The Luke Brooks Book Thread.

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Leho

Reserve Grader
Premium Member

Didn’t sit well with me’: Luke Brooks opens up on fallen Tigers deal, Manly move​

After over 10 disappointing years with the club, departing Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has opened up on why he’s finally leaving Concord for the northern beaches at Manly.

Brent Read

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

What can Luke Brooks bring to the Sea Eagles?

Luke Brooks feels good. It has been a few days since the Wests Tigers half confirmed he would join Manly next season, signalling the impending end of his time at his boyhood club, and he has grown more comfortable with his decision by the hour.

Brooks is relishing the chance to play alongside Daly Cherry-Evans and learn off Anthony Seibold. He cannot wait to link with Tom Trbojevic and some of Manly’s young and emerging stars. There is genuine enthusiasm in his voice as he talks about the future.

At the same time, Brooks makes it clear it was a difficult decision given the sense of loyalty and love he feels for the Tigers. A decade ago, when some of the Tigers other stars headed for the exit door, Brooks remained loyal.

His reward was a decade of disappointment. All these years later he is yet to play finals football and as much as he enjoys working with Tigers coaches Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall, there is a nagging sense that he was pushed into a decision by other members of the club who weren’t necessarily on the same page as the coaches.

As excited as Brooks is about the future, he wants to make it clear his focus remains firmly on the present. He hasn’t given up hope of playing finals football this season. After that, a new chapter starts.

“Obviously I feel good,” he said.
“I am excited about it to be honest. It is a good move for me where I am at in my career. The more time that went on after I made the decision not to stay at the Tigers, the longer it went on, it made me feel like it was the right decision.“

THE DECISION

Brooks entered the final year of his contract on November 1 and the Tigers publicly insisted they would wait until the season began before offering an extension.

Brooks was prepared to wait and was told an offer would arrive in the bye week. It eventually did lob the week after but it wasn’t what had initially been communicated.

Brooks was taken aback and days later, a revised deal was tabled. That was early-June and Brooks thought he would have some time to digest the offer.

A few days later, he was told that the board wanted to put a deadline on him. Brooks began to get the feeling that not everyone at the club was singing from the same hymn sheet.

It was a deal breaker.

He was determined not to do the wrong thing by the club — or Sheens and Marshall — so he made the decision to reject the offer, which was revealed in this masthead on June 11.

“It was straight after the Titans game I sat down with Benji (on the Friday) and he said the people on the board have come back to him and said they need an answer by Sunday,” Brooks said.
“I guess that probably didn’t sit too well with me, them putting that deadline on me after only about a week and a half.
“I had a think about it and I guess out of respect to Benji I said I didn’t want it to drag on. I called him Sunday and said I wasn’t going take up the offer so he could move forward and they could plan things for next year.
“The whole time Benji and Sheensy were upfront with me and telling me that they really wanted me to say.
“They have stuck up for me the whole time. I definitely got that feeling that they were definitely trying to get me to stay.
“Just speaking to Benji, he was disappointed I made the decision to leave but he congratulated me and backed me on my decision as well.”

Art: Scott ‘Boo’ Bailey.

Art: Scott ‘Boo’ Bailey.

Asked whether he felt some people in the club were happy for him to go, Brooks said: “I feel like there may have been. With the way it panned out, it seems that way, just with putting the deadline on me to make a decision.
“In the past there have been players they have been in talks with that have dragged on. Then for someone like me who has been loyal to the club, they put a deadline on me which didn’t really sit well with me.
“It was a tough decision to make, especially after everything that has happened. If you take it back three or four weeks before that, I thought that I would be staying.
“It was hard but in the end I think it was the right decision for me and I think I have made the right move not just for me, but for my family.”

THE CLUB
Brooks is as Tigers as they come. He played his junior footy for Holy Cross Rhinos and Leichhardt Wanderers before he signed with the Wests Tigers.
He rose through their junior ranks and made one of the most celebrated debuts in recent history in 2013 at the SCG.
He has gone on to play more than 200 games for the Tigers and won the Dally M halfback of the year in 2018. He has also copped his share of flak over the years but he has come to accept that is par for the course in the NRL.
“Obviously there is going to be times where fans can be disappointed with where we have been over the last few years,” he said.
“Overall they have all been good to me. I have had a lot of bad media and people bagging me. But on the flip side, every time I walk to the shops there is always someone, a Tigers fan, saying they back me and giving me support.
“There are a lot of fans that I have come to know well over the last 10 or so years who have always backed and supported me.
“Even when I made the decision to leave, fans have said they are still going to support me. I would obviously like to thank them.

“They have been good to me over the years. All I ever wanted to do was play for the Tigers. I thought we had a pretty good side but lost a lot of good quality players that it would have been nice to keep. Who knows what we could have created at the Tigers.”
He says he is indebted to Sheens and Marshall for helping him rediscover his love of the game.
“I have been enjoying my footy this year and coming off the back of my 200th game, I thought we were starting to play the way we wanted to,” he said.
“To be honest playing under Sheens and Benji have helped me get my love for the game back and get me playing my best footy.
“So all sorts of things were going through my head. I was enjoying play with the boys as well.
“That’s why I thought I would have stayed. Obviously a few things happened and it changed.”

MANLY MOVE

Before he made the decision to join Manly
, Brooks picked the brain of some of his former teammates. Among them was Aaron Woods, the ex-Tigers front rower who recently joined the Sea Eagles.
“I spoke a bit to Woodsy,” he said.
“I was sort of sussing him out before anyone knew about the club. He was saying he was loving it over there. That made me feel better about my decision as well.”
What also made him feel good about his decision was knowing that he will partner Cherry-Evans in the halves.
It would appear the perfect halves combination. Cherry-Evans can take the reins and steer the ship. Brooks can get back to what he does best - run the football.
“I am looking forward to playing with Cherry-Evans — he is in some of the best form of his life,” Brooks said.

Playing alongside Daly Cherry-Evans has huge appeal for Brooks.

Playing alongside Daly Cherry-Evans has huge appeal for Brooks.

“I am looking forward to playing alongside him. I obviously want to learn off him and how he conducts himself. Playing alongside him — we will suit each other.
“The attraction at Manly is that I will be able to play the way I want to play — running the ball. Obviously playing alongside Cherry-Evans, he will let me play my best footy.
“Turbo out the back... they have lots of strike all over the park — a lot of young, good players. Also to play under (Anthony) Seibold, I have heard a lot of good things about him as well.“

HIS LEGACY
Brooks is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and his only wish is to get back as quickly as he can to help the Tigers through what is left of their season.
He insists the finals are not out of reach and he plans to return within a month to help the club make a late charge at the top eight.
“Firstly, I want to get back, make sure my hammy is right, get back in and finish the season on a high,” he said.
“We still have a chance of making the eight. Hopefully we can string a few wins together and once I am back, we can make a charge to the finals.
“Whatever happens, I just want to finish the year on a high, playing good footy and enjoy the rest of the year, the last part of being a Tiger.
“I want to enjoy it.

“To be fair, even though results haven’t gone our way all this season, the coaches and players have still made it a good environment to be in.”
He concedes it will be strange next season playing against the Tigers, the only club he has known.
“I don’t think it has really hit me,” he said.
“Especially now that I am not playing because I am out injured. It will probably hit me when it is my last game.
“It will be a weird feeling but I guess that is the way it is, there are a lot of players that end up changing teams and I am just going to be another one of them.
“It will be weird. It will be strange. The last few years have been pretty tough with results and all that. It has been a rollercoaster ..… but I have met a lot of good people along the way.
“I don’t know where (the club is going) but I wish them all the best
 

47MVEagle

Bencher
Sounds like a decent, loyal, professional bloke who wanted to be a one club player but the feeling wasn’t mutual so he’s accepted that & looked elsewhere.

There were rumours the Roosters wanted him so well done Manly for getting him.

I’m looking forward to seeing him play in our colours next year & how he fits in with DCE, Schuster & Tom.
 

wombatgc

KT 623
Premium Member
Tipping Member
Do players get payed each time they use the word "obviously "?
Its not just Brooks, listen to anytime a player is interviewed pre/or post game,
wether they are on the Matty Johns show (Blake Laurie two weeks ago…if I was playing a drinking game, I would have been smashed before the first lot of ads).
Also someone needs to gaffer tape Woods before he brings anymore duds over.
 
Do players get payed each time they use the word "obviously "?
Its not just Brooks, listen to anytime a player is interviewed pre/or post game,
wether they are on the Matty Johns show (Blake Laurie two weeks ago…if I was playing a drinking game, I would have been smashed before the first lot of ads).
Also someone needs to gaffer tape Woods before he brings anymore duds over.
You're obviously reading too much into this.
 

The '47ers

Your resident two-headed Queenslander
Do players get payed each time they use the word "obviously "?
Its not just Brooks, listen to anytime a player is interviewed pre/or post game,
wether they are on the Matty Johns show (Blake Laurie two weeks ago…if I was playing a drinking game, I would have been smashed before the first lot of ads).
Also someone needs to gaffer tape Woods before he brings anymore duds over.

"To be honest" is another flogged opener.
Especially when everyone knows there most likely lying!
 

Seagles68

Bencher
Premium Member
Tipping Member

Didn’t sit well with me’: Luke Brooks opens up on fallen Tigers deal, Manly move​

After over 10 disappointing years with the club, departing Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has opened up on why he’s finally leaving Concord for the northern beaches at Manly.

Brent Read

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

What can Luke Brooks bring to the Sea Eagles?

Luke Brooks feels good. It has been a few days since the Wests Tigers half confirmed he would join Manly next season, signalling the impending end of his time at his boyhood club, and he has grown more comfortable with his decision by the hour.

Brooks is relishing the chance to play alongside Daly Cherry-Evans and learn off Anthony Seibold. He cannot wait to link with Tom Trbojevic and some of Manly’s young and emerging stars. There is genuine enthusiasm in his voice as he talks about the future.

At the same time, Brooks makes it clear it was a difficult decision given the sense of loyalty and love he feels for the Tigers. A decade ago, when some of the Tigers other stars headed for the exit door, Brooks remained loyal.

His reward was a decade of disappointment. All these years later he is yet to play finals football and as much as he enjoys working with Tigers coaches Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall, there is a nagging sense that he was pushed into a decision by other members of the club who weren’t necessarily on the same page as the coaches.

As excited as Brooks is about the future, he wants to make it clear his focus remains firmly on the present. He hasn’t given up hope of playing finals football this season. After that, a new chapter starts.

“Obviously I feel good,” he said.
“I am excited about it to be honest. It is a good move for me where I am at in my career. The more time that went on after I made the decision not to stay at the Tigers, the longer it went on, it made me feel like it was the right decision.“

THE DECISION

Brooks entered the final year of his contract on November 1 and the Tigers publicly insisted they would wait until the season began before offering an extension.

Brooks was prepared to wait and was told an offer would arrive in the bye week. It eventually did lob the week after but it wasn’t what had initially been communicated.

Brooks was taken aback and days later, a revised deal was tabled. That was early-June and Brooks thought he would have some time to digest the offer.

A few days later, he was told that the board wanted to put a deadline on him. Brooks began to get the feeling that not everyone at the club was singing from the same hymn sheet.

It was a deal breaker.

He was determined not to do the wrong thing by the club — or Sheens and Marshall — so he made the decision to reject the offer, which was revealed in this masthead on June 11.

“It was straight after the Titans game I sat down with Benji (on the Friday) and he said the people on the board have come back to him and said they need an answer by Sunday,” Brooks said.
“I guess that probably didn’t sit too well with me, them putting that deadline on me after only about a week and a half.
“I had a think about it and I guess out of respect to Benji I said I didn’t want it to drag on. I called him Sunday and said I wasn’t going take up the offer so he could move forward and they could plan things for next year.
“The whole time Benji and Sheensy were upfront with me and telling me that they really wanted me to say.
“They have stuck up for me the whole time. I definitely got that feeling that they were definitely trying to get me to stay.
“Just speaking to Benji, he was disappointed I made the decision to leave but he congratulated me and backed me on my decision as well.”

Art: Scott ‘Boo’ Bailey.

Art: Scott ‘Boo’ Bailey.

Asked whether he felt some people in the club were happy for him to go, Brooks said: “I feel like there may have been. With the way it panned out, it seems that way, just with putting the deadline on me to make a decision.
“In the past there have been players they have been in talks with that have dragged on. Then for someone like me who has been loyal to the club, they put a deadline on me which didn’t really sit well with me.
“It was a tough decision to make, especially after everything that has happened. If you take it back three or four weeks before that, I thought that I would be staying.
“It was hard but in the end I think it was the right decision for me and I think I have made the right move not just for me, but for my family.”

THE CLUB
Brooks is as Tigers as they come. He played his junior footy for Holy Cross Rhinos and Leichhardt Wanderers before he signed with the Wests Tigers.
He rose through their junior ranks and made one of the most celebrated debuts in recent history in 2013 at the SCG.
He has gone on to play more than 200 games for the Tigers and won the Dally M halfback of the year in 2018. He has also copped his share of flak over the years but he has come to accept that is par for the course in the NRL.
“Obviously there is going to be times where fans can be disappointed with where we have been over the last few years,” he said.
“Overall they have all been good to me. I have had a lot of bad media and people bagging me. But on the flip side, every time I walk to the shops there is always someone, a Tigers fan, saying they back me and giving me support.
“There are a lot of fans that I have come to know well over the last 10 or so years who have always backed and supported me.
“Even when I made the decision to leave, fans have said they are still going to support me. I would obviously like to thank them.

“They have been good to me over the years. All I ever wanted to do was play for the Tigers. I thought we had a pretty good side but lost a lot of good quality players that it would have been nice to keep. Who knows what we could have created at the Tigers.”
He says he is indebted to Sheens and Marshall for helping him rediscover his love of the game.
“I have been enjoying my footy this year and coming off the back of my 200th game, I thought we were starting to play the way we wanted to,” he said.
“To be honest playing under Sheens and Benji have helped me get my love for the game back and get me playing my best footy.
“So all sorts of things were going through my head. I was enjoying play with the boys as well.
“That’s why I thought I would have stayed. Obviously a few things happened and it changed.”

MANLY MOVE

Before he made the decision to join Manly
, Brooks picked the brain of some of his former teammates. Among them was Aaron Woods, the ex-Tigers front rower who recently joined the Sea Eagles.
“I spoke a bit to Woodsy,” he said.
“I was sort of sussing him out before anyone knew about the club. He was saying he was loving it over there. That made me feel better about my decision as well.”
What also made him feel good about his decision was knowing that he will partner Cherry-Evans in the halves.
It would appear the perfect halves combination. Cherry-Evans can take the reins and steer the ship. Brooks can get back to what he does best - run the football.
“I am looking forward to playing with Cherry-Evans — he is in some of the best form of his life,” Brooks said.

Playing alongside Daly Cherry-Evans has huge appeal for Brooks.

Playing alongside Daly Cherry-Evans has huge appeal for Brooks.

“I am looking forward to playing alongside him. I obviously want to learn off him and how he conducts himself. Playing alongside him — we will suit each other.
“The attraction at Manly is that I will be able to play the way I want to play — running the ball. Obviously playing alongside Cherry-Evans, he will let me play my best footy.
“Turbo out the back... they have lots of strike all over the park — a lot of young, good players. Also to play under (Anthony) Seibold, I have heard a lot of good things about him as well.“

HIS LEGACY
Brooks is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and his only wish is to get back as quickly as he can to help the Tigers through what is left of their season.
He insists the finals are not out of reach and he plans to return within a month to help the club make a late charge at the top eight.
“Firstly, I want to get back, make sure my hammy is right, get back in and finish the season on a high,” he said.
“We still have a chance of making the eight. Hopefully we can string a few wins together and once I am back, we can make a charge to the finals.
“Whatever happens, I just want to finish the year on a high, playing good footy and enjoy the rest of the year, the last part of being a Tiger.
“I want to enjoy it.

“To be fair, even though results haven’t gone our way all this season, the coaches and players have still made it a good environment to be in.”
He concedes it will be strange next season playing against the Tigers, the only club he has known.
“I don’t think it has really hit me,” he said.
“Especially now that I am not playing because I am out injured. It will probably hit me when it is my last game.
“It will be a weird feeling but I guess that is the way it is, there are a lot of players that end up changing teams and I am just going to be another one of them.
“It will be weird. It will be strange. The last few years have been pretty tough with results and all that. It has been a rollercoaster ..… but I have met a lot of good people along the way.
“I don’t know where (the club is going) but I wish them all the best
Even weirder that his last game will be against Manly at Brooksvale.
 

Disco

First Grader
Premium Member
Does anyone think we could have brought back Cade Cust for half the price that Brooks cost, knowing full well he's been impressive every time he's played for Manly already.
Cust is a way better defender than Brooks as well and can play in the halves and looked sharp as a 9.
People have short memories around here thinking Brooks is the saviour, when we could have spared half the BS and signed Cust, knowing what he brings to the table already and better....and for a cheaper price.
Love Cade as a Manly junior but not convinved he ever becomes a fulltime NRL half.

Solid player but Brooks every day
 

Ryan

Journey Man
Brooks will fit in well over here then. @:rolleyes:

Be glad he wasn't involved in that abomination of a game last night haha. In fact, we KNOW what he can do, I'd be happy for him to sit out the rest of the year and get right for us, now :rofl:
 

Dion Johnson

Bencher
Premium Member
Tipping Member

Why Brooks thanks Tigers fans​

Manly five-eighth Luke Brooks is bound for his first NRL finals campaign in 12 seasons – and thanks the hostile reception he received from Wests Tigers fans a few weeks ago for helping him prepare for the pressure-cooker finals’ environment.

Brooks spent 11 seasons without a September cameo at the Tigers, and was never going to get much love at Leichhardt when he ran out with the Sea Eagles.

The playmaker knew it was never going to be pleasant, but also under-estimated how much he had been thinking about that fixture.

“I thought I was alright all week, as we were driving to the ground I was nervous – probably the most nervous I’ve been for a while – it was a different experience, but it came at the right time for me with some big games coming up,” Brooks said.
 

globaleagle

01100111 01100101
Staff member
Premium Member
Tipping Member

Why Brooks thanks Tigers fans​

Manly five-eighth Luke Brooks is bound for his first NRL finals campaign in 12 seasons – and thanks the hostile reception he received from Wests Tigers fans a few weeks ago for helping him prepare for the pressure-cooker finals’ environment.

Brooks spent 11 seasons without a September cameo at the Tigers, and was never going to get much love at Leichhardt when he ran out with the Sea Eagles.

The playmaker knew it was never going to be pleasant, but also under-estimated how much he had been thinking about that fixture.

“I thought I was alright all week, as we were driving to the ground I was nervous – probably the most nervous I’ve been for a while – it was a different experience, but it came at the right time for me with some big games coming up,” Brooks said.

Kinda different to the NHL, where if a player gets traded, when he returns to play against his old team, that team usually does a tribute to him during a TV time out, the fans clap and cheer, and the player usually tears up.


 
Team P W L PD Pts
24 19 5 243 44
24 17 7 186 40
24 16 8 275 38
24 16 8 222 38
24 15 9 89 36
24 14 10 96 34
24 13 10 113 33
24 12 12 -40 30
24 12 12 -127 30
24 11 13 -1 28
24 11 13 -126 28
24 10 14 -70 26
24 9 14 -62 25
24 8 16 -168 22
24 7 17 -155 20
24 7 17 -188 20
24 6 18 -287 18
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