

Laurie response time following the ball out the back of the scrum was ordinary. He was a good 15-20mtrs behind Campbell. He didn’t follow the ball until late and should’ve been in a position to at least touch Brimson in some way but didn’t come close. He just didn’t read it despite Brimson accelerating before he got the ball. This is important callout as fullbacks are meant to see defensive gaps and direct the formations to accommodate. It was twice this happened on that side of the park.

Stefano couldn’t have done much more to cover the gap especially with the speed Campbell and Brimson have. At first I was critical of him but the more you watch the try he broke from the front of the scrum and was chasing.

I'm a little less critical of AJ as Douhie was flat footed and not applying pressure. I think he had to commit but if he hadn't he may have done a job on Brimson on the inside. Maybe a bit of both. The key is that there was a lack of commitment from several players that led to the try. That is all about attitude and maybe a bit of fitness too.

Given this is the Brooks thread he probably should take some blame too - he does for everything else that is wrong with WT; warranted or not! 😉

 

[Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan]

Context matters. Everyone of those 'missed tackles' was either him being first into contact stopping all momentum before bouncing off and his teammates finishing off the job Or getting off the line quickly to force the attack back midfield because we were short outside him.
Sure it would be nice if he could hit and stick but that was pretty much textbook defence for a smaller half.

Missed tackles is a poor stat. You could absolutely smoke a guy in the ribs, he goes down but you fall off the tackle. He gets up momentarily then someone else finishes him off. That's a missed tackle to your name.

Based on our round 1 game it seems like this is Doueihi's team more than Brooks. The stats sheet says that Brooks had 54 touches, Doueihi 53. Brooks handled the ball when we were trying to make metres. AD handled it when we were trying to create scoring chances.

Everything about how the team played reminded me of 2010. I don't recall Robert Lui having many assists, but who needs that when you have someone who is points personified (Marshall). If we can get it right we will be dangerous. A lot rests on Doueihi's shoulders. The points need to come from him or they just won't happen.

 

[earl]

A lot rests on Doueihi's shoulders. The points need to come from him or they just won't happen.

I don't think Doueihi is good enough to be the no 1 play maker in an NRL team.

 

[Alex Seyfarth's #1 Fan]

I don't think Doueihi is good enough to be the no 1 play maker in an NRL team.

The potential is there and he's playing for a contract. Lots of motivation for him. Still wish he could defend better. His attack is developing nicely.

 

[aturkey]

I don't think Doueihi is good enough to be the no 1 play maker in an NRL team.

Nothing about his performances in the NRL so far suggest he is.