Luke Brooks remembers a lot about the day he made his NRL debut.
It was a Saturday afternoon and the Wests Tigers were up against St George Illawarra at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the same hallowed turf on which his grandfather, Clive Johnston, played first-class cricket for NSW.
He recalls running out with his some of his idols, including Benji Marshall and Lote Tuqiri. He also remembers scoring a try and setting up a couple during the Tigers’ 34-18 triumph.
Fans will remember Brooks having outrageously cool hair.
“At that age, you’re just happy to play first grade,” Brooks said. “And being in successful teams when I was younger, you think playing finals football will just happen.”
On Sunday, 4040 days since that memorable debut, Brooks will at long last get his first taste of finals football, when Manly play against Canterbury at Accor Stadium.
The last laugh: Luke Brooks is finally playing in an NRL finals game.Credit: Steven Siewert/SMH
No player in the modern era has had to wait so long.
On more than one occasion, Brooks, 29, feared it would ever happen.
“I remember sitting in the pub watching the finals and thinking to myself, ‘I wish I was playing’,” Brooks told this masthead.
“Watching [good friends] ‘Teddy’ [James Tedesco] and Mitch [Moses] go on to play finals football definitely motivated me more to try and do the same thing.
Luke Brooks during his first grade debut for the Wests Tigers against the Dragons in 2013Credit: NRL Imagery
“The day we lost to Cronulla in the final round in 2019, we had to win to make the finals, I was in the sheds and thinking to myself after full-time, ‘Will this ever happen?’ Being so close and not being able to get through, it was such a bad feeling.
“But this is why I came to Manly. Look at this side. It’s a quality team with strike all over the park.”
Brooks spent 11 seasons at the Tigers before deciding to quit and join the Sea Eagles. He was given a $1000 barbecue as a parting gift. He had borne the brunt of fans’ frustrations, mainly because of his pay packet and lack of consistency, which was perceived as a main reason the Tigers had failed to end their September drought.
The Sea Eagles’ five-eighth has waited 4040 days to play September football.Credit: Steven Siewert
Bulldogs football manager Phil Gould revealed this year he was one person who convinced Brooks to try his luck elsewhere. Gould will hope he does not regret convincing Brooks to head to the northern beaches come 6pm on Sunday.
“I applauded his decision to change clubs; I actually had a conversation with him during that period and I said, ’Look, you need to look after yourself now, you’ve done your best for the Tigers, you’ve stayed loyal when others haven’t,” Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
“It was probably time for him to look after himself and I think the Manly opportunity is a really good one for him. I’m certainly cheering for Luke Brooks ... I want him to do well.”
Mick Potter – now an assistant coach at the Bulldogs – was the man who handed Brooks his Tigers debut, and is proud of the playmaker’s perseverance. Potter won two premierships with the Bulldogs, lost two with the Dragons, and knows those big September games are the ones that stay in a player’s memories long after retirement.
“I couldn’t be happier for Brooksy, and he is one of the nicest young men I’ve met – he’s humble, competitive, he’s done well for Manly, but I hope he doesn’t perform well on Sunday,” Potter said.
“He has that left-foot step, and he’s a dangerous player. I know we’ll be on our toes because of the danger he presents to us.
“There won’t be too many nerves for him. He’s played well over 200 games. This will be another game for him.”
Brooks has performed well under pressure and in front of big crowds, including his 200th match at a heaving Leichhardt Oval last year, a 79th-minute field-goal winner against South Sydney in 2022, and the night he kick-started Magic Round in style with an excellent running display against the Knights in 2021.
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