Is Luke brooks the piece we’ve been missing

[Disco]

Im happy to talk footy if thats what your here for

Is that not what we are doing?

You ascertained that one of our weaknesses was players not be able to cement their positions and used Jake and Croker as 2 of your 3 examples.

I sought clarification on your meaning as hose two players have been almost exclusively locked into their roles for a number of seasons.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

The thread title speaks for itself, just wanting to see what brooks could bring to the team and if we think we can be a competing top 8 or even 4 side.

Thanks all!

Brooks will improve the team. Could play an Ezra Mam type role, doesn't need to overdo the organising and kicking but just provide an attacking threat with his acceleration and backing up.

Whether that gets us to top 4 or top 8 will depend on a lot of other things. Not least of which, who stays fit. This year we haven't done too badly aside from Tom, but on his own his loss pretty much stalled our season.

Guys like Aloiai and Lawton miss almost as many games as they play, but if we can get a solid run with minimal injuries we'll be challenging for top 4.
(But still off the pace of the top 2 or 3.)

 

[Ryan]

Moving forward i dont see jake as our long term 13
he is too slow for that position IMO , but he is very likeable and is well respected by the opposition for his defence and by team mates

his contract is the issue. If he is on 600 as an example we afford another decent middle and we can play him for shorter minutes And replace him with quality
I was hoping to see lawnton this year as a 13 but he has been consistently injured and im unsure if they will keep him with shoe moving, and arthur

What worries me, is the last two years have statistically been his absolute worst in running metres in his entire career. I also think he's in as bad shape body wise as he's ever been (a case of the Josh Schuster's a bit). He has WAY too much weight on. I personally think he should lose 15 k/g's. That's a lot, but he'd find his attack would be much better.

He needs to get back to this weight (he's always been bigger boned, but look at the mobility difference - he's almost at a standstill now):

EDIT: BTW, who the HELL is our conditioning staff? They have been atrocious forever.

 

[lsz]

If you put Olakau'atu in there for Williams in 2011 or Hall in 2008, there's no spots for me for Jake (in the starting team). People look outside his attacking flaws because he's a lovable character and can tackle. But seriously, Jake offers literally NOTHING in attack. He's our slowest forward, by some way.

I also wonder if we had better forwards what we could see from him

He does SOOOOOO much clean up and covering for others in our team - something he would not have needed to do in the 08/11 teams

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

At the risk of selling your post short (coz it was well thought out) Heath L'Strange is the sort of player we're missing. He and Ballin worked well together coz Heath was so dynamic in attack late in the halves when there were tired forwards. But I'd also kill for a Watmough, Gifty and/or Beaver for next year.

I think Jacob Liddle would have been a good pickup.

Ideally one of the Lussick boys or Verrills. Although (apparently) none of them want to play for Manly.

 

[Eagle 1]

Mate. Top 4? Naming Croker as one of the strengths? You've certainly bought into the Penn / Mestrov premiership team / window then haha.

Yet, every game he's always close to our best player if not the best on the park. Sure, he may not be that ball playing hooker, ala Cook type. But, what we lose in one area we gain in another.

 

[MW66]

If you put Olakau'atu in there for Williams in 2011 or Hall in 2008, there's no spots for me for Jake (in the starting team). People look outside his attacking flaws because he's a lovable character and can tackle. But seriously, Jake offers literally NOTHING in attack. He's our slowest forward, by some way.

You must be kidding re Jake if you think he wouldn't be picked in front of Perry, Hall, Stewart, King. Don't take my word for it just ask the SOO and Australian selectors.

 

[jbb/james]

Is that not what we are doing?

You ascertained that one of our weaknesses was players not be able to cement their positions and used Jake and Croker as 2 of your 3 examples.

I sought clarification on your meaning as hose two players have been almost exclusively locked into their roles for a number of seasons.

Moving forward i see jake as a prop ( too slow at 13 )as do many others
its not going to take much to upseat the frog if a legitimate 9 is purchased or comes through grade
history is not indicitive of the future.. Is the term cemented exclusively about the past, and do you see Jake as out long term 13 moving forward, if we are talking footy.
clarified ?

 

[Eagle 1]

I want to see us recruit some decent forwards. Without any improvement on what we currently have up front it's hard for backs to be at their best.

The only way to do this would be to shop around a couple of forwards and hope they get snapped up. All of this could of been avoided with the right decisions on player retention and what length we want them for. We seem to be way over generous giving out extensions to iffy players who really haven't proved anything. We have Paseka when not injured and Lodge, that's a good first choice front row, just need one more of the same, not to much to ask is it.

 

[jbb/james]

What worries me, is the last two years have statistically been his absolute worst in running metres in his entire career. I also think he's in as bad shape body wise as he's ever been (a case of the Josh Schuster's a bit). He has WAY too much weight on. I personally think he should lose 15 k/g's. That's a lot, but he'd find his attack would be much better.

He needs to get back to this weight (he's always been bigger boned, but look at the mobility difference - he's almost at a standstill now):

EDIT: BTW, who the HELL is our conditioning staff? They have been atrocious forever.

This is a good point. He takes a battering and is starting to look a little jaded . The body cant do it forever. He doesnt get hit hard in defence often as his leg speed is down which helps him i suppose

I loved him early in his career as a prop popping the ball in traffic. He had a little artie beetson in his craft. For all the nate myles hate i thought he had a good impact on jakes game as a mentor and being similar in game style took some of the load off his shoulders

 

[The Wheel]

Can some one tell me why do we call our Sea eagle Hooker a Frog ?
What is the significance ?
@The Wheel ?

Croker Ie a frog croaks

 

[Highflier]

Not that i disagree at all but i think balance and recruitment was key to the success
from team 11
gulavo was getting on and was considered past it
ballin was only marginally better than frog, much better service but was a defender with hardly any attack or kicking. Heath added balance. Yes the game has changed which makes comparing difficult
tony williams was an enigma at best and a former winger
rodney was coming back from major injury and georgie was often maligned and regularly pasted for his fitness
mauro was depth but still a champion when needed. But all played a role in a team that was very competitive

perry was a reject we got cheap or was he a cap fudging.and a really decent human
hall was the best prospect the game has seen but ended up in newtown after a few clubs
bryant was hardly a household name and seemed to curb his game at manly as he reigned in his offloads
king spent a big chunk of his career being labelled princess on these boards but his latter years he really amped up the aggression. Was a good story

choc, gifty and kite and kingy played rep footy but none of them really cemented spots. Maybe Choc and he had some amazing games though. Beaver played plenty. they had a lot of game awareness and forward leaders

i think manly built a squad of competitors and added class, life orford, bell, lyon and kite in key positions where we are now trying to do the opposite. Build grunt around pricey class. . But the engines doesnt run the same way

getting b stewart and matai from nowhere it seems was pretty handy but matai took time

injury hasnt helped that model and essentially its the storm model but there system and game plan is built around the grunt first .

des is often smashed about his recruitment styles but he is miles ahead of anyone since. We also had players taking unders to be part of something and for the group and then overnight it all changed . It was bitter and ugly

keppie, paseka, bully, were all young signings . Props take a bit but no one is patient

i agree the pack needs to be able to compete , but we have to accept that the salary cap makes everyone choose where to throw the coin.
just my thoughts

I think the key thing is still the 9 and 14 ,in Ballin you had a Croker style 9 D etc ,although Ballins service was I think a lot better, but we had Heath come one and cut up the ruck in the last 20 of each half depending on the game .At the moment we dont have that 14 who can break apart the ruck with well times insertions ,we have zero of that and that is why we are so predictable, flat ,crammed for space and with effectively zero line speed .Watch what the Riff Hookers, along with Brayley, Cook, Grant etc do to the ruck ,thats what we need ,if we had just a bit of that (i'm thinking GT or Mamazoulous or Brayley if you could get him) then I think our fowards start to look a lot better, which give the likes Schu and DCE more room to weave some magic .
IMO its time to give GT a go at 14 and see what happens ,we are a long shot to be playing finals so why delay blooding him.
Go Manly

 

[jbb/james]

I think the key thing is still the 9 and 14 ,in Ballin you had a Croker style 9 D etc ,although Ballins service was I think a lot better, but we had Heath come one and cut up the ruck in the last 20 of each half depending on the game .At the moment we dont have that 14 who can break apart the ruck with well times insertions ,we have zero of that and that is why we are so predictable, flat ,crammed for space and with effectively zero line speed .Watch what the Riff Hookers, along with Brayley, Cook, Grant etc do to the ruck ,thats what we need ,if we had just a bit of that (i'm thinking GT or Mamazoulous or Brayley if you could get him) then I think our fowards start to look a lot better, which give the likes Schu and DCE more room to weave some magic .
IMO its time to give GT a go at 14 and see what happens ,we are a long shot to be playing finals so why delay blooding him.
Go Manly

I agree completely
That old manly team had a grind mentality so when heath came on more games were tight. we were rarely out of any game
I do want the same style as this, but introducing a young livewire at 18 down does raise its own concerns about expectations and outcomes. sometimes when behind, playing out the sets and trying to win the arm wrestle is the way. Occasionly bazball works. just an example scenario

our bench is primarily players not good enough to make the starting 13 as opposed to specialist bench players ,but expecting players that dont make the 13 to alter outcomes when we are behind on the scoreboard and mentally is a tougher. Its ideal when bench players have a role and know it, but injuries and constant changing doesnt add that stability

just my thoughts

im all for blooding gordie and arthur. in fact i would be changing heaps of stuff with 3 rounds to go.

 

[JenEagle]

I think the key thing is still the 9 and 14 ,in Ballin you had a Croker style 9 D etc ,although Ballins service was I think a lot better, but we had Heath come one and cut up the ruck in the last 20 of each half depending on the game .At the moment we dont have that 14 who can break apart the ruck with well times insertions ,we have zero of that and that is why we are so predictable, flat ,crammed for space and with effectively zero line speed .Watch what the Riff Hookers, along with Brayley, Cook, Grant etc do to the ruck ,thats what we need ,if we had just a bit of that (i'm thinking GT or Mamazoulous or Brayley if you could get him) then I think our fowards start to look a lot better, which give the likes Schu and DCE more room to weave some magic .
IMO its time to give GT a go at 14 and see what happens ,we are a long shot to be playing finals so why delay blooding him.
Go Manly

The strange thing about this situation is that all of us fans and everybody in the game has been saying we need another live wire hooker for four years however we refuse to sign one. All we do is convert halves to hookers. That’s what we are doing again with Jamie Humphries.

 

[Wombat64]

Is this a trick question?

He might end up being better than I think he his (hopefully) but NO WAY is he the answer to our problems.

Getting more then 8 to 10 games year from our most expensive player would be a good ****en start. He doesn't play most games and because we ar paying him so much we can't get anyone decent in the forwards or even a proper hooker? FFS ......

When Penn goes that will be a time for optimism until that clown has gone we're stuck in this cycle of mediocrity.

 

[Lyonstomenzies]

Will Tim Sheens accompany Luke Brooks to Manly to really covert us to the Sea Tigers??

 

[Wombat64]

Inth

Will Tim Sheens accompany Luke Brooks to Manly to really covert us to the Sea Tigers??Y

I think Benji will be coming too.

 

[Disco]

Moving forward i see jake as a prop ( too slow at 13 )as do many others
its not going to take much to upseat the frog if a legitimate 9 is purchased or comes through grade
history is not indicitive of the future.. Is the term cemented exclusively about the past, and do you see Jake as out long term 13 moving forward, if we are talking footy.
clarified ?

I mean your phrasing was not referencing the future but lets not get bogged down.

On Jake, well Jake plays the same role whether he has the 13, 10 or 8 on his back. So it becomes less a question on Jake and more a question how we want to team set up and what we have at our disposal.

A common misstep IMO is that there is a prototype lock. Be that the ball playing link man ala Yeo or the nimble speedy, quick play the ball type in Murray. They are great players and would love either in our team but a good percentage of NRL clubs do run 13 as a more traditional middle. Think Carrigan at the Broncos, King at the Storm, Horsborugh at the Raiders so on and so forth.

Even slightly smaller locks like Elliott or Hopgood I'd hardly describe as impressively dynamic.

Now on to us and moving forward with our current squad, I would continue to start Jake in the 13. I think yardage and tight defense early is important and having a Paseka and Lodge or Aloiai start alongside Jake gives us a good platform.

What I would look at moving forward is a bit of a throwback to Walker last year with Schuster coming off the bench in the 13 around the 25min mark with Jake pushing forward to prop.

Now the caveat to this is Schuster needs to get his head screwed on and knuckle down...a big question mark...

But if he can we would have yardage early, schuster comes on and can hopefully catch some napping forwards through the middle with his sleight of hand and Jake stays out there doing what Jake does.

Keeps Jake out there as he is critical to the team and shields Shoe a little in terms of workload.

That would be my blueprint for 2024

 

[Ryan]

You must be kidding re Jake if you think he wouldn't be picked in front of Perry, Hall, Stewart, King. Don't take my word for it just ask the SOO and Australian selectors.

Mate, read it again (in the starting teams).

And there is 0 chance he'd ever be in a team at lock before Gift. EVER.

 

[Disco]

Mate, read it again (in the starting teams).

And there is 0 chance he'd ever be in a team at lock before Gift. EVER.

Tbf though, Gift had the 13 on his back but played more right edge