Luke Brooks

[davey_farrell]

i was sure brooks was signed for 4 for years on 500 k a year, and everyone was pretty happy with that when he signed, and that is not too bad for a half back these day

 

[jirskyr]

Over the last two or three seasons I've come to the conclusion that the dirty secret about Brooks is that he's... ok. I'll hold my hands up and say I continued hoping he'd become brilliant for longer than I probably should, and I have certainly revised my expectations down quite a lot.

Equally, though, I think the popular current meme that he is somehow unplayably awful is going just as far off the side the other way. He does some things well, others badly and his biggest problem is that he's quite capable of having really, really poor games. His skill set unfortunately puts him in no-man's land to some extent: his kicking game and personality don't lend themselves to being a game manager, but he's never been able to just play off the cuff either.

Ultimately, as a team whose best approach is probably to be planning around being genuinely competitive (ie actually challenging, not aiming to arse into eighth place) in a couple of years' time, the only real questions are:
- Can Brooks ever be a half in a competitive side or is he simply not good enough?
- What is it going to cost to keep him on the roster?

I'd argue that actually, yeah, he could be part of a competitive side albeit probably not the dominant half. I mean, Chad Townsend has a premiership and so does John Sutton - you wouldn't pick either of those as your top playmaker or on-field general. I'll get laughed at for this but there are plenty of other successful halves where I think if they swapped careers you wouldn't be able to say they were definitively better than Brooks - people like Jahrome Hughes, Michael Morgan or Luke Keary. If they'd played for the Tigers for the past decade I doubt anyone would think of them as highly as most do. I'm not saying Brooks is as good as any of them but he's not as far adrift as is commonly suggested, either.

What I'm getting to is that if Brooks is the second half on relatively low coin he could still be a valuable player for us, because we should be able to spend the spare cash on strike elsewhere.

The challenge is more that all our other decent halves options at the moment are more 5/8 types than genuine half backs - by which I mean specifically Doueihi and Laurie. They both need a first receiver who does the bulk of the game management and kicking work, which really isn't a role that suits Brooks. Plus we have inexperienced hookers who aren't offering much in the kicking game, either.

I'm not really sure where this leaves Brooks. I know that if he wants $700-800k in his next deal there's probably no value for us, because we probably need a 'genuine' half unless we do some very, very clever recruiting to bring in playmaking options at hooker, back row or lock. Maybe the Mbye/Doueihi experiment where we effectively play two 5/8s is the way forward after all. On the other hand, I don't think Brooks is a write-off either - and if the rest of the comp is undervaluing him perhaps there is some future there.


Good summary....although I think Keary is the real deal.

Yeah I think Hughes is too, I think he's proven that without Munster or Paps or Cam Smith present.

 

[cktiger]

i was sure brooks was signed for 4 for years on 500 k a year, and everyone was pretty happy with that when he signed, and that is not too bad for a half back these day

That was years back when we lost Tedesco, Moses etc. (and was then $550k).
He’s been upgraded twice since then.
Last week there was a story about him being on $900k and this week Mbye being on $800k

 

[Blake]

I don't think I have seen one of our players on the Telstra Tracker top 5 lists since the time Noffa put his tracker in another players pocket.


 

[twentyforty]

When assessing Brooks’ value to the team, it would be an interesting exercise to put yourself in the shoes of the opposing coach and do a SWAT analysis of the WT team you’re about to play.
I’m pretty sure the WT 2019 player of the season would be seen as a serious threat.
Brooks’ job has been made easier by the addition of some forwards who are not getting thumped and backs like Doueihi, Laurie. Brooks’ game will improve in direct correlation to team performance for that reason.
We need threats all over the park (and we can get that with a couple of ball playing recruits), taking some eyes off our 6 & 7, and a settled spine with 20 games together.

 

[Speed2burn]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol

 

[twentyforty]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol

On reflection of Brooks’ early career, it’s easy to understand the criticism from fans. They thought Brooks was some kind of super hero but sadly their expectations have not been met, they feel let down..

“A local junior of Wests Tigers, Luke Brooks made his first-grade debut as an 18-year-old with a stunning win against the St. George-Illawarra Dragons at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2013.
Brooks became the side's starting halfback the following season — becoming the first Wests Tigers player to win the Dally M Rookie of the Year Award — before earning representative selection in the 2015 NRL All Stars game.
Committing his long-term future to the club, Brooks continued to evolve his game in the coming years — winning back-to-back Kelly-Barnes Awards in 2018 and 2019 — while also taking out the Dally M Halfback of the Year Award in 2018.
The Holy Cross Rhinos junior is currently the most capped Wests Tigers halfback in history and the club's all-time leading try-scorer at the position.
He is signed through at Wests Tigers until the end of the 2023 season.”

I agree with Madge..Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

 

[earl]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

 

[Tim Sheens]

The descriptions from players and coach that the overt bandwagon expansion in criticism of Brooks has been "crazy", "pretty stupid" and the like is pretty well spot on.

The guy is a first grade level half, end of story.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

The descriptions from players and coach that the overt bandwagon expansion in criticism of Brooks has been "crazy", "pretty stupid" and the like is pretty well spot on.

The guy is a first grade level half, end of story.

He’s played 158 games. That goes without saying

 

[Speed2burn]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

 

[jadtiger]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

Completely agree,a decent goal kicker would have got us to the semi's before this

 

[Tiger5150]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol

The Brooks hate is reaching insane proportions when you merely post a somewhat positive article about Brooks written by someone else that paints him in a good light and you get two downvotes!?!?!

I can just see the Brooks haters with their faces screwed up in rage bashing the thumbs down.

Crazy

 

[happy_tiger]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

Seeing he was that capable at kicking ...why wasn't Brooks kicking then ....

 

[JD Tiger]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol


The Brooks hate is reaching insane proportions when you merely post a somewhat positive article about Brooks written by someone else that paints him in a good light and you get two downvotes!?!?!

I can just see the Brooks haters with their faces screwed up in rage bashing the thumbs down.

Crazy

Wanted to downvote you just for shits and giggles.
It is amusing, the reaction of some when you disagree with their opinion.

 

[2041]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

This gets said a lot but it's really not true. Well, it sort of is: the Tigers would have made the eight in 2019 if there were no goal kicks: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/hey-sharks-if-only-where-every-nrl-team-would-sit-if-goal-kicks-were-given-the-flick/news-story/95bea3dd2c454a394fadcc25c11d9ae5

However, this absolutely doesn't mean we were killed by bad goal kicking. We would have come eighth instead of ninth with exactly the same points tally (24). The Broncos dropping from eighth to 10th is the only material difference, thus allowing us to scrape into the finals.

In this version of the comp we'd have played Canberra away in round one of the finals, incidentally.

 

[Speed2burn]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

This gets said a lot but it's really not true. Well, it sort of is: the Tigers would have made the eight in 2019 if there were no goal kicks: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/hey-sharks-if-only-where-every-nrl-team-would-sit-if-goal-kicks-were-given-the-flick/news-story/95bea3dd2c454a394fadcc25c11d9ae5

However, this absolutely doesn't mean we were killed by bad goal kicking. We would have come eighth instead of ninth with exactly the same points tally (24). The Broncos dropping from eighth to 10th is the only material difference, thus allowing us to scrape into the finals.

In this version of the comp we'd have played Canberra away in round one of the finals, incidentally.

I don’t know how many people remember this but Marsters missed an absolute sitter against Penrith, we lose 9-8 in a terrible game of football

Vs Melbourne... Will Chambers scores in the 79th minute for them to win 24-22

Vs Bulldogs we lose 18-16 and Momo misses a fairly easy kick to tie

 

[2041]

I agree with Madge…Brooks is coming into his prime now. He will be better over the next 3 or 4 seasons than he ever has been.

We need to win games though. I have no problems with Brooks as our halfback but we need better players in other positions because he is only ever going to be a system halfback. He is a cog in a machine who can do a lot right and not get caught out but he isn't going to be the player you rely on to win your competitions.

He is nowhere near as bad as the criticism he receives at times. We just gotta make sure his contract dollars reflect his ability.

Just saying, we make the 8 comfortably if we had any half decent goal kicker in 2019

Maybe 2016 aswell

But in 2019 we lost 3 games by 2 points or less, goal kicking being the difference

Brooks criticism is he cannot “lead” a team to finals footy, I think goal kicking woes has been half the issue

This gets said a lot but it's really not true. Well, it sort of is: the Tigers would have made the eight in 2019 if there were no goal kicks: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/hey-sharks-if-only-where-every-nrl-team-would-sit-if-goal-kicks-were-given-the-flick/news-story/95bea3dd2c454a394fadcc25c11d9ae5

However, this absolutely doesn't mean we were killed by bad goal kicking. We would have come eighth instead of ninth with exactly the same points tally (24). The Broncos dropping from eighth to 10th is the only material difference, thus allowing us to scrape into the finals.

In this version of the comp we'd have played Canberra away in round one of the finals, incidentally.

I don’t know how many people remember this but Marsters missed an absolute sitter against Penrith, we lose 9-8 in a terrible game of football

Vs Melbourne... Will Chambers scores in the 79th minute for them to win 24-22

Vs Bulldogs we lose 18-16 and Momo misses a fairly easy kick to tie

I'm not denying any of that. But other teams have those stories too. The link shows that with no goal kicks we would have finished 2016 on exactly the same number of competition points as we actually got, and climbed exactly one place. Don't get me wrong, I'd have taken it - but this idea that the Tigers are or were uniquely disadvantaged by bad goal kicking just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol


The Brooks hate is reaching insane proportions when you merely post a somewhat positive article about Brooks written by someone else that paints him in a good light and you get two downvotes!?!?!

I can just see the Brooks haters with their faces screwed up in rage bashing the thumbs down.

Crazy

Pathological hate. It is very not nice.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster Manly vs Parramatta game, which can be seen on sports streaming service Kayo, Moses condemned the relentless media criticism which has been directed at Brooks this season.
“It was really unwarranted, to be honest,” Moses said.

“You’ve got to expect the criticism I guess, when you play halfback in a first-grade side … when your team’s losing, all the criticism goes to you.

“But I think it was really unwarranted. It’s a team effort, and for all the pressure to go on him was pretty stupid.

“The footy he played on the weekend was outstanding — he was probably one of the best players over the weekend. He controlled the game and took the line on offer.

Fancy Moses putting his 2 cents in lol


The Brooks hate is reaching insane proportions when you merely post a somewhat positive article about Brooks written by someone else that paints him in a good light and you get two downvotes!?!?!

I can just see the Brooks haters with their faces screwed up in rage bashing the thumbs down.

Crazy

Pathological hate. It is not nice.