Luke Brooks looks reborn under Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary and is finally delivering on his ability
Having dealt with a lot of young playmakers, one thing I know is that we expect too much of them. Luke Brooks has experienced the weight of that. But this season, he looks like a completely different footballer, writes MATTHEW JOHNS.
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LUKE Brooks looks a completely different footballer this season.
Brooks’ transformation, along with the team’s sudden defensive application have been the biggest eye catchers in the Tigers under Ivan Cleary.
Mind you, this type of football has always been in Luke Brooks.
I clearly remember his first grade debut in 2013. Brooks played with a rare confidence for someone so young. He terrorised the Dragons with his running game and fearlessness, picking up the Man of the Match award.
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The following year, he became a regular first grader and was good enough to be selected Dally M Rookie of the Year.
And then he started 2015 with an appearance in the All-Stars game.
What next, Origin?
No! What came next was expectation. The toughest load for a young talent to carry and the trickiest thing for any athlete to deal with.
Having dealt with a lot of young playmakers in the last 10-15 years, one thing I’m certain of is that we expect too much of them.
Too often young playmakers I’ve worked with feel they have to be everything. A great organiser, a great runner, they feel they have to have the ability to run into the face of the defence and be able to throw the magic pass every time. They look for the perfect play.
They pressure themselves.
It’s a by-product of over coaching. Some of these playmakers, from an early age, are identified and exposed to supposed “elite coaching”. What they are mostly exposed to is over coaching. Junior coaches with ambition, who coach to win, rather than coach to develop.
The worst thing a young playmaker can hope to be is perfect, it suffocates them.
My Golden Rule, “Don’t try to perfect and don’t try to be everything. Just be very good at what you’re good at”.
In the years when Luke Brooks looked set to take his game to the elite level, the enjoyment appeared to evaporate and the expectation seemed to consume him.
There were flashes of class, a game here and there which reminded all of what he was capable of, but only flashes.
Luke would too often drop out of games. When the match was there for the taking, Brooks seemed reluctant to grab it and make it his.
Every athlete fears failure. For some it’s that fear which elevates them, for others it crushes them.
I wasn’t sure what 2018 would hold for Luke Brooks. Without the likes of James Tedesco and Mitchell Moses, Brooks could no longer afford to remain passive.
He hasn’t.
Ivan Cleary talks like every word costs money. Whatever he’s said to Luke Brooks is money well spent.
You see, the change is Brooks’ football is more than just good old fashioned hard work.
There’s a shift in mindset.
For Brooks the fearlessness has returned, I sense in him less desire to be perfect.
In the opening three rounds he’s wanted the ball with the game in the balance.
In the Golden Point loss to Brisbane, he was far and away the most creative player on the field.
Russell Packer and Ben Matulino have been an enormous help for the No.7. The Kiwi props are developing into the games best yardage partnership. They give Luke Brooks guaranteed time and space.
Likewise Benji Marshall’s experience and guidance is priceless, both on and off the field.
Marshall knows a thing or two about dealing with expectation. But the major change in Luke Brooks has come from within.
I hope he maintains the discipline to reject the pursuit of perfection.
Originally published as Luke Brooks looks reborn under Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary and is finally delivering on his ability
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