Luke Brooks looks set to bring his 11-year Wests Tigers career to an end after informing the club he would not commit to a new deal.
Brooks, 28, is off contract this season but has told the Tigers this will be his last year at Concord.
The playmaker has been maligned throughout his time at the club but has put together an encouraging run this season, until suffering a hamstring injury against Gold Coast on Thursday.
The Tigers made a single offer that they deemed to be “market value” only for the halfback, who has yet to play finals football at the club, to knock them back.
“We’re very disappointed, we made an offer but I think it indicates how bona fide and genuine the club was to retain Luke,” Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis told AAP.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
“We made what we believe to be a fair market value offer according to salary cap expectations.
“The offer has been rejected and Luke obviously has decided for his own reasons he wants to explore the market and he’s perfectly entitled to do that.”
Brooks’ decision to reject the Tigers offer could also work into the club’s hands.
The Tigers have been looking to offload players to create room in their salary cap and Brooks’ proposed deal – believed to be worth roughly $500,000 per season – gives them even more spending power.
The joint-venture has been heavily linked with Manly’s Josh Schuster, while the future of Ben Hunt is uncertain at St George Illawarra.
Hagipantelis said if Brooks had a change of heart the Tigers would be willing to get back round the negotiating table.
“The door is not closed, we conveyed an offer and as I say, we believed it to be fair market value and that offer has been rejected,” Hagipentalis said.
“That’s not to say that the door is closed if Luke or his manager came back to the Wests Tigers with an alternative proposal, it would receive all due consideration.”
© AAP
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Outrageous from the Broncos skipper on 'a wooden leg!'
The Wests Tigers threw the ball around like it was a grenade with the final kick sitting up perfectly for Charlie Staines to collect…
It was already going horrendously for Benji Marshall and the Tigers, 22-0 down at the hour mark, when their captain walked off the field.…
Samuela Fainu thought he pulled off a great tackle on Corey Oates, the problem was he was running for a quick restart, instead, he…
Api Koroisau thought he slammed the ball down for a try but on review, the bunker said there was separation and ruled no try.…
Deine Mariner had a shocker dropping the last pass with the line open, but he made up for it moments later with a diving…
