Brooks at 9

[Russell]

I think Brooks is one of the 4 or 5 best all round halfbacks in the NRL. He does organise a lot of our attack and I realy don't understand what people on this forum that say he is not an organising half expect him to do.

In previous years there have been better halfbacks.

Brooks could probably play 9, but we pay him about $750k a year which is a lot of the cap to spend when we are severly lacking in other areas. To replace our halfback with someone definitely better I can only think of DCE who is on $1.3M.

No team can have a brilliant 6, 7, 9 and 1, you have to find a good balance and a spine that covers each others weaknesses

Brooks is a good player at a reasonable value playing 7
Benji is a good 5/8 at very good value, I wish he would make less mistakes and we need a plan for 2021
We need a decent experienced hooker for the next 2 years
Reynolds is not a standard 5/8, at the bulldogs he played more like a fullback in support and James Graham usually played 1st receiver. He would work well with a goof halfback and a creative/controlling 9 like Josh Hodgson or Cameron Smith.
Fullback and centre is where I think we need to spend money to have some strike weapons

Matterson, Mikaele, Garner and Twal are good young players that will probably improve and we have some OK forwards around them who may improve as well.

We are still stuck with serious salary cap problems and playing Brooks at 9 only makes them worse.

Brooks is on 550k not 750k.


He was before he signed again. Nowhere near worth $750 k

He was on 650k before re-signing, and his contract went down.

Source - numerous posts on THIS Forum at the time. Obviously all lies then.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Go and by Chad Townshend. I don't rate him and many Sharks supporters hammer him for his play but apparently he is a good game manager:relaxed:

 

[guyofthetiger]

Surely the only dally m half to never come even close to being considered for Origin...

 

[TheDaBoss]

Ronnie palmer at 9.....

 

[cktiger]

I think Brooks is one of the 4 or 5 best all round halfbacks in the NRL. He does organise a lot of our attack and I realy don't understand what people on this forum that say he is not an organising half expect him to do.

In previous years there have been better halfbacks.

Brooks could probably play 9, but we pay him about $750k a year which is a lot of the cap to spend when we are severly lacking in other areas. To replace our halfback with someone definitely better I can only think of DCE who is on $1.3M.

No team can have a brilliant 6, 7, 9 and 1, you have to find a good balance and a spine that covers each others weaknesses

Brooks is a good player at a reasonable value playing 7
Benji is a good 5/8 at very good value, I wish he would make less mistakes and we need a plan for 2021
We need a decent experienced hooker for the next 2 years
Reynolds is not a standard 5/8, at the bulldogs he played more like a fullback in support and James Graham usually played 1st receiver. He would work well with a goof halfback and a creative/controlling 9 like Josh Hodgson or Cameron Smith.
Fullback and centre is where I think we need to spend money to have some strike weapons

Matterson, Mikaele, Garner and Twal are good young players that will probably improve and we have some OK forwards around them who may improve as well.

We are still stuck with serious salary cap problems and playing Brooks at 9 only makes them worse.

Brooks is on 550k not 750k.


He was before he signed again. Nowhere near worth $750 k

He was on 650k before re-signing, and **his contract went down**.

Source - numerous posts on THIS Forum at the time. Obviously all lies then.

You seriously think he signed for another 4 years for less money?
I've see reports he is on $800k.... and he's currently not worth anywhere near that.
He has obviously improved his defence - but nothing else.

 

[underdog]

It would be work looking at - he'd be a serviceable dummy half, and leagues ahead of Elijah Taylor, whos "scoots" from dummy half looked like they were in slow motion.

His defence IMO is now fairly solid - something I am really pleased to see.

It's whether he can take making 40-50 tackles a game up the middle - thats going to be interesting.

At this point of the season, and against a Knights outfit who simply don't turn up some weeks, what have we got to lose - I'd run benji at 7, Reynolds at 6, and Brooks at 9.

If Reynolds gets injured, we can always roll Brooks back into the halves, or someone like Materson or Lawrence as a stop gap.

 

[Russell]

I think Brooks is one of the 4 or 5 best all round halfbacks in the NRL. He does organise a lot of our attack and I realy don't understand what people on this forum that say he is not an organising half expect him to do.

In previous years there have been better halfbacks.

Brooks could probably play 9, but we pay him about $750k a year which is a lot of the cap to spend when we are severly lacking in other areas. To replace our halfback with someone definitely better I can only think of DCE who is on $1.3M.

No team can have a brilliant 6, 7, 9 and 1, you have to find a good balance and a spine that covers each others weaknesses

Brooks is a good player at a reasonable value playing 7
Benji is a good 5/8 at very good value, I wish he would make less mistakes and we need a plan for 2021
We need a decent experienced hooker for the next 2 years
Reynolds is not a standard 5/8, at the bulldogs he played more like a fullback in support and James Graham usually played 1st receiver. He would work well with a goof halfback and a creative/controlling 9 like Josh Hodgson or Cameron Smith.
Fullback and centre is where I think we need to spend money to have some strike weapons

Matterson, Mikaele, Garner and Twal are good young players that will probably improve and we have some OK forwards around them who may improve as well.

We are still stuck with serious salary cap problems and playing Brooks at 9 only makes them worse.

Brooks is on 550k not 750k.


He was before he signed again. Nowhere near worth $750 k

He was on 650k before re-signing, and **his contract went down**.

Source - numerous posts on THIS Forum at the time. Obviously all lies then.

You seriously think he signed for another 4 years for less money?
I've see reports he is on $800k.... and he's currently not worth anywhere near that.
He has obviously improved his defence - but nothing else.

I'm repeating what was written on here. Obviously in your eyes people are liars.

If you think we are paying him 800k you've flipped your lid chief.

 

[Newtown]

By Murray Wenzel
2 hours ago

Wests Tigers half Luke Brooks will avoid suspension despite a contrary conduct charge for his rough treatment of Manly's Jack Gosiewski on Thursday.

Brooks will escape with a $1350 fine with an early guilty plea, or face a $1800 fine if he fights the charge and is found guilty at the judiciary.

 

[earl]

@gallagher I'd be much more confident with that line up but I think Reynolds will be at 9. I reckon Reynolds is a 6 and a decent one. I'd prefer Brooks at 9 and see how he goes there.

 

[happy_tiger]

I think Brooks is one of the 4 or 5 best all round halfbacks in the NRL. He does organise a lot of our attack and I realy don't understand what people on this forum that say he is not an organising half expect him to do.

In previous years there have been better halfbacks.

Brooks could probably play 9, but we pay him about $750k a year which is a lot of the cap to spend when we are severly lacking in other areas. To replace our halfback with someone definitely better I can only think of DCE who is on $1.3M.

No team can have a brilliant 6, 7, 9 and 1, you have to find a good balance and a spine that covers each others weaknesses

Brooks is a good player at a reasonable value playing 7
Benji is a good 5/8 at very good value, I wish he would make less mistakes and we need a plan for 2021
We need a decent experienced hooker for the next 2 years
Reynolds is not a standard 5/8, at the bulldogs he played more like a fullback in support and James Graham usually played 1st receiver. He would work well with a goof halfback and a creative/controlling 9 like Josh Hodgson or Cameron Smith.
Fullback and centre is where I think we need to spend money to have some strike weapons

Matterson, Mikaele, Garner and Twal are good young players that will probably improve and we have some OK forwards around them who may improve as well.

We are still stuck with serious salary cap problems and playing Brooks at 9 only makes them worse.

Brooks is on 550k not 750k.


He was before he signed again. Nowhere near worth $750 k

He was on 650k before re-signing, and **his contract went down**.

Source - numerous posts on THIS Forum at the time. Obviously all lies then.

You seriously think he signed for another 4 years for less money?
I've see reports he is on $800k.... and he's currently not worth anywhere near that.
He has obviously improved his defence - but nothing else.

The most I've heard from reliable sources is 550 k ....whether it was back ended ....another story

 

[cktiger]

I think Brooks is one of the 4 or 5 best all round halfbacks in the NRL. He does organise a lot of our attack and I realy don't understand what people on this forum that say he is not an organising half expect him to do.

In previous years there have been better halfbacks.

Brooks could probably play 9, but we pay him about $750k a year which is a lot of the cap to spend when we are severly lacking in other areas. To replace our halfback with someone definitely better I can only think of DCE who is on $1.3M.

No team can have a brilliant 6, 7, 9 and 1, you have to find a good balance and a spine that covers each others weaknesses

Brooks is a good player at a reasonable value playing 7
Benji is a good 5/8 at very good value, I wish he would make less mistakes and we need a plan for 2021
We need a decent experienced hooker for the next 2 years
Reynolds is not a standard 5/8, at the bulldogs he played more like a fullback in support and James Graham usually played 1st receiver. He would work well with a goof halfback and a creative/controlling 9 like Josh Hodgson or Cameron Smith.
Fullback and centre is where I think we need to spend money to have some strike weapons

Matterson, Mikaele, Garner and Twal are good young players that will probably improve and we have some OK forwards around them who may improve as well.

We are still stuck with serious salary cap problems and playing Brooks at 9 only makes them worse.

Brooks is on 550k not 750k.


He was before he signed again. Nowhere near worth $750 k

He was on 650k before re-signing, and **his contract went down**.

Source - numerous posts on THIS Forum at the time. Obviously all lies then.

You seriously think he signed for another 4 years for less money?
I've see reports he is on $800k.... and he's currently not worth anywhere near that.
He has obviously improved his defence - but nothing else.

**I'm repeating what was written on here. Obviously in your eyes people are liars.**

If you think we are paying him 800k you've flipped your lid chief.

Seriously Russell?
You do realise most people are only guessing?
In the last few posts alone there have been numerous different figures thrown up.
Are they all liars? No.
Was the guy I saw say he's getting $800k a liar? No.
Do I think they're all liars? No.
Do I think you're over reacting ? Yes.

 

[bigsiro]

Brooks might not be a very good halfback in a lot of people’s eyes, but he’s a halfback. Scenarios about how he’d go as a running 6 or a 9 is not dealing with reality. He’ll retire as a 7. Like it or lump it.

He may retire wearing 7, but not as a 7.

 

[bigsiro]

Brooks would make a fine 9. I have also been saying it for years.
He gives too many hospital passes but that would change and I agree he should be moved there immediately.

Just an aside re our attack:
Personally, I don't like our current attacking set-up whereby the halves are limited to one side of the field only.
IMO a halfback needs to have more freedom in order to effectively control the attack, to be able to find space to effect his solid kicking game, and also to be available as the first choice for 6th tackle options.

We just don't have this kind of player (one that controls, kicks well, makes good 6th tackle options).

In fact, in the absence of a proper halfback, I find that both Brooks and Benji both kinda play as a 6.
This is the reason (I think, hope) that Madge chooses this 50/50 kind of set-up in attack - with no one being a primary playmaker while also both sharing kicking duties.
Either way, I don't like it one bit.
And in all fairness, in this current set-up on Brooks's side, with the small corridor of space he has to work in, it'd hard to dominate any game, especially when you have completely inept centres and butter-fingers Lawrence running off you.

I don't think he is a good halfback anyway, but if any other 7 is going to come in, I doubt they will be able to make a significant impact across the park, i.e. if they aren't able to play across the park, per se.

It's food for thought.

Regardless, the whole thing is pretty frustrating and Brooks playing this false 7 role obviously doesn't help. Stick him at 9 and let's see what happens.

 

[crazycat]

Brooks would make a fine 9. I have also been saying it for years.
He gives too many hospital passes but that would change and I agree he should be moved there immediately.

Just an aside re our attack:
Personally, I don't like our current attacking set-up whereby the halves are limited to one side of the field only.
IMO a halfback needs to have more freedom in order to effectively control the attack, to be able to find space to effect his solid kicking game, and also to be available as the first choice for 6th tackle options.

We just don't have this kind of player (one that controls, kicks well, makes good 6th tackle options).

In fact, in the absence of a proper halfback, I find that both Brooks and Benji both kinda play as a 6.
This is the reason (I think, hope) that Madge chooses this 50/50 kind of set-up in attack - with no one being a primary playmaker while also both sharing kicking duties.
Either way, I don't like it one bit.
And in all fairness, in this current set-up on Brooks's side, with the small corridor of space he has to work in, it'd hard to dominate any game, especially when you have completely inept centres and butter-fingers Lawrence running off you.

I don't think he is a good halfback anyway, but if any other 7 is going to come in, I doubt they will be able to make a significant impact across the park, i.e. if they aren't able to play across the park, per se.

It's food for thought.

Regardless, the whole thing is pretty frustrating and Brooks playing this false 7 role obviously doesn't help. Stick him at 9 and let's see what happens.

I think you are right about many things above.

Brooks is more 6 then 7.
Brooks needs space to attack.

I remember Sheens saying that Robbie and Benji needed another playmaker or source to move off. Brooks is not that player. Robert Lui was and we went thumping to the finals.
Mind you we had a forward pack that could get us there.

 

[happy_tiger]

Lui was a 6

 

[Elderslie_Tiger]

@Russell
Lachlan Lewis is off contract with the Doggies in 2020
he's had some very good games of late can tackle,kick
tough competitor ask Sam Burgess would be a good pick .Thoughts

 

[crazycat]

Brooks should not be NR9!
Well not yet.

Brooks has good defense for a HALFBACK. He is just an 80 minute player at Halfback. Throw him in at 9 and you will see him struggle a lot.
He lacks the beef to be involved in all the regular tackling that a 9 does. Look at Robbie and Penrith's Peter Wallace, they are bulky as. Brooks does not have that Bulk, Cameron Smith and Damien Cook hide that bulk.

Brooks at 9 will be squashed. Don't do it.

Here is my crazy idea. Move Brooks to the wing!
Do something different. Pat Richards was a MACHINE on the wing for us. His try assists there were INSANE. Our current wingers though don't show the speed or flair to play like that except.
Brooks has a stack of SPEED.
Brooks has Flair for a winger. He has good defense.
Out on the wing he can be in a unique position.

Make Brooks the next Pat Richards. All the teams are pouring money into the 1,6,7,9. If we are going to beat the other 16 teams we need to do something different. Make Brooks a wing scoring try machine.

 

[earl]

@crazycat you'd be paying him top dollar for a winger.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

How about recruiting 2 very fast wingers?

 

[gallagher]

Brooks should not be NR9!
Well not yet.

Brooks has good defense for a HALFBACK. He is just an 80 minute player at Halfback. Throw him in at 9 and you will see him struggle a lot.
He lacks the beef to be involved in all the regular tackling that a 9 does. Look at Robbie and Penrith's Peter Wallace, they are bulky as. Brooks does not have that Bulk, Cameron Smith and Damien Cook hide that bulk.

Brooks at 9 will be squashed. Don't do it.

Here is my crazy idea. Move Brooks to the wing!
Do something different. Pat Richards was a MACHINE on the wing for us. His try assists there were INSANE. Our current wingers though don't show the speed or flair to play like that except.
Brooks has a stack of SPEED.
Brooks has Flair for a winger. He has good defense.
Out on the wing he can be in a unique position.

Make Brooks the next Pat Richards. All the teams are pouring money into the 1,6,7,9. If we are going to beat the other 16 teams we need to do something different. Make Brooks a wing scoring try machine.

Brooks is a lot bulkier than Farah and Wallace IMO.