Brooks.... what is he good for??

[TrueTiger]

He also won the Tigers player of the year for the last 2 years and was recently re-signed on a long contract. Some people who should know what they are talking about seem to think he is performing his role quite well.


I guess they are the same geniuses that havent seen a Tigers team make the finals in a decade. Yep, real solid knowing what they are talking about.

You cant make the finals without a half decent half back and Brooks is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The point is some of us view him as close to the best halfback in the comp. I mean he isn't a stand out but who is better than him. Cleary and Keary are both good players. If Moses is on he is a good player. Are these guys better than Brooks and more to the point significantly better than Brooks ? I don't think they are. I watched the game on the weekend and Cleary is a good defender and a pretty good kicker but I don't think he offers anywhere near the ability to create and set-up plays compared to Brooks.

And then at 12-12 goes on to kick a field goal. And is running a team coming 2nd on the ladder, but whatever, kicking on the 5th down the fullbacks throat every set must be part of Brooks setting up.

Some are happy missing the finals year after year, id just be happy for the half back to control games and put teams away or heck even win a few games each season with some clutch plays, not just 2 or 3 of those moments spread out over a 140 game career, what a player. Dud.

I have been a critic of Luke quite a bit over the years Newton,but I think that this year he is learning a different game to play rather than his usual pattern,in having said that,Madge builds his gameplans around defensive structures and Brooks is doing what Madge wants.There is no doubt Luke has been a defensive dynamo with his tackling and when he can run the ball he is also very good at it..
Lets wait and see how his game progresses in the next few games and what Madge expects from him..
Remember Madge wants a culture change and therefore some of the players we used to see playing off the cuff and whats infront of them may be changing and the concentration is focussed on our defense.
We should also note the injuries to players eg Twal Musgrove that are go forward players haven't been in the side through injury and yet when they are in Lukes game seems to flow better..
Unlickily for us there has been a lot of chopping and changing to make up for injuries etc and this also stagnates team flow and plays that they have been used to with those in the team,a certain bond that Luke has with those players on the field he has to now form with new players and adapt...


So with that Grant totally plays off the cuff ! So the line the coach is hampering Brooks does not wash .. Brooks has had the same combo at halves for a while now including the Centre pairing for a time !

I never said Grant plays off the cuff,I said because of Madge wanting culture change,the many times we had seen players play off the cuff or whats infront of them,is now concentrated on the defensive structure Madge wants them to play..
Brooks also has to have the forwards going forward to make his next play,which Twal and Musgrove provided and he is now getting used to having JR next to him and not Benji...So what Im saying there is a lot changing in the team as far as playing style goes and what Madge wants to construct,and change takes time to adapt to..

 

[rah53]

I think it is obvious that the coach believes that defence wins matches and until all the team learn to tough it out in defence we won't be a force. He has already stated that we don't have trouble in scoring points and while every time we lose Brooks is a target can't see how that applies to that game with 45% possession and a 10 -5 penalty count. To have any hope of winning that game we needed to defend well and have a low error rate and for the most part Brooks and the team almost pulled it off.

It seemed to me on a Saturday night they had no
Idea how to score points ! When you have a half that wants to catch and pass and not wants to engage the line you have no hope ! Watching them live they do have an issue with scoring points .. maybe the Brooks excuse booklet should be put away .. the forwards did not lay a foundation ..OPPS the forwards did lay a foundation ! Onto excuse No 2 I suppose.

They are third highest scoring team in the comp only behind the Roosters and Eels Snake. We have scored 33 tries this year equal with the Eels and only behind Roosters on 37. Panthers dominated possession it was not a game that allowed us to score points we jad to defend to stay in the game Brooks did his job.

It's amazing that people are still looking to point the finger at why we lost. Saying we can't score against the 4th best defensive team in the comp.
We were in the contest for most of the 80 mins against the team coming 2nd, a lapse in defence saw them score at the end. But there are some that want absolute dominance.
The Panthers beat a healthy Storm squad, who beat the hottest team in footy the other day without Munster, but our team is not good enough.
Wow. Higher expectations than the Broncos right now.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

that was a semi final intensity game and the penrith try with the ball up in the air could have gone anywhere

 

[Russell]

When we had the ball we looked dangerous. I thought both Brooks and Reynolds were solid. Reynolds misses a lot of tackles but many are on kick chases where he is 'first man in' applying pressure. He may miss the initial tackle but creates the pressure for the tackle to be made by his support chasers.

Putting aside some very, very ordinary decisions, we simply didn't have enough ball to win. The 'new game' is very much momentum based and you need the ball to maintain that momentum. Being on the wrong end of possession will see you lose more than you win - regardless of your halfback.

Totally agree with your assessment of Reynolds, first man down, cuts off the run sideways, attempts a dive but rounds the opposition into the following tackler. That accounted for at least 3-4 missed tackles.

 

[Celtic_Tiger]

Brooks was OK on Saturday night but the attempted kick through in the dying minutes when Joey clothes lined Edwards was absolutely awful at a time when we desperately needed a result to hang on to any hope in the game.

Sadly it's those types of plays which will always define Brooks, when the game is on the line you can't look to him.

 

[Russell]

Brooks with his skill set should be playing as a five eight. Get Blake Green for half back and problems are solved

NMN - especially old ones.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Brooks with his skill set should be playing as a five eight. Get Blake Green for half back and problems are solved

NMN - especially old ones.

Cade Cust looks like a Maguire type. A bit of Cessnock toughness and skill.

 

[Russell]

Brooks with his skill set should be playing as a five eight. Get Blake Green for half back and problems are solved

NMN - especially old ones.

Cade Cust looks like a Maguire type. A bit of Cessnock toughness and skill.

Understand what you are saying, don't like him myself.

 

[Tigers_Tale]

Brooks has been judged our best player for last 2 years, he was named Dally M halfback of the year in 2019. Also he is probably the fastest player we have, can hold his own in defence on the field, which is better than most halfbacks, who need to be hidden. I think he consistantly plays well, is a Tiger junior and has been totally loyal to the club.
For so called Tiger supporters to continually rubbish him for everything he has achieved for our club, (he cannot get us into the finals all by himself , it takes a team), is embarassing.

 

[avocadoontoast]

Brooks has been judged our best player for last 2 years, he was named Dally M halfback of the year in 2019. Also he is probably the fastest player we have, can hold his own in defence on the field, which is better than most halfbacks, who need to be hidden. I think he consistantly plays well, is a Tiger junior and has been totally loyal to the club.
For so called Tiger supporters to continually rubbish him for everything he has achieved for our club, (he cannot get us into the finals all by himself , it takes a team), is embarassing.

2018

 

[sleeve]

Tiger Tale ----YOU ARE SO RIGHT.

 

[Strider]

Ennis said he needs to play more adventurous off the cuff play instead of always pre planned ideas, I tend to agree.

 

[jirskyr]

For starters, Tigers are 3rd in the comp for points scored, so at the moment it's not our attack that we need to focus on. Defence we are 9th and worst in the Top 8.

I thought Brooks played ok. I thought he was as good as any of the halves out there when looking at 80 mins. People talk about Cleary "stepping up" but Cleary didn't do much at all except kick a FG, which was set up by his forward's late platform, not anything he did to get them there. Panthers platform was generally better than Tigers and they have a more balanced pack.

Reynolds was average. A couple of good kicks, some poor defence, good energy but passing below average.

Brooks for the match:
1 LB, 3 TB, tackled 96.4% (27 T 1 MT), 13 kicks 389 KM, 1 error
Cleary:
0 LB, 1 TB, tackled 72.7% (16 T, 3 MT), 18 kicks 522 KM, 0 errors.

It was actually Luai who had the most in attack - 1 LB assist and 2 T assists. And it was Koroisau who broke the match.

Personally I think the issue for the Tigers when we lose is two-fold.

Firstly a lack of platform, because our forwards are typically not big or powerful enough to turn the momentum against the top packs. They have their moments and not every match is bad, but in some games they don't manage to wrestle ruck control back into our favour. We defended Panthers go-forward reasonably well all match but Panthers were always more likely to be destructive up the middle than we were.

Josh Aloiai had a bad 5 mins gifting Panthers ball, Luciano and McIntyre not finishing the match.

Second issue is the general lack of strike, which has always been a problem for Brooks. BJ Leilua is basically the only player in our backline with consistent threat in attack. Nofo is good in broken play, Douiehi has some ability, but there is no consistent threat when we run backline players. And the backrowers - Luciano and Garner have made 1 line break between them all season.

It's all very clunky when we throw it wide, and Reynolds frankly doesn't help, though I commend his effort, he just hasn't the skillset.

Crichton for the Panthers on the other hand has been huge this season - 6 tries, 15 tackle breaks, 4 LB, 3 try assists. Panthers basically threw to him and Kikau all match, and it's arguably the best left-side attacking combo in the league.

Fundamentally, it was the late surge with some dodgy ref calls from Panthers that set up the field goal, then a single missed tackle on Koroisau. Other than that we matched Panthers all game and they are 2nd in the comp. They ground out the win against us.

I'm just not clear on what Brooks is supposed to do. Tigers sent basically the last 25 minutes defending our line. Brooks put in the kick, not much of a kick, that Luciano collected and got his head taken off for the equalising penalty. We basically never got close to the Panthers line again until 5 mins to go and down by 7.

 

[TheDaBoss]

Let's bring in munster so then we can change title to munster what is he good for

 

[Tim Sheens]

Ennis said he needs to play more adventurous off the cuff play instead of always pre planned ideas, I tend to agree.

Then you need to convey that to the coach as that is the way that he wants us to play.

 

[jirskyr]

Let me quote Andrew Voss, 45th minute of the game, I was just watching the highlights, just after Brooks makes a line break from his own footwork.

"Passes to a high-stepping Brooks... he's been very good tonight, asked a lot of questions of the Panthers defence".

 

[BZN]

He also won the Tigers player of the year for the last 2 years and was recently re-signed on a long contract. Some people who should know what they are talking about seem to think he is performing his role quite well.

Some people who “should know” have seen us miss the semis every year he’s been here.

It's a 'Team' sport @cktiger....not a one man show.

 

[weststigerman]

He also won the Tigers player of the year for the last 2 years and was recently re-signed on a long contract. Some people who should know what they are talking about seem to think he is performing his role quite well.

Some people who “should know” have seen us miss the semis every year he’s been here.

That happened with Tedesco as well. How do you explain that? Brooks' fault?

 

[Sart0ri]

That happened with Tedesco as well. How do you explain that? Brooks’ fault?

Tedesco had a very good career with us in terms of tries, line breaks and tackle busts but he looks much more dangerous with the Roosters because they have so many attacking threats that have to be defended.

Have you seen DCE in the last 2 weeks, his impact has been reduced to almost nothing without Turbo, Walker and Fainu.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

For starters, Tigers are 3rd in the comp for points scored, so at the moment it's not our attack that we need to focus on. Defence we are 9th and worst in the Top 8.

I thought Brooks played ok. I thought he was as good as any of the halves out there when looking at 80 mins. People talk about Cleary "stepping up" but Cleary didn't do much at all except kick a FG, which was set up by his forward's late platform, not anything he did to get them there. Panthers platform was generally better than Tigers and they have a more balanced pack.

Reynolds was average. A couple of good kicks, some poor defence, good energy but passing below average.

Brooks for the match:
1 LB, 3 TB, tackled 96.4% (27 T 1 MT), 13 kicks 389 KM, 1 error
Cleary:
0 LB, 1 TB, tackled 72.7% (16 T, 3 MT), 18 kicks 522 KM, 0 errors.

It was actually Luai who had the most in attack - 1 LB assist and 2 T assists. And it was Koroisau who broke the match.

Personally I think the issue for the Tigers when we lose is two-fold.

Firstly a lack of platform, because our forwards are typically not big or powerful enough to turn the momentum against the top packs. They have their moments and not every match is bad, but in some games they don't manage to wrestle ruck control back into our favour. We defended Panthers go-forward reasonably well all match but Panthers were always more likely to be destructive up the middle than we were.

Josh Aloiai had a bad 5 mins gifting Panthers ball, Luciano and McIntyre not finishing the match.

Second issue is the general lack of strike, which has always been a problem for Brooks. BJ Leilua is basically the only player in our backline with consistent threat in attack. Nofo is good in broken play, Douiehi has some ability, but there is no consistent threat when we run backline players. And the backrowers - Luciano and Garner have made 1 line break between them all season.

It's all very clunky when we throw it wide, and Reynolds frankly doesn't help, though I commend his effort, he just hasn't the skillset.

Crichton for the Panthers on the other hand has been huge this season - 6 tries, 15 tackle breaks, 4 LB, 3 try assists. Panthers basically threw to him and Kikau all match, and it's arguably the best left-side attacking combo in the league.

Fundamentally, it was the late surge with some dodgy ref calls from Panthers that set up the field goal, then a single missed tackle on Koroisau. Other than that we matched Panthers all game and they are 2nd in the comp. They ground out the win against us.

I'm just not clear on what Brooks is supposed to do. Tigers sent basically the last 25 minutes defending our line. Brooks put in the kick, not much of a kick, that Luciano collected and got his head taken off for the equalising penalty. We basically never got close to the Panthers line again until 5 mins to go and down by 7.

We haven't totally clicked in attack yet I believe. We just don't seem to have anyone running in support when anyone makes a break. Brooks does need to improve his positioning in his kicking game. Doesn't seem to turn the backs around enough, but he does threaten in play and should be encouraged to play whats in front of him a bit more if opportunities are there.