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

[happy_tiger]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

Why we weren't kicking to Souths weakness in their kick return Gagai just astounds me

 

[Geo]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

4 Times Latrell was stopped inside the 20 from Brooks kicks in the 1st 50mins..Grant and Reynolds also put so very poor kicks in that time..

We just let them out to easily with a 6-0 penalty count and 4 restarts and the bumbling the ball we we did get it..

 

[Tim Sheens]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

Yeah, it was very disappointing, plus on that one I could see Hoffman was too far in and not really following Moses up, only in, so would have to at least partly agree with @Tiger5150 on that one, as Roberts was already outside him. Though along with most of us, he was probably at the stage of what the hell is Mbye thinking at that point.

Brooks was below par overall, though again part of a team suffering from a depleted middle and refereeing, resulting in lack of momentum and poor field position for most of the match. Mistakes were also very costly for us. Conversely, he did just as well as his opposite when we finally got a bit of ball and to the other end of the field, contributing well to our tries.

 

[hobbo1]

I’m not a Brooks basher but our halves are our Achilles heel. When Reynolds and brooks can make benji look good then something is not right. Kicking game is horrendous, no organisation. We will feel the affects of Ivan Cleary at this club for years to come. He pulled the Moses contract and signed brooks. While one has blossomed the other still hasn’t played a game better then his debut. Reynolds has energy and grunt, but pretty much nothing else. I can see hope for our forwards and our backs but our halves unfortunately Madge has inherited something that can’t be fixed.

Didn’t Madge re-sign Brooks? In fact hasn’t Madge signed/re-signed >75% of our top 17?

Yeah go figure

Even Doohey is on $400k

He’s easy worth that imo.

But he’s not even a fullback .
Last night although good under the Ball he’s a sloth ..

Disagree, I think he’s an excellent fullback.

Too slow for the 1 jersey imo

 

[Tigerbuck63]

Brooks played well his defence was solid all night.Some people just like to criticise him and Nof because they can

why don't you forum members that continue to knock Brooks go and support another team. He was not the reason we lost the game our forwards could not go forward and as per some forum members have alluded to we should be paying 2 props for go forward, I blame Madge for this loss not selecting a forward pack that could not make yards, shows however we are still a thereabouts team.

It’s past time to make excuses for Brooks. Whenever he plays poorly it’s always someone else’s fault, it’s not, it’s his and his alone. It’s not the team, not the forward pack, not the wingers, not the 5/8 or hooker who won’t let him take control, it’s just Brooks. He’s a good player just not the halfback the Wests Tigers need, better suited to 5/8.

Well the problem is that he is on a long term deal.....
5/8 not sure about that either
Can't say he was great last night but the forwards just did not go forward and i think Madge made a mistake not having extra size on the bench.

 

[Spud_Murphy]

I am not a fan of Brooks and have been one of his biggest critics for years but I thought he went ok last night. He will never be great though.

Pretty much sums it up right there. He will never be more than an average halfback, he’ll have some good games, especially when he runs the ball, but he can’t steer the team or control a game to save his life! I’m sorry but it’s just the truth, I think we’ve seen enough evidence of that over the past 5 years.

If Madge is really serious about WT being a finals contender, he will need to find a halfback with proper game management skills and play Brooks in another position where he can use his strengths of running the ball and tackling all day - my tip would be hooker.

 

[hobbo1]

He should be dropped ...
Kicked out on the full under no pressure and caught on the last tackle ..

Drop him

 

[tonza]

I am not a fan of Brooks and have been one of his biggest critics for years but I thought he went ok last night. He will never be great though.

Pretty much sums it up right there. He will never be more than an average halfback, he’ll have some good games, especially when he runs the ball, but he can’t steer the team or control a game to save his life! I’m sorry but it’s just the truth, I think we’ve seen enough evidence of that over the past 5 years.

If Madge is really serious about WT being a finals contender, he will need to find a halfback with proper game management skills and play Brooks in another position where he can use his strengths of running the ball and tackling all day - my tip would be hooker.

Despite what other people say, I think he misses Benji. The tigers second half points scoring has been terrible since Benji was dropped. It is probably caused by fatigue, and thats when you need a cool experienced head. Benji fits that decription until somebody better comes along.

 

[earl]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

Last try was the worst easily

How do you rate Brooks game last night

Kicking game F

Game organization E minus

Defence C

Running game D minus

That was unacceptable last night
...not getting one tackle in our opposition 20 for 40 minutes .....Brooks and the forwards have to own that

It's a fair assessment. He was really bad.

 

[balmain boy]

A flaccid performance from Brooks. He appears to be at rock bottom at the moment. Zero confidence, zero execution. No desire to take the game by the scruff of the neck. He's been our halfback for 6 years now now and is still the understudy, he hasn't grown or developed as a player (other than defensively).

In factyhos game has regressed significantly. He used to be an attack and creative half with defensive issues. Now his kicking game is worse than its ever been and he cannot generate attack.

Sure both halves were absolute rubbish, as was the whole team, but Brooks needs a spell. With Reynolds gone for 2 weeks that won't happen though. Benji and Reynolds isn't a good combo. Try Benji and Madden ideally, Walters may get a shot ahead of Madden though Madden is the type of player we need, not Walters.

 

[2005magic]

I am not a fan of Brooks and have been one of his biggest critics for years but I thought he went ok last night. He will never be great though.

Pretty much sums it up right there. He will never be more than an average halfback, he’ll have some good games, especially when he runs the ball, but he can’t steer the team or control a game to save his life! I’m sorry but it’s just the truth, I think we’ve seen enough evidence of that over the past 5 years.

If Madge is really serious about WT being a finals contender, he will need to find a halfback with proper game management skills and play Brooks in another position where he can use his strengths of running the ball and tackling all day - my tip would be hooker.

Despite what other people say, I think he misses Benji. The tigers second half points scoring has been terrible since Benji was dropped. It is probably caused by fatigue, and thats when you need a cool experienced head. Benji fits that decription until somebody better comes along.

Common, at least admit that after nearly 160 NRL games Brooks should also be the cool, experienced head. Brooks plateaued years ago, he will never be a season winner for WT, Prince was our last halfback that we could say that of.

We should at least be looking for other options although I admit scarce pickings out there in NRL. What about ESL?

 

[tiger_one]

A flaccid performance from Brooks. He appears to be at rock bottom at the moment. Zero confidence, zero execution. No desire to take the game by the scruff of the neck. He's been our halfback for 6 years now now and is still the understudy, he hasn't grown or developed as a player (other than defensively).

In factyhos game has regressed significantly. He used to be an attack and creative half with defensive issues. Now his kicking game is worse than its ever been and he cannot generate attack.

Sure both halves were absolute rubbish, as was the whole team, but Brooks needs a spell. With Reynolds gone for 2 weeks that won't happen though. Benji and Reynolds isn't a good combo. Try Benji and Madden ideally, Walters may get a shot ahead of Madden though Madden is the type of player we need, not Walters.

Now that's a first.
A flaccidity meter to measure a player's performance.
I like it.

 

[happy_tiger]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

4 Times Latrell was stopped inside the 20 from Brooks kicks in the 1st 50mins..Grant and Reynolds also put so very poor kicks in that time..

We just let them out to easily with a 6-0 penalty count and 4 restarts and the bumbling the ball we we did get it..

Is he not our key kicker ...and would you not target Gagai

 

[Geo]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

4 Times Latrell was stopped inside the 20 from Brooks kicks in the 1st 50mins..Grant and Reynolds also put so very poor kicks in that time..

We just let them out to easily with a 6-0 penalty count and 4 restarts and the bumbling the ball we we did get it..

Is he not our key kicker ...and would you not target Gagai

Depends..Brooks kicks on the left..Reynolds/Douiehi/Marshall on the right..

When kicking from half-way or before like we where for most of the game Gagai would be up on Souff's Right edge to cover running on the last so Mitchell is covering that kick

Kick metres for each half on the night was roughly shared with 300m each..

 

[Geo]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

4 Times Latrell was stopped inside the 20 from Brooks kicks in the 1st 50mins..Grant and Reynolds also put so very poor kicks in that time..

We just let them out to easily with a 6-0 penalty count and 4 restarts and the bumbling the ball we we did get it..

Is he not our key kicker ...and would you not target Gagai

Depends..Brooks kicks on the left..Reynolds/Douiehi/Marshall on the right..

When kicking from half-way or before like we where for most of the game Gagai would be up on Souff's Right edge to cover running on the last so Mitchell is covering that kick

Kick metres for each half on the night was roughly shared with 300m each..

Mitchell fielding Brooks kicks never made it out of the 20..other side not so much..

 

[Russell]

He should be dropped ...
Kicked out on the full under no pressure and caught on the last tackle ..

Drop him

The kick that went out on the full, he was under pressure, pulled towards the sideline, which skewed the ball that way as well.

Bag him all you like but get the facts right in the process.

 

[hobbo1]

Im a Brooks fan, but tonight he was poor. But he wasnt on his own, REynolds, Mbye, Hoffman, MCK, Clarke, all poor

Wow I think you are being harsh on Hoffman. They sent a lot of traffic and kicks his way. He defused all bombs and scored a good try. If his centre had of helped him a little in defence then they may have been able to withstand some of the attack down that side.


If Hoffman wasnt 10m out of position all night, Mbye wouldnt have had to rush up to try to stop the play. Its ok to give your opponent 10m of sideline if you are blinding fast, otherwise, if the 5/8 gets the winger the ball, its a try every time. Mbye was trying to cut it off each time

I don't think that was the case Hoffman's spacing seemed fine to me on most occasions the whole left edge malfunctioned last night ..that starts further in..had Hoffman held his wing there would have been a 15m gap between himself and Mbye for a centre to stroll through..

I don't think the whole side communicated well enough ..they were all on a different page..some rushing up some attempting to slide all at the same time..it's on them all added to that the trend for the Fullback to defend in the line..rather than sweeping up the mess

Roberts TRY was the most disappointing ..you could see it coming and Brooks still had a chance to stop it but fell off the tackle badly on the touchline ..which has been unlike him..

The problem definitely starts closer to the ruck. The outside backs are often left defending 2 on 3, with the opposition having the overlap. Do that consistently and the opposition will score points on the edge consistently as well.

The more defence you need to make the more errors you will make ....defence wasn't great ..but considering how much it had to make in the areas it was

Brooks kicking game was largely to blame ....even if you only make your own 40 the main kicker should be able to get s deep kick in occasionally so you can apply defensive pressure and get your side back in the game that way

We were totally dominated with field position for 60 minutes ...embarrassing

4 Times Latrell was stopped inside the 20 from Brooks kicks in the 1st 50mins..Grant and Reynolds also put so very poor kicks in that time..

We just let them out to easily with a 6-0 penalty count and 4 restarts and the bumbling the ball we we did get it..

Is he not our key kicker ...and would you not target Gagai

Depends..Brooks kicks on the left..Reynolds/Douiehi/Marshall on the right..

When kicking from half-way or before like we where for most of the game Gagai would be up on Souff's Right edge to cover running on the last so Mitchell is covering that kick

Kick metres for each half on the night was roughly shared with 300m each..

Mitchell fielding Brooks kicks never made it out of the 20..other side not so much..

That’s because Mitchell passed the ball once fielding it ..

He needs a spell mate
Marshall 7
Walters 6

 

[haberfield_tiger]

Brooks is a 6... he can't manage a game. Not smart enough. I think Billy walters can do a job at 7

 

[hobbo1]

He should be dropped ...
Kicked out on the full under no pressure and caught on the last tackle ..

Drop him

The kick that went out on the full, he was under pressure, pulled towards the sideline, which skewed the ball that way as well.

Bag him all you like but get the facts right in the process.

BS
Cook was the only one near him
2 meters at least .

Needs a spell

Dally M would turn in his grave if he’d knew !

LOL he was tackled by cook as he kicked it . I don’t think I’ve ever once seen brooks do that . How are you gonna give Walters a go ? He’s 4th string .

We were all Singing his praises when Billy was playing ..
But let’s stick with the 150 game nuffie so as not to upset the fan boys

 

[gallagher]

1 try assist for the year is petty damning stat