Here's the quotes direct from the horse's mouth. Was part of an article in the Australian.
He was determined not to do the wrong thing by the club — or Sheens and Marshall — so he made the decision to reject the offer, which was revealed in this masthead on June 11.
“It was straight after the Titans game I sat down with Benji (on the Friday) and he said the people on the board have come back to him and said they need an answer by Sunday,” Brooks said.
“I guess that probably didn’t sit too well with me, them putting that deadline on me after only about a week and a half.
“I had a think about it and I guess out of respect to Benji I said I didn’t want it to drag on. I called him Sunday and said I wasn’t going take up the offer so he could move forward and they could plan things for next year.
“The whole time Benji and Sheensy were upfront with me and telling me that they really wanted me to say.
“They have stuck up for me the whole time. I definitely got that feeling that they were definitely trying to get me to stay.
“Just speaking to Benji, he was disappointed I made the decision to leave but he congratulated me and backed me on my decision as well.”
Asked whether he felt some people in the club were happy for him to go, Brooks said: “I feel like there may have been. With the way it panned out, it seems that way, just with putting the deadline on me to make a decision.
“In the past there have been players they have been in talks with that have dragged on. Then for someone like me who has been loyal to the club, they put a deadline on me which didn’t really sit well with me.
“It was a tough decision to make, especially after everything that has happened. If you take it back three or four weeks before that, I thought that I would be staying.
“It was hard but in the end I think it was the right decision for me and I think I have made the right move not just for me, but for my family.”
We need that board cleaned out. They are deadset rubbish and it shows with a decision like that. Why did they need it fast? It's not like we had other options on the table. You can say what you want about Luke, but he's been loyal and deserves more respect. They gave Mitch eons to make a decision.
Forget this argument about the top not impacting football operations. You have it right there.