This thread is going to go like every other Brooks topic.
Some love him cos they think he is loyal and consider one good game a month acceptable.
Other fans who want to be consistent and win more will call for his head.
I’ve already poked the Brooks loving bears.
Let's see where he finishes in the Dally M halfback places - still a good chance for Dally M halfback of the year, though I expect he got mowed down in the overall tally in the back rounds.
Point being - if you are one of the top few halfbacks in the Dally M you must be doing something right on most weekends, considering there are at least 16 halfbacks running around each week.
Short story:
After round 2/3 I questioned whether Eisenhuth was any good or just made to look good due to wins.
I got slammed on here and my loyalty questioned.
Many of those same people still hold that Eisenhuth is quality.
That's called choice-supportive bias or confirmation bias.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
IMO that is a microcosm of the Brooks argument. Only the Brooks discussion is now years old, more emotional. It means that supporters cannot (will not) go back on their views - they are entrenched in them (there's probably some other cognitive bias term for this but enough of that intellectual mumbo). The constant reference to Dally M votes is the best illustration of this, and anyway, IMO that argument has about as much weight as the Dally M themselves. Ruan Sims anyone?
Funnily enough, I would posit that general opinions on Luke Brooks 2018 are about as far from confirmation bias as is possible in rugby league.
Prior to 2018 I thought the bloke couldn't tackle and played about 5 good games a season. It is my impression that this was the majority view of forummers prior to 2018.
2018 he changed the way he plays - far far more run metres and forced dropouts, less bad tackles. I have been compelled to adjust my opinion on Brooks by his own form. Many people have done a similar thing with Chris Lawrence recently.
I currently believe Brooks is an average halfback for overall talent (i.e. better than about half the other halfbacks), but that 2018 has been his best year and it just so happens that in 2018, generally speaking, the halfbacks of the comp are not stringing together consistent dominant performances. NRL.com posted an interesting article about the same idea this morning:
https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/09/03/million-dollar-question-looms-for-halfbacks-this-nrl-2018-finals-series/
The fact that Brooks is polling well in the Dally Ms - despite whatever you might say about the judging, and I'd hope it's more legitimate since the NRL took over (Ruan Sims incident notwithstanding) - the fact is that judges who are not Tigers fans have rated Brooks as having consistently good performances in 2018\. This is likely not confirmation bias, because the Dally Ms are generally judged by persons who don't have a vested interest in which footballer polls well. Tigers fans are certainly biased when it comes to Tigers players, and Brooks certainly gets better reviews in this forum than he would in the NRL at large. But non-Tigers folks are collectively saying he's had a relatively good year.
And then the argument is fair - if this is one of Brooks' best years, under a new-ish coach, can he take another step forward and be a better footballer again?
