Luke Brooks signs with Manly Sea Eagles

Star Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks has finally put pen to paper on a massive deal at a new club, ending months of speculation on his future.

Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers runs the ball during the round 14 NRL match between Wests Tigers and Canberra Raiders at Campbelltown Stadium on June 02, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Wests Tigers star Luke Brooks has put pen to paper on a massive new contract, ending months of speculation over the maligned halfback.

The Manly Sea Eagles announced Brooks has signed a four-year deal worth around $2.8 million.

Manly also confirmed the signings of Tommy Talau, Jaxson Paulo and Tolu Koula in a $6 million signing spree.

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Brooks has been a lifetime player with the Tigers, having been at the club since he was 17.

He recently rejected a two-year extension worth over a reported $1 million with the Concord-based club, informing the club he would prefer to go on the open market at the end of 2023.

In 2014 he was named the Dally M Rookie of the Year, and he has gone on to play over 200 games for the merger club and score 43 tries, holding the NRL record for most games played without a finals appearance.

Brooks heads to Manly on a monster new deal that would make him . (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Brooks has been the focus of a tired fanbase’s ire for many years, but has been in career-best form in recent weeks, which alongside a realisation his career is going nowhere at the Tigers, prompted the Balmain junior to look elsewhere.

Brooks’ new deal would see him tumble down the NRL rich list, with News Corp recently revealing the top 100 paid players in the league.

Currently fifth in the competition with his lucrative $1.15 million salary, Brooks is set to earn around $670,000 a year under the terms of his reported new three-year deal.

The Tigers are set to see a complete squad overhaul at the end of the season, with Daine Laurie, Shawn Blore, Jake Simpkin and David Nofoaluma all off-contract by season’s end.

It comes after the Wests Tigers missed out on Parramatta star Mitchell Moses earlier in the year, with the Tigers junior opting to stay at the Eels despite a monster contract offer from his former club.

Earlier in the year, club coach Tim Sheens insisted that Brooks would be returning in 2024, telling News Corp that he and assistant Benji Marshall wanted Brooks’ services long-term.

“Obviously everyone would prefer for it to be at less money,” Sheens said.

“But we can sit down and negotiate with him and extend his contract out.

“On the record, he is contracted. Point blank.

“He is contracted to us next year. And I expect him to turn up for pre-season training.

“But I am not indicating (he is leaving) and I have told you, I mean it, I like the kid and I want him in the side.

“Benji loves him and wants him in the side. But we can’t say any more than that.”

Fainu is one of the brightest prospects in rugby league. (Pictures by Julian Andrews).

It comes amid rabid contract speculation at Wests Tigers, with the club getting on the front foot this week to address rumours around future head coach Benji Marshall - amid a reported falling out with the club’s new head of recruitment Scott Fulton.

“I just got off the phone with Justin (Pascoe, club CEO) – we have heard all this today – and he spoke to Benji. It is just ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” said club chairman Lee Hagipantelis.

“There is no suggestion whatsoever that Benji or Scott (Fulton) are going anywhere.”

Meanwhile, on the Northern Beaches, Manly’s journey to contend for another premiership has been paved by the loss of big-money teenage prodigy Latu Fainu to the Tigers, which may also see older brother Samuela leave the club as well.

It comes as part of a swap deal that will see Manly centre Tommy Talau head to Concord immediately, with both players rested from the lower grades this week as a result of the impending swap.

Josh Schuster is staying at the Sea Eagles on a big-money deal.

Fainu’s signature is a boon for the Tigers, with the precocious five-eighth’s signing allowing head coach Benji Marshall to draw a line through any plans to sign Manly five-eighth Josh Schuster.

Schuster is reported to have been offered a three-year deal worth $2.4 million to stay at Brookvale, with News Corp’s David Riccio saying Marshall is adamant he doesn’t want the maligned playmaker at the Tigers.

“There would be an attempt to bring Schuster over,” Riccio said on SEN.

“Benji has hit that on the head and indicated that he doesn’t want Schuster moving forward.

“It comes back to Scott Fulton being appointed without any involvement from the coaches.

“That’s where these rumours began.”

Fulton, the Tigers’ new head of recruitment, was brought over from the Sea Eagles and has an existing relationship with Schuster, having signed him to Manly as a junior.