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The Wests Tigers have been extraordinarily patient with Luke Brooks but after the first few rounds of his final season under contract, they can ignore the overwhelming evidence that he’s not the answer to their problems at halfback or try something different.
He is a talented player who has shown he can play a role when a strong team is around him but he’s never been able to consistently stamp his authority on matches like the elite playmakers do.
It’s not his fault that the club overpaid for his services, shelling out representative quality money for a player who, apart from a Dally M Halfback of the Year effort in 2018, has never been close to an Origin jersey.
The facts of the matter are that the Tigers have not won a match with Brooks as their starting halfback since they beat North Queensland in Round 21 of the 2021 season.
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In the final three matches of that season, the 10 times he played halfback last year and the first few weeks of 2023, the Tigers have tasted defeat on all 16 occasions when he’s started in the No.7 jersey.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Before his mid-season sacking last year, Michael Maguire switched Brooks to five-eighth with Jackson Hastings at half but after back-to-back one-point wins over Parra and Souths, they lost another eight on the trot as interim coach Brett Kimmorley took over. Brooks was reinstated at half late in the season before a calf injury ended his campaign five weeks early.
A similar scenario played out in 2020 when Brooks was dumped to the interchange mid-season before regaining a starting spot as a five-eighth and then finishing the season back in the No.7 jersey.
Wests Tigers love to embrace their traditions from their two foundation clubs – this is one they can go without.
This year’s new old coach Tim Sheens shook up his spine early in the second half against Canterbury with Wests down 20-6 and after conceding a try to Matt Burton soon after, the changes worked with the Tigers scoring three unanswered tries to nearly steal an unlikely victory.
Brooks and new halves partner Brandon Wakeham had a hand in all three late tries as Adam Doueihi switched to fullback, Charlie Staines went to the wing and David Nofoaluma rode the pine.
For the trip to Melbourne on Friday night, Sheens has kept Brooks at halfback but elevated Wakeham to start at five-eighth with Doueihi at the back and Staines on the wing. Regular fullback Daine Laurie was selected as the bench utilty as he looks to make a comeback from a knee injury.
Why not give Brooks a shot at fullback?
He’s got the speed and skills to chime into the backline when needed and removing the burden of being the team’s main playmaker could bring out the best in him.
His lack of height could be a problem but there are several fullbacks in the NRL who will never be confused for basketballers like Dylan Edwards, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Will Kennedy, who don’t get monstered at the back.
Api Koroisau has the hooker’s spot locked up, they’ve tried Brooks as a bench utility in the past and he’s chewing up way too much salary cap for that to be a viable option.
The likes of Immortal halfback Andrew Johns have been saying for the past couple of years that Brooks needs a change of scenery and a positional switch could be just the tonic.
He nearly changed clubs over the past two off-seasons when the Tigers and Knights tried to engineer a deal but couldn’t agree on the dollar figure that Newcastle would pay to take on the remainder of his multimillion-dollar tab.
Any hope of that ever happening was shelved last summer when Hastings was considered surplus to requirements and ended up being the catalyst for the swap with prop David Klemmer.
Brooks frequently appears to be unsure of himself on the footy field. A chief playmaker has to be confident, never second-guessing their tactics, even if their methods ultimately fail.
Stats only tell part of the story for a player like Brooks, who was part of a team which collected the wooden spoon, but last year he ranked 14th among halfbacks for try assists (14), 16th for total try contributions (19) and 10th for line break assists 15) among regular halfbacks and made just three line breaks of his own.
He’s at least come up with a line break in each of the Tigers’ first three games of this campaign but the fact that the team has had a relatively soft draw (Gold Coast and a heavily depleted and ultimately 12-man Newcastle line-up at home, as well as Canterbury at Belmore) yet still failed to chalk up a win means they have “earned” their position as the early-season favourites to finish last.
Luke Brooks. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
The Tigers are still holding out hope of prying Mitchell Moses away from Parramatta to finish his career back at the club where he spent his first 67 games in the NRL before his mid-season exit in 2017.
Which means the writing is on the wall for Brooks – the club is highly unlikely to re-sign him next year if they jag Moses’ signature and only slightly more likely if they don’t.
A switch to the Super League looms as the best option for Brooks. If Brodie Croft can be shown the door by Melbourne and Brisbane, then win the Man of Steel award and ink an eight-year contract with Salford, that example should be appealing to Brooks.
He’s still only 28 despite making his NRL debut a decade ago in a memorable debut performance at the SCG in an upset win over St George Illawarra.
In an era when a lot of fullbacks switch to the halves – some successfully, others less so – the Tigers should send Brooks the other way.
The status quo clearly isn’t working so it’s time to try something radical – their record can’t get any worse.