Time for us to apologize to Benji

[Needaname]

At this stage there are better halfbacks in the comp and that comes with the experience and the age.
Brooks is definitely in the top 10.
What he lacks in understanding how to best control a game he makes up in his skill.
Skill wise you can’t say there are many better. Cooper Cronk is probably the only other halfback that could put up a bomb from inside their own 40 and land it 2 meters from the goal line. ‘Continuously’! Brooks probably is probably behind Keary and DCE in terms of a running game. But I think he is only behind Cronk for his no look short ball at the line.
Probably only behind Lachlan Lewis in terms of his defence out wide.

The way I see it, Brooks is a very very skilled puppet, Marshall is still the puppet master.
I haven’t gone back to watch the game again to see how much talking Marshall was doing at the ruck but I’m sure Brooks wasn’t being told what to do on every play. He instinctively ran kicked and passed last night and did it very well.
As it’s been mentioned already, he was aided by Marshall’s service.
A masterstroke by apparently Marshall as he requested to play Dummy Half. Not sure what Maguire had planned as we were never told.
From dummy half Marshall was able to control the tempo of the game, get the forwards going forwards and get Brooks the ball he desired.
I don’t want this to be seen as bagging Farah but Marshall seemed to assist Brooks even greater than Farah has been able to as he was reading the game as a half and not a hooker. Less concerned with creating in and around the ruck he was focused on the forwards getting over the advantage line and he was happy to get the ball out to the wings for Brooks to take advantage of or to ensure we were in a good kick position. Marshal was quoted as saying that they took a lot out of the Manly game in terms of controlling the impact of the opposition when they don’t have good field position. This seemed to be the game plan and we just starved the Knights of it.
Hopefully we control the game as well as we did next week against the Dragons and we can talk about a good victory again.
Imagine if we actually had a side stacked of game breakers!
Maguire has done an amazing job with a cap of 8 million.

 

[BZN]

Good post @Needaname :relaxed:

 

[cktiger]

Re the BENJI and Brooks combination...has anyone noticed how much better 'Our Team' is performing since Farah ain't there anymore...hopefully :relaxed:

Yeah... they killed it last week against Manly.

 

[cktiger]

@shane2801 Brooks is better than all of those players. **I struggle to find a 7 in the comp who he isn't better than.**

Seriously?:sweat_smile:

 

[Tim Sheens]

@shane2801 Brooks is better than all of those players. I struggle to find a 7 in the comp **who he isn't better than**.

I don't think that you are far off in your evaluation, though if you simply shuffle those words around to something like **who is better than him**, then there is little to no reasonable argument. Even @Needaname sold him a little short, despite a pretty good rundown, as Luke is easily in the top half of halfbacks in the comp, especially so considering the hurdles that his club has had, both prior and subsequent to his debut.

Put the guy in a quality squad and everyone would be lauding him, or just look back on the weekend's game and the odd others, to see what he can do with a bit of time from quality and priority service. If Maguire did not already make the decision to put Benji there himself, he will have taken note of the difference, as it was all too apparent.

 

[hodgo]

Brooks and Benji have always had problems with consistency. I like them both however they struggle to bring the same game impact week in week out. Taking last week's game for example, they both fire and we torch a team ( we smashed them imo and the focus has been on them not how bad we did them). The problem is as a duo they have too many below-par games as well. Now as a front runner brooks is a beast but i still hold concerns about his ability to take over games when they are on the line. Until he proves this i think there will always be questions marks. Is the kid good imo yes he is, is he really good no he isnt. Like benji he is capable of amazing things but its consistently being a factor that he and benji still need to improve on.
Should benji be here next year? yes unless we have the money to splash on someone significatntly better, not on par but better.

 

[Telltails]

Great energy by the team on a whole equates to better performances by all the players. What Benji bought on Saturday night was leadership. He led from the front and they all followed. It was hard to find any player that didn't lift. Great individual game but most valuable player for the team too.

 

[fibrodreaming]

Pearce is twice the halfback Brooks is, Brodie Croft has him covered also. I hate him but Moses is also a better player.

I sometimes find it difficult to compare players in different teams because an individual's performance depends so much on the players around them. This is particularly true of halves who rely on momentum from their pack.

Has there ever been a great half back that developed their reputation when playing behind a consistently dominated pack of forwards ? Probably not.

Croft and Pearce (for most of his career) have the luxury of playing behind a significantly better pack of forwards then Brooks. The same applies to Moses this year, but how did he go last year ? He was garbage - and yet you say he's a better player.

I would suggest that Pearce didn't distinguish himself in SOO because he wasn't playing behind a dominant pack. I assume when you say he is twice the half of Brooks that you are engaging in hyperbole.

How would Croft go behind our pack. Not as impressive I expect.

But this is all speculative. Brooks didn't fluke Dally M half back of the year in 2018 and he has been consistently one of our best this year.

 

[Tigerlily]

The Newcastle game was a good example of what Brooks is capable when his playing in a team that’s pushing forward and playing with confidence...

 

[cktiger]

Pearce is twice the halfback Brooks is, Brodie Croft has him covered also. I hate him but Moses is also a better player.

I sometimes find it difficult to compare players in different teams because an individual's performance depends so much on the players around them. This is particularly true of halves who rely on momentum from their pack.

Has there ever been a great half back that developed their reputation when playing behind a consistently dominated pack of forwards ? Probably not.

Croft and Pearce (for most of his career) have the luxury of playing behind a significantly better pack of forwards then Brooks. The same applies to Moses this year, but how did he go last year ? He was garbage - and yet you say he's a better player.

I would suggest that Pearce didn't distinguish himself in SOO because he wasn't playing behind a dominant pack. I assume when you say he is twice the half of Brooks that you are engaging in hyperbole.

How would Croft go behind our pack. Not as impressive I expect.

But this is all speculative. **Brooks didn't fluke Dally M half back of the year in 2018** and he has been consistently one of our best this year.

Well... maybe he did.
Both Pearce and Cleary were in great form and missed a big chunk of the season through injury.
Cooper Cronk says hello too.
In saying that, he had a great game against the Knights - hope he keeps it up.

 

[fibrodreaming]

Well… maybe he did.

And maybe he didn't.

The Dally Ms are a reasonably objective way of measuring performance over 26 rounds. Who knows what would have happened if Pearce and Cleary were not injured.

Pearce scored 22 points last year which was a great result considering. Cleary scored 7 points which is not so great.

At round 13, this year, when they stopped publishing the scores, Brooks was behind Pearce (15), Moses (11) and Reynolds (8). Brooks is tied on 7 with Hunt and DCE.

That puts Brooks up with the other contenders, despite playing behind the worst pack of that group.

Cooper Cronk says hello too.

Not sure why Cronk says hello. He wasn't mentioned in the post I replied to. If you mean he was challenging Brooks in the Dally Ms then I don't think so. He scored a total of 6 points last year and I don't think he has any point in the Dally Ms at the half way mark this year.

In fact, at the half way point this year the Tiger's halves had scored 16 points - Brooks 7; Marshall 6 and Reynolds 3. The Easts' halves had scored 7 points - all to Keary.

I think our halves are doing pretty well considering.

 

[TrueTiger]

Well… maybe he did.

And maybe he didn't.

The Dally Ms are a reasonably objective way of measuring performance over 26 rounds. Who knows what would have happened if Pearce and Cleary were not injured.

Pearce scored 22 points last year which was a great result considering. Cleary scored 7 points which is not so great.

At round 13, this year, when they stopped publishing the scores, Brooks was behind Pearce (15), Moses (11) and Reynolds (8). Brooks is tied on 7 with Hunt and DCE.

That puts Brooks up with the other contenders, despite playing behind the worst pack of that group.

Cooper Cronk says hello too.

Not sure why Cronk says hello. He wasn't mentioned in the post I replied to. If you mean he was challenging Brooks in the Dally Ms then I don't think so. He scored a total of 6 points last year and I don't think he has any point in the Dally Ms at the half way mark this year.

In fact, at the half way point this year the Tiger's halves had scored 16 points - Brooks 7; Marshall 6 and Reynolds 3. The Easts' halves had scored 7 points - all to Keary.

I think our halves are doing pretty well considering.

And look how many games Grub has played in the NRL and he has done well to pick up those points...

 

[fibrodreaming]

And look how many games Grub has played in the NRL and he has done well to pick up those points…

Yes, you could argue if he had been fit all year he would be in contention for player of the year.

 

[cktiger]

Well… maybe he did.

And maybe he didn't.

The Dally Ms are a reasonably objective way of measuring performance over 26 rounds. Who knows what would have happened if Pearce and Cleary were not injured.

Pearce scored 22 points last year which was a great result considering. Cleary scored 7 points which is not so great.

At round 13, this year, when they stopped publishing the scores, Brooks was behind Pearce (15), Moses (11) and Reynolds (8). Brooks is tied on 7 with Hunt and DCE.

That puts Brooks up with the other contenders, despite playing behind the worst pack of that group.

Cooper Cronk says hello too.

Not sure why Cronk says hello. He wasn't mentioned in the post I replied to. If you mean he was challenging Brooks in the Dally Ms then I don't think so. He scored a total of 6 points last year and I don't think he has any point in the Dally Ms at the half way mark this year.

In fact, at the half way point this year the Tiger's halves had scored 16 points - Brooks 7; Marshall 6 and Reynolds 3. The Easts' halves had scored 7 points - all to Keary.

I think our halves are doing pretty well considering.

You really think Brooks was a better halfback last year than Cronk.. and him and Keary were sub par to our combinations of Brooks/Marshall/ Reynolds?:sweat_smile:

 

[fibrodreaming]

You really think Brooks was a better halfback last year than Cronk

I didn't watch a lot of Easts games (I still struggle seeing Tedesco in their colours).
But apparently the Dally M judges thought so. So that'll do me.

 

[fibrodreaming]

and him and Keary were sub par to our combinations of Brooks/Marshall/ Reynolds?

Sorry, I missed the second part of your question.

Let's put it this way, our halves are scoring better in the Dally Ms. Perhaps because the Roosters have so many other stars it's hard to get recognised.

Trying to be objective and given I don't watch Easts a lot how about this:

Brooks has 22 try assist and 15 forced drop outs. Keary has 25 try assists and 12 forced drop outs. Very similar stats - no wonder Brooks and Keary are neck and neck in the Dally Ms.

Marshall has 16 try assists and 11 forced drop outs compared to Cronk's 15 try assists and 7 forced drop outs.

So, I wouldn't say our blokes are better but I would say there performances are comparable and. I repeat, they are playing behind an inferior pack.

 

[earl]

@formerguest you can play with the wording and your change is fair enough but I think our halves are up there with the the best in the comp.

I think both Benji and Brooks on performance are in or very close to the top 5 halves of the comp. Cody Walker, Cameron Munster, Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary and DCE are the other guys that should be considered. Is there anyone I'm missing. Cronk to me doesn't even deserve a mention.

I think the supporters on here are pretty harsh on Brooks and Benji. They have been great for us this season.

 

[avocadoontoast]

@formerguest you can play with the wording and your change is fair enough but I think our halves are up there with the the best in the comp.

I think both Benji and Brooks on performance are in or very close to the top 5 halves of the comp. Cody Walker, Cameron Munster, Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary and DCE are the other guys that should be considered. Is there anyone I'm missing. Cronk to me doesn't even deserve a mention.

I think the supporters on here are pretty harsh on Brooks and Benji. They have been great for us this season.

What about forum favourite and all round nice guy Mitch Moses?

 

[earl]

@avocadoontoast I think he is pretty good but I don't see him as being in that top group of halves. Same as Cleary or Maloney. Maloney is awesome when he is on but geez he has some shockers.

I think that there are few stand out halves throughout the season. Munster is one. I reckon with our squad where we are sitting now is due a lot to having good halves and a good coach.

 

[avocadoontoast]

@avocadoontoast I think he is pretty good but I don't see him as being in that top group of halves. Same as Cleary or Maloney. Maloney is awesome when he is on but geez he has some shockers.

I think that there are few stand out halves throughout the season. Munster is one. I reckon with our squad where we are sitting now is due a lot to having good halves and a good coach.

I hate Moses like poison but I think he is a very good player. He’s definitely up there in my opinion. I don’t rate Cleary at all. No attacking flair, no pizzazz.