Is Brooks the worst defender in the NRL?

E

Eddie

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Our Halves missed 155 tackles between them this season. I would like to know how many tries they were directly responsible for? Seems to me to be a massive issue, I know they are kids and learning on the run, however can we afford to have these 2 again next year if this continues? Of course they are other factors like having capable players to support them on the edges and so on and so on.

How can we ever have a competitive team with 2 such easy targets on both edges? Last night some of the tries were laughable really to concede, thats how soft they were. They were Holden cup Under 20s style. Maybe thats there our boys could still be you could argue? The Dragons are not known as an attacking force yet they targeted theses two and it was all too easy for them.

I see there is a Moses thread and he is getting some stick. However his issues are obvious. He is too slight and and in his first full year of first grade. Generally he rips in and does not take a backward step, I think the fans at least see that. It is still no great at first grade level watching some of the tries they have walked over him, but fans are confident he will improve as be fills out and with more experience. An off season for him and we will be more confident in him, or I will anyway?

I am struggling to come up with as many excuses for Luke Brooks?? He has a good, solid build and always has. He is close on 50 first grade games and 2 full off seasons behind him. He is a turn -style for mine and he shirks it too often.

Sometimes he has no idea who to mark, other times he has poor technique, other times he he lacks effort in defence. Its different reasons all the time. But Luke Brooks has a really solid build and should be doing much better. I know he is still really young however you look at his shambolic defensive performance last night, and it was like a repeat of Round 1 2014\. 2 years on and little improvement.

Am i being a bit too harsh on Brooks or does he need a bit of a rocket this off season? Seems non committal too often in defence.
 
I think you're being a tad harsh on Brooks. To me he looks at the same defensive level as Moses even though he has played more games. Yes - he does miss too many tackles and yes he gets targeted in defence because of it.

It seems to me that he is like Moses, a willing defender but has technique issues especially front on when going for a bigger man up high and some of his reads this year were diabolical.

I think he needs to work on his skills further. Given his age, I expect that by the time he is 22 or 23 this will no longer be an issue.

BTW I am expecting 2016 to be similar to this year and potential movement in the coaching ranks of this is the case
 
From NRL.com, James Maloney is the worst defender, having missed 101 tackles. Moses and Brooks are next on 95 and 75 missed tackles respectively. Next is Lachlan Burr from the Titans 74\. Chris Sandow is next even though he left 3-4 weeks ago on 64\. I seemed to notice Brooks going low on the weekend, hitting the thighs and hips rather than the chest/ball. Seemed to make some very effective tackles doing this,
 
I think they both try hard and have good technique but just need to keep improving as they have been. Brooks was better this year I expect they'll both be better again next year. Defence is something you continually work on you can never stop
 
Personally I don't mind the missed tackles I know they'll come good the pleasing thing is they don't shy away and Moses and brooks make the effort, it's the guys who constantly shirt grab that does my head in but our young halves put in every week some weeks better than others but all I ask is they commit and dig in and they do
 
Brooks and Moses aren't afraid to have a go but when isolated against guys weighing 20 kg more it's only going to end one way.
 
Eddie your right on the money!!! Unless he's carrying a injury, there hasn't been to much improvement. At least Moses has a dig for most of the part. Needs a good of season in the gym another 10kg on that frame should do him some good…
 
And by getting rid of farah and brining in an inexperienced Cherry that will help the missed tackles…we are a basketcase

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I think going into next season the defense of both our halves will be a key factor in how our season goes.

They are both young and if you look at the under 20's it isn't just these two that have a problem, the whole 20's comp is full of poor defense.

To me they both need an off season to work on their strength. They both have reasonable technique but are often just thrown off by guys who are much bigger and stronger. If they can improve their strength it will help a lot more tackles to "stick".

If the defense of the halves can be improved i think we will improve significantly as a team. It was very obvious this year that teams hit one edge to get at Moses and then back to the other at Brooks. Even when they make the tackles the opposition is eating up easy meters and it puts so much pressure on all the other parts of our game.

A couple of good defensive second rowers wouldn't hurt either.
 
He definitely needs to improve, but we need to do a better job of protecting him in the defensive line.
As per above, Maloney is a pretty awful defender, and yet he plays for the best defensive team in the comp.
 
Benji had the same problem problem when he first started first grade and then over the years he got better so just give them time to learn techniques to make them better defenders

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Obviously they need to and will both improve but as I said in the other thread, they get targeted a lot and as such make more tackles than other halves, so in total the law of averages say they have a higher missed tackle count also.

All halves get targeted and most concede soft tries on a semi regular basis. Always have, always will. Opponents try to isolate the weak links (halves) with big men running at them. Our centres and back rowers also haven't been good enough to support them.
 
Brooks' main problem is his defensive reads. I'm not as fussed with his front-on defence, like Moses he typically puts his body on the line.

But his lateral defence, cover and defensive reads are poor, probably worst in the team. He needs to practice, practice, practice.

I would rather see Moses miss 1-1 with a big unit than just watch a back stroll through a hole Brooks left. Frizell's try on Saturday was exactly this issue, untouched.
 
agreed @jirskyr, 80% of defending is putting yourself in a position to make a tackle. From there, even if you're a speed bump, you've done your job. This is how the top halves (e.g. Thurston, Maloney) get away with their weak defence. They're always there, meaning it's easy for another player to cover them.
 
I have seen worse arm and jersey grabbing from Kyle Lovett

And i suppose Brooks gets a lot more traffic his way due to his sheer size. He is bound to miss a lot more tackles too

He needs someone like a Gareth Ellis to to protect him

What the hell, both Brooks and Mosses do need the forwards to protect them
That will help build their confidence
 
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