Luke Brooks’ failure to deliver on his substantial promise has been panned by former greats Peter Sterling and Andrew Johns in the wake of Wests Tigers’ 36-4 drubbing to Canterbury.
Brooks was criticised for his limited involvement as the Tigers suffered yet another disappointing loss at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Once touted as a future NSW No.7, Brooks ran the ball just once and made six tackles, but missed another six, according to Fox Sports Stats.
“He has to give his team more,” Johns, widely considered the greatest halfback in history, said on the Network Nine commentary.
“He has got a lot of raps. There is talk he isn’t behind forwards going forward but he has to get his hands on the ball more … I don’t get it.”
Sterling added: “If you wait in this game for structured play to work for you, you will never create it. I want him pushing up on the shoulder of his forwards.”
Brooks is off-contract at the end of the year and reportedly being chased by several clubs.
However after 54 first grade games, some commentators are beginning to question when he will blossom after showing so much promise in the juniors.
Tigers coach Jason Taylor defended his No.7, saying he was the victim of the side’s lack of go-forward, and pointing to his performance in the side’s round nine win over South Sydney.
“It’s pretty clear to say the Bulldogs dominated the middle of the field in this game for pretty much the 80 minutes and that’s going to make it hard to play on the back of,” Taylor said.
“The opportunities weren’t really there, we created a few but nowhere near enough.”
Meanwhile, Cronulla equalled the biggest winning margin in their history with a 62-0 obliteration of Newcastle which left Knights players in tears on the field.
Anthony Milford put on a five-star display as Brisbane routed Manly 30-6 at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Melbourne emphasised their status as a title threat as they scraped home 15-14 against premiers North Queensland thanks to a Cameron Smith field goal.
Tyrone Peachey bagged a hat-trick as Penrith – who have made a habit of playing out tight scorelines of late – did it comfortably 30-18 against the Warriors.
South Sydney inflicted further heartache on the controversy-plagued Parramatta, snatching a 22-20 win after standout Luke Keary crossed for a late try at Pirtek Stadium.
St George Illawarra stole a 16-12 result over Canberra after Euan Aitken intercepted a wayward Jack Wighton pass after the siren had sounded on the first half of golden point in one of the great NRL finishes of recent memory.
Ken
Guest
I suspect he could make a very canny purchase for another club though. There's nothing particularly in his favour at the Tigers, their forward pack is half-hearted, he lacks an experienced halves partner, there's Farah dominating play from hooker and a coach who (like his immediate predecessors) seems incapable of motivating anyone or even truly taking charge. Yes he has to take some responsibility, he's no rookie and his defence needs improvement, but if you were a club with a decent forward pack and an experienced half to put along side him I think you'd look at him as a real option. Actually while writing this I'm almost convincing myself that he would look good in red & white alongside Widdop. Last year his tries and try assists were near the top of the comp (for a halfback), the Dragons could use that!
Renegade
Roar Guru
Haha!
Birdy
Guest
Brooks , Moses, woods ,Farrah even throw in Taylor . I'm over this season already .the best thing we can hope for is 2018 when all the salary cap issues are over. What we have is a club where the players had control and if they don't now then the influence of the past is still well and truly alive . If I were in charge I would keep Tedesco and get rid of the rest and get the word out now that we are going on a spending spree for '18. End the player gate by getting rid of everyone.
pjm
Roar Rookie
Some blokes can't handle the power and responsibility of leadership.
pete bloor
Guest
"this message was spoken by Renegade on behalf of the Australian Farah Party"
The Barry
Roar Guru
They don't need a magic messiah halfback tree. Should Taylor just keep Brooks around, underperforming saying "it's not my fault, we all thought he'd develop quicker". He could put Moses to halfback and Sironen to 5/8. Rankin is a former 5/8. They've got Littlejohn and Drinkwater in their squad. There's options if Brooks isn't cutting it. Not great options mind you. Otherwise no player would ever get dropped. Tony Williams is on 500k a year and played reggies on the weekend. Whether you agree or not Taylors career is on the line at the moment. My defence wouldn't be "the team was rubbish when I got here and who would take the job anyway"
pete bloor
Guest
Who does he give the job to? Keeping in mind the recent Farah thing, if Taylor were to bench Brooks and his replacement doesn't set the world on fire immediately Taylor is gone right? And given I don't think they have a magical half back tree suddenly unearthing a messiah half back mid season without and salary cap space would be reasonably high on the unprecedented scale.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I actually think Moses has done a far better job developing than Brooks. He's worked on his defence tremendously and really started to fill out physically thanks to a lot of gym sessions. Unfortunately for him he isn't a 6 and is a primary ball handler playing secondary which doesn't give him as much time nor does it give him as many touches as Brooks. But imo he has shown more just about every game this season and most of last season and the Tigers should have him as priority 2 behind Tedesco for retention with Woods 3.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I can almost guarantee that the Storm will not be one of those 'several clubs' chasing his signature next year because first and foremost he is a very poor defender. His attack although brilliant at times isn't consistent either so I'm not sure why you'd be paying him huge money at this stage of his career. Surely after 50 games you'd think you can make a decision on where a players standing is amongst his peers. Also I think its easier to develop a players attacking game then improve his defence as a lot of that is mental and some people just don't have it.
Don
Roar Rookie
Maybe when Matt Ballin is fit to play?
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Yeah, I can totally see Farah organising his backline out the right side for a set-piece, only to run down the left side and grubber through for an unexpectant winger.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Alex, why are you even bothering to make the point at all if that's all you want to say? You said that poor defending hasn't hurt Maloney or Soward. Presumably you are saying this to make a point that poor defense shouldn't hurt Brooks either. I'm saying that the situation is different for Maloney and Soward because a) they aren't as bad at defending as Brooks (despite what you say - just look at the numbers); and b) they make up for poor defense with good attacking play.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Don't worry Baz, give him time to order a few meals and he'll be organising banquets in no time. That's what I keep hearing.
The Barry
Roar Guru
If a player can't tackle when he gets to NRL level there's not too much the coach can do about it. When the edges on both sides of the field are systematically making poor (but entirely coordinated) defensive plays, then that falls directly into the coaches remit. I'm not calling for Taylor's head - I don't care enough to really have an opinion one way or another - but as well as being substandard quality individually they look like a poorly coached team. If Luke Brooks doesn't know a dim sim from a pork bun then Taylor one way or another needs to do something about it. If Brooks has been given the menu and the mobile but still can't provide a decent feed give the job to someone else.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Sorry I didnt explain it properly. I didnt mean it in a "give me the ball so I can create a play for the team to score" kind of way like you want your halfback to do, I meant it in a "give me the ball so I can score myself" kind of way. His short kicking can be good at times, however his decision making can be extremely poor. Too many times have I seen him try to burst over the line from a metre away when behind the ruck on a 4th or 5th tackle when instead he should be feeding his halves the ball. That selfishness hurts the team.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Well, based on that, then he probably would be a good halfback. I mean, someone has to take responsibility, right? I don't know. Just curious, is all.
Kaks
Roar Guru
'what I said was his defence is equally bad if not worse and it’s a statement I stand by even if he makes more tackles" That makes no sense. Maloney's missed tackle/tackles made ratio is a lot less than Brooks.
Kaks
Roar Guru
He would have to play there for us to know. However judging by the fact that he currently tries to do too much on his own, and tries to call the shots at times where other's should, I doubt he will be a raging success.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
I didn't say he wasn't a better player (only a clown would say Brooks is better), so all that stuff about premierships is irrelevant, what I said was his defence is equally bad if not worse and it's a statement I stand by even if he makes more tackles -- even when he doesn't miss the tackle half the time he'll either give away a penalty or get run over for a lightning quick play the ball.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Would it make a difference if he actually was in the halfback position and let someone else go in at dummy half? (serious question)