Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Jedi_Tiger]

Pretty happy with this, especially when you read that last paragraph...

that last paragraph the options are ordinary in the halves.
If Brooks plays 7 we still need a 6 from somewhere andnlikewise if he plays 6 we need a 7
Cupboard is pretty bare, out of those options in that paragraph we would be better keeping wakeham

 

[tony soprano]

Wests Tigers table contract extension as interest in Luke Brooks hots up​

As NRL rivals and English clubs circle a rejuvenated Luke Brooks, Wests Tigers have launched a bid in excess of $1m to keep him at Concord.
Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
June 6, 2023 - 3:53PM

The Wests Tigers have officially launched their bid to keep Luke Brooks at the club after tabling a two-year deal worth in excess of $1 million for the local junior.

Brooks, in the final year of a deal that pays him more than $1 million this season, has been in resurgent form in recent weeks for the Tigers, prompting head coach Tim Sheens and his successor Benji Marshall to come to the party with a new deal that would extend his tenure at the club.

The move to keep Brooks comes as the club steps up a clean-out of its playing ranks.

It is understood Daine Laurie, Shawn Blore, Jake Simpkins and David Nofoaluma are all free to leave at the end of the season, if not earlier.

Laurie has concrete interest from England while Blore has also been pitched to Super League sides.

Brooks was also a target for English giants Leeds but it is understood that he has no interest in moving overseas at this stage of his career.

The Tigers have given him the opportunity to stay in the NRL, although other clubs have also had their interest piqued given the way he has played in recent weeks — Brooks has been a key figure in a Tigers side that has won three of their last five games.

The 28-year-old now has a decision to make. He can stay at the Tigers and play a central role in the revolution taking place under Sheens and Marshall. Or he can head to market and see what options are out there for him in clubland.

Sheens has has spoken glowingly of the off-contract Brooks in recent weeks and has made it known publicly and privately that he wants to keep Brooks at the club long-term.

The Tigers coach wanted that to happen during the club’s recent bye week but the deal was delayed – it is understood the club was still attempting to navigate recent changes that resulted in Scott Fulton being appointed head of recruitment by the board.

The decision to make an offer to Brooks shapes as a victory for Sheens and Marshall, who are believed to have championed his retention. The Tigers had originally planned to make a decision on Brooks after six rounds but the timeline was extended as they waited for some clarity around their salary cap and their pursuit of other halves targets.

The club threw the bank at Mitchell Moses but he elected to stay at Parramatta, rejecting a mega-deal from his former club to stay loyal to the Eels. The Tigers also had a look at Shaun Johnson but he turned them down.

If Brooks does the same, it will be panic stations for the Tigers given it would mean they head into next season with no recognised halves – five-eighth Adam Doueihi is recovering from knee surgery.

Doueihi is likely to miss a large chunk — if not all of — 2024 as he makes his way back from another knee reconstruction. Brandon Wakeham is also off-contract.

The Tigers have missed out on a range of high profile halves in recent months with Johnson the most recent player to knock them back. He joins the likes of Cameron Munster, Moses and Mitchell Pearce to reject the Tigers’ advances.

Outside of keeping Brooks, there is now a dearth of available halves off-contract at the end of the season. They have been linked to Manly’s Josh Schuster- who remains contracted for next season. Schuster is among a group of players who were signed at Manly by Fulton.

Unless they are able to entice a contracted player to join the club, the Tigers might be left to choose from the likes of Matt Frawley, Kyle Flanagan, Adam Clune, Ben Hampton and Drew Hutchison are without deals for next year.

Sounds like coach and recruit manager not on same page.


it is understood the club was still attempting to navigate recent changes that resulted in Scott Fulton being appointed head of recruitment by the board.

The decision to make an offer to Brooks shapes as a victory for Sheens and Marshall, who are believed to have championed his retention

 

[lathami]

Yes we should develop Feledy.

No we should not go Half Hunting again!
Cmon, we just have had this "yea the club goes all out to get":
Mitchell Moses
Mitchell Pearce
Shawn Johnson??

Hey lets throw 1 million at Hunt, a player St George was almost unwilling to pay $700k for. Might as well strap a big "L" on our forheads.

We are a star short of a top 8 side! I get where your coming from, but that’s what we need to compete with the top dogs. That’s why sheens went hard for Moses!

 

[Kelce68]

A couple of Talau, Blore, Simpkin, Laurie or Nofoaluma, etc for the two young Fainu boys is a deal you do 8 days a week.

Latu is a superstar in waiting and Samuela has the makings of an Olakau'atu 2.0.

Brooks and Wakeham again for 12 months at least. Not only considering the lack of anything elsewhere, but this halves pairing beat Penrith, Dragons and Cows in the last month, should've beat Canberra, and pushed Manly, Eels and Souths (at the top of their game).

All while they're continuing to learn their combinations, making plenty of mistakes and growing as a halves pairing. They might not be long term, but theyre certainly playing themselves into a moderate term, cost-effective halves pairing, thus allowing the rest of the roster to continue to strengthen around them, which will only improve their chances of guiding the team to wins.

You play the hand you're given. And play it as best you can.

 

[clontarfkid]

A couple of Talau, Blore, Simpkin, Laurie or Nofoaluma, etc for the two young Fainu boys is a deal you do 8 days a week.

Latu is a superstar in waiting and Samuela has the makings of an Olakau'atu 2.0.

Brooks and Wakeham again for 12 months at least. Not only considering the lack of anything elsewhere, but this halves pairing beat Penrith, Dragons and Cows in the last month, should've beat Canberra, and pushed Manly, Eels and Souths (at the top of their game).

All while they're continuing to learn their combinations, making plenty of mistakes and growing as a halves pairing. They might not be long term, but theyre certainly playing themselves into a moderate term, cost-effective halves pairing, thus allowing the rest of the roster to continue to strengthen around them, which will only improve their chances of guiding the team to wins.

You play the hand you're given. And play it as best you can.

We dont want a "cost effective" halves pairing...its simply not the area where we save $$
We want a high quality halves pairing to ignite the attack..which is spluttering along
Fulton..over to you..

 

[cktiger]

Brooks has already been quoted as saying for his next contract he’ll be greedy.
Can’t see how copping a 50% lower contract would appeal to him… unless he has no confidence in his ability to make it at another club.

 

[crazycat]

The 2being shopped around that I’m a bit disappointed with are TT and Blore.
Tommy has been above average in the last few games, Blore I think there’s more upside with him seems to have fallen out of favour with Sheens.
You still need to replace the players who leave, maybe with cheaper versions.
Hopefully they know what they are doing, history doesn’t give me confidence.

Someone said the opposite: "as long as you are upgrading, you are ok".

Tommy would be a fringe grader in most teams, occasionally getting game time.

Blore - trade him out already.

I reckon either Paps or Klemmer should just charge at the new recruits, those that can stop them... we keep them.

 

[Bones]

Brooks has already been quoted as saying for his next contract he’ll be greedy.
Can’t see how copping a 50% lower contract would appeal to him… unless he has no confidence in his ability to make it at another club.

Can’t see him having any option but to take a pay cut. No one is going to pay $1M a season and the only reason he is on that in the first place is his deal was back ended.

If we are offering 500k-600k as reported we are in the ball park.

 

[earl]

that last paragraph the options are ordinary in the halves.
If Brooks plays 7 we still need a 6 from somewhere andnlikewise if he plays 6 we need a 7
Cupboard is pretty bare, out of those options in that paragraph we would be better keeping wakeham

That was a good article. It's a modest contract for Brooks. I hope he takes it. Sign Wakeham. If any other good option comes up go for it.

 

[bptiger 0]

Wests Tigers table contract extension as interest in Luke Brooks hots up​

As NRL rivals and English clubs circle a rejuvenated Luke Brooks, Wests Tigers have launched a bid in excess of $1m to keep him at Concord.
Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
June 6, 2023 - 3:53PM

The Wests Tigers have officially launched their bid to keep Luke Brooks at the club after tabling a two-year deal worth in excess of $1 million for the local junior.

Brooks, in the final year of a deal that pays him more than $1 million this season, has been in resurgent form in recent weeks for the Tigers, prompting head coach Tim Sheens and his successor Benji Marshall to come to the party with a new deal that would extend his tenure at the club.

The move to keep Brooks comes as the club steps up a clean-out of its playing ranks.

It is understood Daine Laurie, Shawn Blore, Jake Simpkins and David Nofoaluma are all free to leave at the end of the season, if not earlier.

Laurie has concrete interest from England while Blore has also been pitched to Super League sides.

Brooks was also a target for English giants Leeds but it is understood that he has no interest in moving overseas at this stage of his career.

The Tigers have given him the opportunity to stay in the NRL, although other clubs have also had their interest piqued given the way he has played in recent weeks — Brooks has been a key figure in a Tigers side that has won three of their last five games.

The 28-year-old now has a decision to make. He can stay at the Tigers and play a central role in the revolution taking place under Sheens and Marshall. Or he can head to market and see what options are out there for him in clubland.

Sheens has has spoken glowingly of the off-contract Brooks in recent weeks and has made it known publicly and privately that he wants to keep Brooks at the club long-term.

The Tigers coach wanted that to happen during the club’s recent bye week but the deal was delayed – it is understood the club was still attempting to navigate recent changes that resulted in Scott Fulton being appointed head of recruitment by the board.

The decision to make an offer to Brooks shapes as a victory for Sheens and Marshall, who are believed to have championed his retention. The Tigers had originally planned to make a decision on Brooks after six rounds but the timeline was extended as they waited for some clarity around their salary cap and their pursuit of other halves targets.

The club threw the bank at Mitchell Moses but he elected to stay at Parramatta, rejecting a mega-deal from his former club to stay loyal to the Eels. The Tigers also had a look at Shaun Johnson but he turned them down.

If Brooks does the same, it will be panic stations for the Tigers given it would mean they head into next season with no recognised halves – five-eighth Adam Doueihi is recovering from knee surgery.

Doueihi is likely to miss a large chunk — if not all of — 2024 as he makes his way back from another knee reconstruction. Brandon Wakeham is also off-contract.

The Tigers have missed out on a range of high profile halves in recent months with Johnson the most recent player to knock them back. He joins the likes of Cameron Munster, Moses and Mitchell Pearce to reject the Tigers’ advances.

Outside of keeping Brooks, there is now a dearth of available halves off-contract at the end of the season. They have been linked to Manly’s Josh Schuster- who remains contracted for next season. Schuster is among a group of players who were signed at Manly by Fulton.

Unless they are able to entice a contracted player to join the club, the Tigers might be left to choose from the likes of Matt Frawley, Kyle Flanagan, Adam Clune, Ben Hampton and Drew Hutchison are without deals for next year.

Please none of them losers 🥴

 

[Telltails]

I can't see Brooks manager agreeing to anything less than 700k. Given the lack of halves available to replace him and Sheens desire to keep him he now finds himself in a great bargaining position.

 

[Tim Sheens]

A couple of Talau, Blore, Simpkin, Laurie or Nofoaluma, etc for the two young Fainu boys is a deal you do 8 days a week.

Latu is a superstar in waiting and Samuela has the makings of an Olakau'atu 2.0.

Brooks and Wakeham again for 12 months at least. Not only considering the lack of anything elsewhere, but this halves pairing beat Penrith, Dragons and Cows in the last month, should've beat Canberra, and pushed Manly, Eels and Souths (at the top of their game).

All while they're continuing to learn their combinations, making plenty of mistakes and growing as a halves pairing. They might not be long term, but theyre certainly playing themselves into a moderate term, cost-effective halves pairing, thus allowing the rest of the roster to continue to strengthen around them, which will only improve their chances of guiding the team to wins.

You play the hand you're given. And play it as best you can.

And unless WT have or unearth another top shelf goalkicker, Wakeham needs to bring that too.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

That was a good article. It's a modest contract for Brooks. I hope he takes it. Sign Wakeham. If any other good option comes up go for it.

should have gone for brooks during first bye after parramatta game you could have probably signed him for 450k at that point for a year

 

[Stevec]

My pure guess is that our opening gambit for Brooks will be 2 years $1.1 mill and will up to maybe $1.3 mill 2yrs max that is $550k -$650 k p.a.
Last 6 weeks he's been in his best form for last 3 years . If they believe he can maintain this form next 2 years then he's worth it but there is a big "if" there .
Problem whos available whos better ?

 

[Spartan117]

Who are we really competing with for Brooks signature????

 

[Tucker]

I can't see Brooks manager agreeing to anything less than 700k. Given the lack of halves available to replace him and Sheens desire to keep him he now finds himself in a great bargaining position.

He would be doing his client a massive disservice to accept an off of 2 years at around a million. He isn’t that much worse than Moses. What’s he on again?

 

[Camel2281]

Who are we really competing with for Brooks signature????

Leeds who won't be able to afford massive dollars

 

[Camel2281]

He would be doing his client a massive disservice to accept an off of 2 years at around a million. He isn’t that much worse than Moses. What’s he on again?

He's a hell of a lot worse than Moses

 

[Tucker]

He's a hell of a lot worse than Moses

Moses ain’t that good mate

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

here is an idea.... let's not sign Brooks and run with wakeham and flannagan for next year.... lol
Simply have to sign Brooks out of the Unsigned Players on that list good grief
Problem is getting a 6 or 7 to partner him.