Luke Brooks - the plate is hot

[Daddycool]

The Sharks won a premiership with Townsend
He is not the greatest

And the Roosters with Pearce. Having a superstar number seven isn’t an absolute must to win a grand final, but it certainly helps.

 

[BOZO]

The madness is the logic that Brooks somehow is the guy to fill DCE's shoes, when he was never brought over for that reason in the first place. He was brought in to at least give us a chance to win a premiership for as long as DCE was still around...now that plan has gone pear shaped.

IMO ...
I do not see any good reason we invest 650k in a half that failed to play in any finals games at the tigers . He never produced the pressure finals pedigree and you cant win premierships with these type of players .
We all have our favourites just as all coaches do
Brooks is a Seibold favorite and now he has to get him playing up to standard so he can justify his long term singing .

 

[frank stokes]

Last night was the kind of football I thought we would get from Brooks but have not seen often enough imo…

He was engaging the line, delivering succinct passes and his kicking was the perfect back up to Chez…
But it was those fast, darting little runs that excited me…

Brooks’ real asset at the Tigpies was his ability to identify a slow marker or defender and then get through the line with his speed… we have not really seen it but he was really good last night so hopefully our forwards can win the contest more often and let him shine…

 

[XV-1]

Every time the pressure is on, Brooks fails to deliver.

 

[Super Coach Eagle]

There is a reason brooksy never played a finals game in 10 years at the Tigers.

 

[Under the Sticks]

Every time the pressure is on, Brooks fails to deliver.

I’ll never forget that Souths game last year when he led the team. He has showed zero leadership that night and ever since.

 

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

Worse signing in years.

 

[Wombat64]

Worse signing in years.

Nate Myles says hold my beer .....

 

[349]

Brookes plays his role and defends well, if he was injured I would be tempted to try Kolua for a week or two as an experiment, Kolua is not a kicker that I know of but would play straight and his speed would be on show.

 

[Arko-admirer]

Every time the pressure is on, Brooks fails to deliver.

I knew he would miss the FG. Has he ever delivered a clutch play?

 

[ando]

Brookes plays his role and defends well, if he was injured I would be tempted to try Kolua for a week or two as an experiment, Kolua is not a kicker that I know of but would play straight and his speed would be on show.

Brooks is not a kicker either….

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Brooks and DCE got outplayed last night by the Newcastle Halves who have struggled for creativity.

 

[JakeyB789]

Brooks is a victim of DCE's poor game management, just like the 20+ other 5/8's we've used over the last 10 years (barring Foz and Blake Green who just took up that role themselves). How many times this year have we seen DCE jump into dummy half on the last and force Brooks into taking the kick. Then you have the so called greatest field goal kicker of all time passing up two opportunities to take an attempt. You can say they weren't in great positions but when that's meant to be his strong suit, why not have a crack instead of bombing it or handing it to Brooks who everyone knows doesn't have that in him.

With that said Brooks isn't the answer either. Could've kept any of the young halves we've let go in recent years for a fraction of the price and we'd be no better or worse IMO. At least then we'd have space to improve the other obvious holes in our side.

 

[Phobia]

Brooks is a victim of DCE's poor game management, just like the 20+ other 5/8's we've used over the last 10 years (barring Foz and Blake Green who just took up that role themselves). How many times this year have we seen DCE jump into dummy half on the last and force Brooks into taking the kick. Then you have the so called greatest field goal kicker of all time passing up two opportunities to take an attempt. You can say they weren't in great positions but when that's meant to be his strong suit, why not have a crack instead of bombing it or handing it to Brooks who everyone knows doesn't have that in him.

With that said Brooks isn't the answer either. Could've kept any of the young halves we've let go in recent years for a fraction of the price and we'd be no better or worse IMO. At least then we'd have space to improve the other obvious holes in our side.

I honestly believe that Humphreys would've been a better partner for DCE over the past 18 months. He's actually a game manager in the Foz/Green mould. That's what DCE started with, and will always need. Hence, I don't think the Roosters will make the finals with DCE/Walker. DCE/Savala will be a great combination, if that occurs at some point.

When DCE actually WANTS to game manage, Brooks has shone. E.g. Brooks had a streak of great form after Origin last year, because DCE was just steering the team around due to an injury. That was our peak form in the Seibold era, and since 2021. We were beating in-form sides. When DCE got over his injury, we immediately lost from a 16-0 lead against the Tigers...

DCE needs to learn that he doesn't have to be the centre of attack, we have weapons everywhere. I don't believe Seibold has the stature to tell him what to do, and/or DCE doesn't listen to him. I don't blame Seibold for this situation however, because DCE is our most capped player. He should've learnt this 10 years ago.

DCE has been a statistically great player for a long time, and has been able to create points on a dime. However, a halfback's role goes beyond just attack, and that's what the stats don't measure. DCE has always been terrible at defending leads.

 

[R3]

I wouldn’t be surprised if either Joey Walsh or Onitoni Large take Brooks place next year

I'm counting on it!

 

[Scorpio]

I knew he would miss the FG. Has he ever delivered a clutch play?

Nathan Brown had a very slow play-the-ball which put DCE under a lot of pressure, so DCE had to pass to Brooks who had to kick it immediately... from 40 metres out.

I'm not sure that DCE has ever kicked a field goal from 40+ metres out so given the circumstances it's a bit harsh to criticise Brooks for missing that one. If it was a quicker play the ball or if the ball went straight to Brooks it may have been a different story.

 

[BOZO]

Brooks’ real asset at the Tigpies

The reality is that Brooks is not a pressure player
The Tigers have never played finals with brooks and he was moved as a Bargain buy to us
This is a Seibold endorsed signing and a Seibold approved Low pressure player

Brooks Quote
“One of the big reasons why I came was that Seibs [coach Anthony Seibold] spoke to me about taking a step back,” Brooks said as he fronted the media for the first time in Manly colours on Friday.
“I copped it a lot over there [at the Tigers] but I’m looking forward to laying low here.
“A lot of the pressure is off me and I can just focus on footy.