Luke Brooks - Mega Thread

Like all highly paid under performing Wests Tigers players, we dont have the depth to replace him. Could move him to hooker as he can tackle and run from dummy half. But who do you put in the 7 or 6. Personally I would like to see Doueihi when fit back in the mix but until then Laurie is the only option to move to 6 and I am not sure that could work when we dont have a fullback as backup. Not a fan of Madden but it may be the only option.
If there is a worse general play kicker as experienced as Brooks, I am yet to see him.
 
The Absence of Doueihi as Captain, and his Creative smart plays and accurate kicking, and the composure and his Genuine desire that he shows to win games,
Now seems to be hurting the WT much more than what was expected.
 
Well …. if he plays next week … he should play hooker with simple instructions …. Speed accurate passing and run from dummy half. That’s it.
 
Brooks is an effort player. Make him responsible for backing up line breaks (no one does it) and give kicking role to the other half. That simple change worth at least six points a game. It's well overdue.
 
Swap with Madden for a couple of games, the problem with that is Hastings need to have a steady partner to get used to. If Hastings played ½ who could play ⅝ until AD returns?
 
This post is mostly about the KICKING GAME.
And I'll preface this by saying that the whole spine were trash today, so were the forwards, and the backs, and that it is impossible to blame any one player for that disgusting performance.

Back to the kicking. I tagged all kicks with a time, description, kicker and basic judgment of
Very Good/Good/Average/Poor/Very Bad.

They are as follows:

1. Brooks 2 mins long Kick straight to fullback. Poor kick.
2. Brooks 13 mins bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
3. Brooks 15 min Penalty kick from centre field. Gained 10m. Very bad kick.
4. Brooks 17 min attacking position, bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
5. Brooks 22 min penalty kick. Gain of 5 metres. Very bad kick.
6. Brooks 25 min penalty kick. 1m gain. Very bad kick.
7. Brooks 26 min attacking bomb, straight to fullback. Poor kick.
8. Brooks 35 min cross field kick, gone wrong, straight to Gagai. Very bad kick.
9. - 27 min drop out (don’t know who took that, couldn't see on TV...was it Hastings?). Either way, it was out on the full. Very bad kick.
10. Hastings 43 min grubber dead in-goal. Poor kick.
11. Brooks 51 min “catastrophic” no kick at all. Positioning awful. Very bad no kick.
12. Brooks 64 min under pressure. Finds grass and easy for defenders. Average kick.
13. Brooks 71 min penalty kick. 10 min gain. Very bad kick.
14. Brooks 72 mins midfield bomb straight to defenders. Poor kick.
15. Simpkins 77 min. Solo grubber. Very bad kick.
16. Brooks 78 mins long kick (under pressure) straight to fullback. Poor kick.

The above is not making judgment of kicker but the kicks themselves. You can re-watch and judge how you like
.
Fact is, we did not put one single kick in which was effective. Brooks was responsible for 13/16.

For judgment of Brooks, need to look at his stats. Below is his contribution:

2 tackle infringements
6 missed tackles
0 try assists
0 line breaks
0 line break assists
0 effective runs
0 kicks for repeat sets.
4 hospital passes.
13 kicks for 303 metres - not one of them good kicks.
4 penalty kicks for total of 26 metres gained.

Not one kick from Brooks put any pressure on Newcastle. Rather, every single kick from Brooks relieved pressure. Again, I am not saying he is responsible for the loss, everyone sucked! Hastings was largely ineffective too, but at least he did a few good things. Brooks and Laurie were really just garbage. (It's no coincidence everyone has stopped waxing lyrical about the latter.)

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune completely outplayed both our halves (Adam Clune FFS!). Other than his general play, Clifford made 30 metres from nearly every penalty kick. In the kicking department alone he crapped all over Brooks. And all of us would have thought he was inferior. Fact is, he was far superior.

For all those that thought Newcastle were there for the taking, you were right.
But not by us.
Even as a Brooks critic it is undeniable that this was one horrendous team performance.

Having said that, I am 100% sure that the rest of the team's performance will be all the ammunition the Brooks army need for their excuses.

In the moments of being under the pump we needed our most experienced player to take the reigns, the one in the position of the general, the one with the kicking responsibility, the one who could pressurise the opposition, the one who is looked to to step up when we needed him most.
But once again he showed that his skills are weak, his experience counts for nought and that when the going gets tough he goes to water.

The coaching staff and management need to take decisive action. Now.
 
Last edited:
This post is about the KICKING GAME.
And I'll preface this by saying that the whole spine were trash today, so were the forwards, and the backs, and that it is impossible to blame any one player for that disgusting performance.

Back to the kicking. I tagged all kicks with a time, description, kicker and basic judgment of
Very Good/Good/Average/Poor/Very Bad.

They are as follows:

1. Brooks 2 mins long Kick straight to fullback. Poor kick.
2. Brooks 13 mins bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
3. Brooks 15 min Penalty kick from centre field. Gained 10m. Very bad kick.
4. Brooks 17 min attacking position, bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
5. Brooks 22 min penalty kick. Gain of 5 metres. Very bad kick.
6. Brooks 25 min penalty kick. 1m gain. Very bad kick.
7. Brooks 26 min attacking bomb, straight to fullback. Poor kick.
8. Brooks 35 min cross field kick, gone wrong, straight to Gagai. Very bad kick.
9. - 27 min drop out (don’t know who took that, couldn't see on TV...was it Hastings?). Either way, it was out on the full. Very bad kick.
10. Hastings 43 min grubber dead in-goal. Poor kick.
11. Brooks 51 min “catastrophic” no kick at all. Positioning awful. Very bad no kick.
12. Brooks 64 min under pressure. Finds grass and easy for defenders. Average kick.
13. Brooks 71 min penalty kick. 10 min gain. Very bad kick.
14. Brooks 72 mins midfield bomb straight to defenders. Poor kick.
15. Simpkins 77 min. Solo grubber. Very bad kick.
16. Brooks 78 mins long kick (under pressure) straight to fullback. Poor kick.

The above is not making judgment of kicker but the kicks themselves. You can re-watch and judge how you like
.
Fact is, we did not put one single kick in which was effective. Brooks was responsible for 13/16.

For judgment of Brooks, need to look at his stats. Below is his contribution:

2 tackle infringements
6 missed tackles
0 try assists
0 line breaks
0 line break assists
0 effective runs
0 kicks for repeat sets.
4 hospital passes.
13 kicks for 303 metres - not one of them good kicks.
4 penalty kicks for total of 26 metres gained.

Not one kick from Brooks put any pressure on Newcastle. Rather, every single kick from Brooks relieved pressure. Again, I am not saying he is responsible for the loss, everyone sucked! Hastings was largely ineffective too, but at least he did a few good things. Brooks and Laurie were really just garbage. (It's no coincidence everyone has stopped waxing lyrical about the latter.)

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune completely outplayed both our halves (Adam Clune FFS!). Other than his general play, Clifford made 30 metres from nearly every penalty kick. In the kicking department alone he crapped all over Brooks. And all of us would have thought he was inferior. Fact is, he was far superior.

For all those that thought Newcastle were there for the taking, you were right.
But not by us.
Even as a Brooks critic it is undeniable that this was one horrendous team performance.

Having said that, I am 100% sure that the rest of the team's performance will be all the ammunition the Brooks army need for their excuses.

In the moments of being under the pump we needed our most experienced player to take the reigns, the one in the position of the general, the one with the kicking responsibility, the one who could pressurise the opposition, the one who is looked to to step up when we needed him most.
But once again he showed that his skills are weak, his experience counts for nought and that when the going gets tough he goes to water.

The coaching staff and management need to take decisive action. Now.
Brooks played badly. But why not dedicate 1000 words to everyone who played badly. peachey played famously poor.
 
Last edited:
This post is about the KICKING GAME.
And I'll preface this by saying that the whole spine were trash today, so were the forwards, and the backs, and that it is impossible to blame any one player for that disgusting performance.

Back to the kicking. I tagged all kicks with a time, description, kicker and basic judgment of
Very Good/Good/Average/Poor/Very Bad.

They are as follows:

1. Brooks 2 mins long Kick straight to fullback. Poor kick.
2. Brooks 13 mins bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
3. Brooks 15 min Penalty kick from centre field. Gained 10m. Very bad kick.
4. Brooks 17 min attacking position, bomb straight to fullback. Poor kick.
5. Brooks 22 min penalty kick. Gain of 5 metres. Very bad kick.
6. Brooks 25 min penalty kick. 1m gain. Very bad kick.
7. Brooks 26 min attacking bomb, straight to fullback. Poor kick.
8. Brooks 35 min cross field kick, gone wrong, straight to Gagai. Very bad kick.
9. - 27 min drop out (don’t know who took that, couldn't see on TV...was it Hastings?). Either way, it was out on the full. Very bad kick.
10. Hastings 43 min grubber dead in-goal. Poor kick.
11. Brooks 51 min “catastrophic” no kick at all. Positioning awful. Very bad no kick.
12. Brooks 64 min under pressure. Finds grass and easy for defenders. Average kick.
13. Brooks 71 min penalty kick. 10 min gain. Very bad kick.
14. Brooks 72 mins midfield bomb straight to defenders. Poor kick.
15. Simpkins 77 min. Solo grubber. Very bad kick.
16. Brooks 78 mins long kick (under pressure) straight to fullback. Poor kick.

The above is not making judgment of kicker but the kicks themselves. You can re-watch and judge how you like
.
Fact is, we did not put one single kick in which was effective. Brooks was responsible for 13/16.

For judgment of Brooks, need to look at his stats. Below is his contribution:

2 tackle infringements
6 missed tackles
0 try assists
0 line breaks
0 line break assists
0 effective runs
0 kicks for repeat sets.
4 hospital passes.
13 kicks for 303 metres - not one of them good kicks.
4 penalty kicks for total of 26 metres gained.

Not one kick from Brooks put any pressure on Newcastle. Rather, every single kick from Brooks relieved pressure. Again, I am not saying he is responsible for the loss, everyone sucked! Hastings was largely ineffective too, but at least he did a few good things. Brooks and Laurie were really just garbage. (It's no coincidence everyone has stopped waxing lyrical about the latter.)

Jake Clifford and Adam Clune completely outplayed both our halves (Adam Clune FFS!). Other than his general play, Clifford made 30 metres from nearly every penalty kick. In the kicking department alone he crapped all over Brooks. And all of us would have thought he was inferior. Fact is, he was far superior.

For all those that thought Newcastle were there for the taking, you were right.
But not by us.
Even as a Brooks critic it is undeniable that this was one horrendous team performance.

Having said that, I am 100% sure that the rest of the team's performance will be all the ammunition the Brooks army need for their excuses.

In the moments of being under the pump we needed our most experienced player to take the reigns, the one in the position of the general, the one with the kicking responsibility, the one who could pressurise the opposition, the one who is looked to to step up when we needed him most.
But once again he showed that his skills are weak, his experience counts for nought and that when the going gets tough he goes to water.

The coaching staff and management need to take decisive action. Now.
Amazing summary of a very ordinary day at the footy.
Are hospital passes an official NRL sanctioned metric?
 
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