Luke Brooks is very good at putting guys into space. He passes the ball into space, so that the next player can run onto the ball at speed. I promise you if he was playing in the same team as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and James Tedesco, he would be rated as one of the best halfbacks in the game.
Go watch James Tedesco highlights from when he was a tiger. More often than not, Brooks was involved in setting up opportunities for him to get in space. Tedesco had to change his game last year after repeated injuries to Keary. Previously Cronk did the same role (but better). He couldn't get enough space at 3rd receiver or even 2nd, which is where he would normally stand. It was so bad, he just couldn't get the ball when he wanted, so he had to move into 1st receiver.
The reason the third receiver is important is because they are often put in a 3-on-3 situation. The centre and winger will be aiming to deceive the defensive structure by running/changing lines. Luke at Laurie last year. He would chime in at 2nd or 3rd receiver last year, often setup by Brooks. That showed that Brooks can make space for players if they are good enough to take advantage of the space provided.
Brooks can make players better, but they need to see the opportunities he can create. His players need to run on to the ball with more speed. Catch the ball at a higher strike rate. Take a ball in hard contact, so he feels more confident to play later at the line.
Look at the way Cleary plays. He gives insane service to his outside men, and that's because those guys just don't drop the ball. And if they do, he knows it's no issue cause they defend really well. Managing a set is easy, because there is always someone who comes up with a hard run if they are struggling at any point in a set (Brian To'o, James Fisher Harris, Moses Leota). So he rarely has to kick from inside his 40m without a fast play of the ball.
Tedesco left because the club were totally inept and unable to fix their defence. It turns out that it was a coaching issue, because when Teddy got to the Roosters, they weren't happy with his defense. However they've been coaching him is obviously leaps and bounds above us back then. Sheens being back here should fix a lot of problems. The players in our own system all need to be coached in the same way, so when they make first grade, they're not learning an entirely new style of play. Again, look at Penrith...same style of football in every grade.
