Taylor says Brooks’s preparation is less than ideal

[Guest]

Tigers coach Jason Taylor says Luke Brooks’s preparation for the 2015 NRL season is less than ideal

This story was published: 4 hours agoFebruary 19, 20159:12AM

WESTS Tigers coach Jason Taylor has conceded boom playmaker Luke Brooks’s preparation for the 2015 NRL season is less than ideal.

Brooks risks going into the Tigers opening fixture against Gold Coast on March 7 underdone, with Saturday’s final trial fixture against Cronulla his sole pre-season hitout for the joint venture. Taylor will opt for Brooks and fellow young gun Mitchell Moses as his first-choice halves combination for this year.

But he admits they haven’t had as much time to gel as he would have liked.

“It was great for Brooksy to play in the All Stars last weekend, but it would have been good to have him for us,” Taylor said. “We only get the one trial for those two together and for the rest of the team to have their halfback who is going to start the season.

“That is not ideal, but that is why this trial on the weekend is really important for us.” Another focus for the Tigers will be on injury-prone fullback James Tedesco.

The 22-year-old, who reneged on a deal with Canberra to re-sign with the Tigers midway through last season, will play his first game in more than six months against the Sharks following his recovery from a knee injury.

“He has been training well. He will spend a bit of time on the field, he won’t start,” Taylor said.

“But it is a big boost for us.”

 

[851]

Brooks and Moses played together all their careers,Brooks played last year,whilst not ideal to put Taylors game plan in place,it is not the end of the world.
I am more interested in how Teddy pulls up.

 

[Tigermama]

I could be wrong, but i get the impression that JT didn't want Brooks to play in the All Stars game. I wonder if JT told him that, but left the desicion to play or not up to Brooks .
Either way, let's hope Brooks and the team have a great game.

 

[pHyR3]

I could be wrong, but i get the impression that JT didn't want Brooks to play in the All Stars game. I wonder if JT told him that, but left the desicion to play or not up to Brooks .
Either way, let's hope Brooks and the team have a great game.

of course he didnt, injury risk playing 80 minutes against a reasonably high level of players.

hed much rather him get 40-60minutes of time with mitch moses in a trial.

 

[Sabre]

If only there was some kind of pre-season tournament he could have played in.

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.1_

 

[innsaneink]

I could be wrong, but i get the impression that JT didn't want Brooks to play in the All Stars game. I wonder if JT told him that, but left the desicion to play or not up to Brooks .
Either way, let's hope Brooks and the team have a great game.

of course he didnt, injury risk playing 80 minutes against a reasonably high level of players.

hed much rather him get 40-60minutes of time with mitch moses in a trial.

he didnt play 80 in then AS's…bit of a nothing article and weve heard this from JT before

 

[pHyR3]

I could be wrong, but i get the impression that JT didn't want Brooks to play in the All Stars game. I wonder if JT told him that, but left the desicion to play or not up to Brooks .
Either way, let's hope Brooks and the team have a great game.

of course he didnt, injury risk playing 80 minutes against a reasonably high level of players.

hed much rather him get 40-60minutes of time with mitch moses in a trial.

he didnt play 80 in then AS's…bit of a nothing article and weve heard this from JT before

yeah true. my bad, off the bench until he was pushed into the centres.

but yeah, JT obviously wants to coach him himself with moses rather than let him play all stars.

 

[TrueTiger]

Let me tell you,I completely agree with JT about Brookses preperation …..why...it was great to see him play for the AS and the experience would of been great for Luke..however,JT is building a team to play solid NRL week in week out and he would know that Luke with his small amount of NRL play may not quite be up to leading the team around the park competently every week,we all have said he has plenty of talent and a lot of it still needs plenty of developement...there is a fair amount of pressure on Luke's shoulders and the more time JT can coach him in that role then the better...we have to remember the WTs will have an intense game plan that needs to be followed to the letter,especially with the amount of young players this year and Luke will be a major part of the spine,it is imperative that he is fully prepared for the coming onslaught of highly ranked FGers who will be gunning for him at every opportunity....JT is his coach and hopefully Luke will take onboard the advice and game structures that need to be adhered to if he wishes to make a career out of Rugby League.....just my opinion and I will stand by it untill he proves what he can do for us in 2015...... 😛ray:

 

[gallagher]

I love coach talk. They rest players to save then from burnout then rue the fact that theyre under done. Classic.

 

[Tigermama]

Let me tell you,I completely agree with JT about Brookses preperation …..why...it was great to see him play for the AS and the experience would of been great for Luke..however,JT is building a team to play solid NRL week in week out and he would know that Luke with his small amount of NRL play may not quite be up to leading the team around the park competently every week,we all have said he has plenty of talent and a lot of it still needs plenty of developement...there is a fair amount of pressure on Luke's shoulders and the more time JT can coach him in that role then the better...we have to remember the WTs will have an intense game plan that needs to be followed to the letter,especially with the amount of young players this year and Luke will be a major part of the spine,it is imperative that he is fully prepared for the coming onslaught of highly ranked FGers who will be gunning for him at every opportunity....JT is his coach and hopefully Luke will take onboard the advice and game structures that need to be adhered to if he wishes to make a career out of Rugby League.....just my opinion and I will stand by it untill he proves what he can do for us in 2015...... 😛ray:

Good post TT. Agree on all of it!