NRL transfer news: Luke Brooks rejects Wests Tigers, will leave club after 2023 season

For so long the whipping boy at the Wests Tigers, maligned halfback Luke Brooks left the club shell-shocked after negotiations on a new deal took a dramatic twist.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 10: Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers looks dejected during the round six NRL match between Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels at Accor Stadium on April 10, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Wests Tigers star Luke Brooks has dropped a bombshell on the club after informing them of his plans to leave at the end of the season.

Brooks had a two-year extension on the table from the club but it is understood he informed Tigers assistant coach Benji Marshall on Sunday morning that he would not be taking up the deal.

It means Brooks will head to the open market, where he is expected to attract offers from the NRL and Super League.

“Disappointed,” Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis said.

“The fact that we made an offer indicated that the club’s intention was to retain Luke. Our desire was to retain him.

“It would have been very nice to have seen him play out his career at the Wests Tigers. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

“He is a seasoned professional, he has been with the club for quite some time, we made an offer which we believed to be a fair market offer, a genuine offer.

“The offer wasn’t acceptable which is fair enough. He is perfectly entitled to make that decision to go out and test the market.”

Luke Brooks has rejected the Wests Tigers push for an extension. Picture: Getty

The 28-year-old Brooks has been a constant at the Tigers since making his debut as an 18-year-old, playing more than 200 games for the club and winning the Dally M halfback of the year award in 2018.

In recent years he has become a lightning rod for criticism as the Tigers have struggled.

Brooks has more often than not been the whipping boy at the club but he has responded in recent weeks by producing some of the best form of his career, prompting coach Tim Sheens and Marshall to push the club to table an extension for the next two seasons.

However, it is understood the club was pushing Brooks for a response and he has opted to seek greener pastures after more than a decade at his boyhood club.

News Corp recently revealed that Brooks had been offered a new two-year deal believed to be worth upwards of $1 million to stay at the Tigers.

Brooks told assistant coach Benji Marshall of his intentions on Sunday morning. Picture: AAP

It is understood the offer was late to the table and then members of the club’s board put a deadline on Brooks, prompting him to make a call on Sunday morning to Marshall.

It is understood Brooks thanked Marshall for what he had done for him and their relationship remains strong.

It came as the club was in the midst of a cleanout, with Daine Laurie, Shawn Blore, Jake Simpkin and David Nofoaluma are all free to leave at the end of the season, if not earlier.

Luke Brooks is hitting the open market after a tumultuous career at the Wests Tigers. Picture: Getty

Brooks is believed to have an offer on the table from England but news of his plans to leave the Tigers will thrust him on the NRL open market at a time when halves are in short supply.

Hagipantelis said the door wasn’t necessarily shut should Brooks or his management come back to the table.

“Never say never,” he said.

“At the moment the negotiations have ended but that doesn’t necessarily mean the door is shut.

“If Luke or his manager came back to is with a proposal - any proposal - it would receive proper consideration.”

As it stands, the Tigers are among the clubs who are desperately short of halves heading into next year - Brandon Wakeham is off contract at the end of the year and Adam Doueihi is recovering from knee surgery.

The Tigers had originally planned to make a decision on Brooks after six rounds but the timeline was extended as they waited for some clarity around their salary cap and their pursuit of other halves targets.

The club threw the bank at Mitchell Moses but he elected to stay at Parramatta, rejecting a mega-deal from his former club to stay loyal to the Eels. The Tigers also had a look at Shaun Johnson but he turned them down.

Coach Tim Sheens, and assistant Benji Marshall, had pushed hard to retain Brooks. Picture: Getty

Having missed their priority targets, they turned their attention back to the in-form Brooks, one of the club’s most loyal players. His decision to leave will add fuel to suggestions of a divide at the club given Sheens and Marshall had worked so hard to keep him.

There were whispers come members of the board as well as new recruitment boss Scott Fulton weren’t on the same page as the key coaches.

Asked about the club’s lack of halves heading into next season, Hagipantelis said: “That is the challenge now for Scotty Fulton - he has been employed for that reason as head recruiter.

“His obligation now is to go into the market and continue to finetune this roster.”

Brooks’ decision to turn down their offer comes amid rumours that the Tigers are in the market for Manly forward Josh Schuster.

The Sea Eagles on Sunday revealed they had tabled a $2.5 million extension to Schuster which would keep him at the club until the end of 2027.

The Sea Eagles want to tie him down before he can formally sign with rival clubs come November 1.