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Luke Brooks has finally made his move away from the Wests Tigers. So, how will it all pan out with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles?
I’m back on Luke Brooks Island!
It’s only a short-term rental at this stage, but as one of the more resilient and optimistic residents throughout his Wests Tigers career before parting ways early into the 2023 NRL season, I’m back with renewed hope. At the very least it’s the move away from the Tigers many have been waiting for and it’s going to be interesting to see how he responds, how he functions in what should be a better team, and how his reputation changes along with it.
It remains to be seen how the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles run out for Round 1 of the 2024 NRL season, but the expectation is for Luke Brooks to be alongside Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves.
The perception of Brooks has rarely aligned with reality. Claims of “the next Andrew Johns” before even making his debut were grossly overoptimistic and, if anything, detrimental to his development given the added pressure. He wasn’t the best at his position when winning Dally M Five-eighth of the Year in 2018. More recently, Brooks is spoken about as though he has no right to be out on a footy field despite offering plenty when put in the right spots at the right time.
He shouldered a lot of the load at the Wests Tigers – too much. When he is able to play a more traditional five-eighth role, stick to one side of the field and look to run and threaten more than organise and orchestrate, he’s a serviceable NRL first grader. Paired with Cherry-Evans and in the new environment people have been demanding for years, there is renewed hope for Brooks in his quest to finally play a finals match over 200 games into his NRL career.
“I copped it a lot over there [at Wests Tigers] but I’m looking forward to laying low here.” – Luke Brooks on arrival at the Sea Eagles
What it could look like with the Sea Eagles
Brooks is still only 28 years old. It changes for every player, but that is roughly the age halves start to hit their prime as the combination of physical ability and footy IQ peak together.
With a narrower focus on his role and the experience he carries into an attack that boasts plenty of talent around him, Brooks can make a positive impact in the right spots.
“He’s best when running the football” is a lazy angle but it applies to Brooks. He’s a strong carrier of the ball and isn’t afraid to tuck the ball under his arm and take the line on.
I particularly liked his work down the short side last season. This phase here is especially encouraging when you consider the similarities to the Sea Eagles’ style of play out of yardage.
Shifting to the edges through a big back-rower (perhaps Josh Schuster?), Brooks doubles up down the short side when he sees Matt Timoko slow to retreat off the legs with a prop at A.
With Jahream Bula pushing up on his inside shoulder in very Tom Trbojevic-like fashion, Brooks is able to skip through the line and into the backfield before drawing the last defender.
Playing in all 16 games in the #7 jersey last season, Brooks was asked to do a lot. He popped up on both sides of the field and often in the role of first receiver. It’s there where a halfback is tasked with engaging the right defender or passing to a player who can. Most effective moments on the edges start with the subtleties through the middle. With Cherry-Evans to play that role in the attack Brooks can instead feature on the second or third layer of a shift. A place he has looked a lot more comfortable.
It’s by no means easy, but the decisions can be made a little more simple. Depending on what happens on the inside determines a lot of what Brooks does when the ball gets to him. Here, he has a big body lined up on a halfback – simple.
With the quick play-the-ball it generates Brooks is again able to double up down the short side and put in a nice enough kick to pin the opposition deep in their own end.
He’s made it look simple here and if that is the level of influence asked of him with the Sea Eagles, we can expect to see a much more consistent Brooks in 2024.
Brooks has had his struggles, obviously. Even when he’s playing well, his ability to take a game by the neck when his team needs it has lacked. Still, he’s always had the tools to remain in the NRL. It’s now up to Anthony Seibold and the Sea Eagles to build on those.
He’s signed with the Sea Eagles through to the end of the 2027 NRL season. They must have a vision of him as a long-term option in the halves with the added benefit of playing alongside Cherry-Evans to start. While there will be a lot of scrutiny early, I’d imagine he will be given plenty of time to find his feet.
Brooks and the Sea Eagles will be one of the more interesting early-season stories when the season kicks off in Las Vegas on March 3.