Can Luke Brooks ride his revival all the way to State of Origin football?
THE Tigers revival has belonged to Luke Brooks, the reborn former prodigy who has risen from the ashes. Now PAUL KENT asks the fateful question — can he do the same for NSW?
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KNOW the day belonged to Luke Brooks.
Toward the end of a long Sunday afternoon at Brookvale the Manly crowd was hurt and in silence and Ben Matulino walked to the bench for a breather.
Matulino went into the game without his frontrow partner Russell Packer and some wondered whether the loss was too big a chink in the foundation of the Wests Tigers 4-1 start to the season.
Their props have been tremendous.
“Brooksy’s the man,” Matulino said, sitting down on the bench. “He’s organising everything.”
It was a statement that reeked of admiration.
As simply as that the Second Coming of Luke Brooks was confirmed.
Brooks was picking Manly’s pocket. Rolling the ball in-goal, short passes to men in space.
Running the ball against a hurried defence.
Sooner quicker than later talk will begin about whether Brooks is ready to be chosen for NSW.
Mitch Pearce is the incumbent NSW Origin half and in good touch at Newcastle.
There is a feeling Pearce carries too many Origin scars and that his club form might evaporate if exposed to the ghosts of Origin past.
James Maloney already has the six jersey locked up. The only change will be if coach Brad Fittler picks Maloney at halfback to pick a five-eighth like, say, Luke Keary.
There is still a jockeying for position.
Nathan Cleary was going to be the solution until three weeks ago when he tore his medial. He led the Dally M leaderboard at the time.
So Fittler watches the form of the playmakers and he sees Brooks coming.
The question is will it be too much too soon for Brooks?
His history is familiar to NRL fans.
Talked up from the day of his NRL debut, against St George Illawarra at the SCG in 2013, Brooks was regarded as the solution for a NSW team already several years into the search for a long term halfback.
This is a problem that is five years old. And it was old enough to vote then.
As quickly as he emerged, though, he disappeared.
Pressure can do awful things to us.
Brooks became burdened and he struggled with the pressure
The emergence soon after of Mitch Moses and James Tedesco gave the Tigers a vitality that encouraged fans.
Nothing speaks of hope like young talent and the Tigers were on the way up with this bright new talent. Along with NSW and Australian prop Aaron Woods they became the Big Four, a mimic from Melbourne.
Only they never were and never wanted it.
It all became too much.
Brooks went from being a young rugby league fan with a heart full of backyard footy, who watched the games he wasn’t playing in all weekend, to a kid so burned by his experience he no longer watched the game at all.
He retreated, his mind crying for a break.
He had too much football and not enough light in his life.
Then came Ivan Cleary.
Cleary’s pedigree as a halves coach was in the calm performances of his son, Nathan, and his deeds at Penrith.
Would Cleary be able to do the same with Brooks?
Cleary simplified Brooks’ game.
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“If there’s an opportunity to run and you don’t take it,” Josh Reynolds says of Cleary, “he gets ... he gets pretty cranky.
“Ivan’s not worried about the next play. And Brooksy’s doing it every time.”
It seems so simple.
Benji Marshall was alongside Brooks that day at the SCG and saw a young kid, 18, come in and run the ball at halfback.
Both have lived the ageing veteran’s life since then. Doubt and troubling form.
Marshall left the Tigers and drifted through a short stint in rugby before turning out in St George Illawarra and Brisbane colours before returning to Wests.
Brooks stayed where he was but retreated as his career stalled.
The footy wasn’t so much fun anymore and he struggled to be what he couldn’t be.
Expectation is not the guarantee for glory.
It took Cleary to clear his head.
Not by providing more instruction but by removing it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a better headspace,” Marshall says.
“And I’ve never seen him run the ball as much.”
Brooks no longer questions his game. He was burdened by trying to be all things.
Now, he thinks run first. And he currently leads the Dally Ms
“He talks like I’ve never seen him talk before,” Marshall says.
“He demands where he wants the forwards to be. That’s what halfbacks do.”
The Tigers have simplified their game.
The back three run hard. The halves play footy, not structures.
And, says Marshall, “The forwards play the ball quick and get you on the front foot. It’s a big reason.”
Quick play-the-balls and front foot footy. It is Origin-style footy.
The question that remains is whether Brooks, his fragile psyche now put back together, is ready for that next step.