NRL 2022: Luke Brooks field goal seals Wests Tigers win against South Sydney Rabbitohs

Maligned playmaker Luke Brooks stepped up to steal the show as Wests Tigers notched their second straight one-point win in a thriller against South Sydney.

The Wests Tigers celebrate a try against South Sydney. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The Wests Tigers resurgence and CommBank Stadium good vibes continued on Saturday night in a second straight one-point win finished by the man whose spot in the side was questioned seven days ago.

“It’s Luke Brooks’ time,” said Dan Ginnane in the call on Fox League.

A charge-down field goal attempt with less than two minutes to go from Souths hooker Damien Cook led to accidental off-side giving the Tigers’ a full-set, and unlike last week against the Eels when finished by Jackson Hastings, Luke Brooks slotted the one-pointer for the 23-22 win over South Sydney.

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Rewind six days, Tigers coach Michael Maguire was under pressure, Brooks was maligned and the Tigers were winless and looking down the barrel of six straight defeats to start the season.

And within six days, the favoured cellar dwellers for 2022 have beaten Parramatta and Souths by one, both tipped for top four.

Luke Brooks kicked the match-winning field goal for Wests Tigers. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Brooks’ 70-metre sprint looked to give the Rabbitohs a 10-point gap, but a Keaon Koloamatangi try tied the scores at 22-all.

Yet the mounting error count and injury toll for the Rabbitohs cost the visitors significantly in the end. Souths finished with 16 errors to three, more than the 14 they have averaged all season, and completed just 67%.

The stewardship of Jackson Hastings freed up the now Tigers’ five-eighth Brooks yet again, who played minimal time at dummy-half and did throw in a few errors, but as he did last week in the one-point win over Parramatta looked far more relaxed.

A lovely sleight of hand from fullback Daine Laurie to set up David Nofoaluma for the first try of the evening to make it five in his past five games at the venue and he finished with a double.

In the process, Souths lost centre Taane Milne to the sin bin for a late hit effectively reducing Souths to 15 with Hame Sele concussed minutes earlier, the first of many injuries for Souths that left them with just 14 fit men at one stage.

Luke Brooks is swamped by teammates after his field goal. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Souths ran in two tries while Milne was off the field, but Tigers responded with one of their own to give them the half-time lead while Alex Twal was in the bin.

A pivotal moment was a Campbell Graham break in the first half ultimately diffused by replacement hooker Jacob Liddle cutting down Lachlan Ilias, finishing what looked to be a certain try.

“What an incredible passage that was,” Greg Alexander said on Fox. “That was one of the great chases from Jacob Liddle to mow down Lachlan Ilias a metre out from the line.”

MAGUIRE LAUDS BROOKS, COMPLETIONS

Maguire and Tigers co-captain James Tamou have made special mention of Brooks’ effort to turn it around his half who had been through a “fair bit”.

“He has gone through a fair bit through his career ... special moment,” Maguire said.

Tamou added: “One of those things that’s been building up ... good to see him with a smile on his face, how that has all come out was unreal, see him relaxed.

“Credit to Brooksy (you haven’t seen the pressure show).”

Compared to the Rabbitohs’ errors, the Tigers completed at 95% on Saturday night.

“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been able to win the completions, which every team talks about, (but we did it),” Maguire said.

Tigers hooker Jacob Liddle is upended by the Bunnies’ defence. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

MILNE SET FOR STINT ON SIDELINES

The Milne tackle is sure to catch the attention of the judiciary catching Laurie flush on the chin in the motion of passing for the first four-pointer, described as direct and careless, and may have even been lucky to stay on the field.

“Big time (in trouble), I think he might be a couple of weeks to maybe four,” said Cooper Cronk at the break.

LAURIE’S INJURY BLOW

Laurie survived that hit but an apparent ankle injury left him disabled to stop the Souths break that almost ended in an Ilias try and Souths half-time lead.

However, it was confirmed that the concerns were more around his medial cruciate ligament with Starford To’a shifting to the back, in the second half, and the Tigers’ were not quite the same team on their own line in defence, that helped them upset Parramatta last week.

SELE SICKENING KNOCK

Hame Sele’s first start of the season lasted just eight minutes after a nauseating head knock, to the hip of Tigers prop Zane Musgrove.

A sickening recoil followed, and it was obvious the Rabbitohs prop was long odds to pass his HIA after replacing Tom Burgess in the starting line-up, leaving Souths down to 16 and were soon another man down on-field with the sin-binning of Milne.

The Rabbitohs were stunned by the Tigers. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

His injury was followed by a dislocated shoulder to Jacob Host on the half-time break, then what appeared to be another shoulder injury to front row partner Tevita Tatola, marked his 100th NRL match on Saturday night.

“It’s not ideal ... couple of other bumps and bruises but nothing further,” Souths coach Jason Demetriou said.

MISSING MITCHELL

For the second straight week, the Rabbitohs missed the electricity of Latrell Mitchell, admitted as such by Demetriou, but reality demands better in the medium term.

“Latrell is one of the top five players in our game, he’s an elite level player,” Demetriou said. “In big games or big moments, he wants the ball in his hand and he can do things not many people can do, but he’s not there.

“And that’s the reality and he’s not going to be there for another six weeks, we’ve got to find a way to manage our way through that. For 10 minutes and we’re a man down, we played the best footy of the game … get a man back on and make an error off the kick off.”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Luke Brooks field goal seals Wests Tigers win against South Sydney Rabbitohs