Luke Brooks #167

Feline Carrier said:
One thing I forgot to add is the blowtorches will come out if DCE and Turbo both cop some time on the sideline. If Manly are relying on him to take the reins they will be in for some vintage WT era Brooks.
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If Turbo goes down Manly come back to the field sharply. Pre and likely post Brooks.
 
BAGNF05 said:
If Turbo goes down Manly come back to the field sharply. Pre and likely post Brooks.
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Manly always struggle without him. They will be worse off again without DCE. If they rely on Brooks to lead they will be a WT in maroon and white.
 
Feline Carrier said:
Manly always struggle without him. They will be worse off again without DCE. If they rely on Brooks to lead they will be a WT in maroon and white.
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Most NRL sides with the exception of maybe Penrith and Melbourne drop away quickly if their main man goes down. Take Reynolds or Walsh out of Brisbane and they’re struggling to make the eight. It’s the nature of the NRL. Turbo has shown he’s near to the NRL’s MVP in his absences.
 
BAGNF05 said:
They hung Brooksy out to dry the minute his two mates left and we replaced them with journeymen and nuffies (on marquee money) for 7 years.
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Brooks was always backed by everyone at the club - no coach has ever not selected him or talked highly of him. It was a portion of the fan base that turned on him which is typical of all fan bases when a team is losing. It's no surprise he got sick of losing we all have.
 
Telltails said:
Brooks was always backed by everyone at the club - no coach has ever not selected him or talked highly of him. It was a portion of the fan base that turned on him which is typical of all fan bases when a team is losing. It's no surprise he got sick of losing we all have.
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They kept picking him, sure.

But he was on a hiding to nothing “leading” the poorest NRL roster around each week.

Don’t forget they also chased 14-15 superstars/halves to play alongside him after Teddy and co left and failed miserably every single time.
 
BAGNF05 said:
They kept picking him, sure.

But he was on a hiding to nothing “leading” the poorest NRL roster around each week.

Don’t forget they also chased 14-15 superstars/halves to play alongside him after Teddy and co left and failed miserably every single time.
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We are all frustrated by players not wanting to come here and the system that does little to share talent. Just saying the negativity toward Brooks has always been fan based not club/ coach / player based.
 
Telltails said:
We are all frustrated by players not wanting to come here and the system that does little to share talent. Just saying the negativity toward Brooks has always been fan based not club/ coach / player based.
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My point is that the best way the club could have backed Brooksy was kept the big three together, or replaced them adequately. Instead they offered him ludicrous money and bumbled recruitment from year to year to year. I’m just glad he’ll get a few years to show his true worth.
 
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BAGNF05 said:
My point is that the best way the club could have backed Brooksy was kept the big three together, or replaced them adequately. Instead they offered him ludicrous money and bumbled recruitment from year to year to year. I’m just glad he’ll get a few years to show his true worth.
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I don’t understand how anyone can get sucked in by a media beat up of Brooks exaggerated contract? It was approximately $50k per season more than his current deal with Manly wasn’t it?
 
twentyforty said:
I don’t understand how anyone can get sucked in by a media beat up of Brooks exaggerated contract? It was approximately $50k per season more than his current deal with Manly wasn’t it?
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Well we were that shit if it wasn’t going to him, god knows who was getting all our cap.
 
twentyforty said:
When Madge started he had $3m sitting in the grandstand. WEL at least got half of the game.
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Madge, Like Brooks, was a victim of the recruitment and retention decisions by the club powerbrokers around the time Ivan arrived ( then buggered off).
 
BAGNF05 said:
Madge, Like Brooks, was a victim of the recruitment and retention decisions by the club powerbrokers around the time Ivan arrived ( then buggered off).
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You know I really think our squad is capable of being competitive against most teams. We have a similar problem to Souths, shortage of esprit de corps. With the owners out of operational matters it should be a much easier task for our CEO and Coach to get us on the front foot.
I hope Benji doesn’t fall into the trap of trying to look busy by making changes so that he appears to be doing something positive. That’s exactly the behaviour which got us into this mess.
Interestingly Souths recruited only 2 new players for 24.
who would want to be a coach?
 
twentyforty said:
You know I really think our squad is capable of being competitive against most teams. We have a similar problem to Souths, shortage of esprit de corps. With the owners out of operational matters it should be a much easier task for our CEO and Coach to get us on the front foot.
I hope Benji doesn’t fall into the trap of trying to look busy by making changes so that he appears to be doing something positive. That’s exactly the behaviour which got us into this mess.
Interestingly Souths recruited only 2 new players for 24.
who would want to be a coach?
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We aren’t far away. We’re young, and the holes we have are very obvious to most. 2025-6 there’s room for hope.
 
twentyforty said:
You know I really think our squad is capable of being competitive against most teams. We have a similar problem to Souths, shortage of esprit de corps. With the owners out of operational matters it should be a much easier task for our CEO and Coach to get us on the front foot.
I hope Benji doesn’t fall into the trap of trying to look busy by making changes so that he appears to be doing something positive. That’s exactly the behaviour which got us into this mess.
Interestingly Souths recruited only 2 new players for 24.
who would want to be a coach?
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I don't think Barry or Shane are inserting themselves into football recruitment/coaching/selection matters outside of their remit...

That is the key structural change that allows Benji to flourish or fail - as it should be!
 
Telltails said:
We are all frustrated by players not wanting to come here and the system that does little to share talent. Just saying the negativity toward Brooks has always been fan based not club/ coach / player based.
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Brooks wasn’t very happy that time he had to front a media story about being dropped for the upcoming weekend game. Journos don’t make up this sort of stuff.
Why are we now fueling a Benji vs Fulton media loose arm scrum?
 
If Brooks continues to impress, I wonder if Luai starts shifting bricks. Probably not, but a successful season for Brooks and a poor season for us would prove once and for all its the club, not the player. And is Luai really a halfback? Are we going to spend another half a dozen years trying to turn a 6 into a 7? Given our years and years of failure, it would be foolish to brush off these possibilities.
 
GNR4LIFE said:
If Brooks continues to impress, I wonder if Luai starts shifting bricks. Probably not, but a successful season for Brooks and a poor season for us would prove once and for all its the club, not the player. And is Luai really a halfback? Are we going to spend another half a dozen years trying to turn a 6 into a 7? Given our years and years of failure, it would be foolish to brush off these possibilities.
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Half a dozen years is still less than 10
I would bet his financial advisor can’t wait for him to move
 
GNR4LIFE said:
If Brooks continues to impress, I wonder if Luai starts shifting bricks. Probably not, but a successful season for Brooks and a poor season for us would prove once and for all its the club, not the player. And is Luai really a halfback? Are we going to spend another half a dozen years trying to turn a 6 into a 7? Given our years and years of failure, it would be foolish to brush off these possibilities.
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The 6 / 7 stuff these days is Hogwash....
Most do a similar job on different sides of the field.
Benji never played with a dominant 7 past 2006 and we did OK (Sometimes)
Guys like Maloney, Keary, Hughes, Johnson - all more of a 6 Type dominant Runner who can kick....

There's very few old school on field Generals left to be fair...
Reynolds, Townsend (Even though he's puss), Hunt yo could argue...
Cleary Obviously
People will say Moses, But most of the Orders at Parra come from Gutho...
Similar at Manly....

Interesting to hear Gus comment from Beaver Menzies how Brooks has been
Vocal and helping with the organisation at Manly... (Who'd have thought)

I think a half is a half these days, They play the right way - In the right team...
They'll get he job done.

Just evolution I guess, A Bit like AFL.... In the old days,
There was a couple onballers - Now it seems everyone is an onballer.
 
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Its good to see Brooks playing well, but it is an excellent team.
Not the same pressure on him (yet), hes not the big name that squad, hes not a local junior, and he doesn't have to try too hard with that backline.
He is making manly less hateable at the moment, which is disappointing.
 
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