By Dan Walsh
Luke Brooks is the unfortunate owner of the longest NRL finals drought of any player, but surely not for too much longer after he dug Manly out of a first-half rut, inspired a 38-8 win and ruined Des Hasler’s homecoming in the process.
As Hasler returned to Brookvale for the first time since being sacked – and with a $1.5 million legal battle against the Sea Eagles still before the courts – the Titans looked perfectly placed to spring a Sunday afternoon upset for the prodigal coach.
And if the Titans were perfect for the opening 20 minutes, Manly were downright awful. After 18 minutes the Gold Coast had six clean line breaks, tries to Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Beau Fermor and, seemingly, plenty more to come.
With Daly Cherry-Evans struggling after Wednesday’s Origin decider and rookie winger Lehi Hopoate playing on with a fractured eye socket, it was one-time Wests Tigers whipping boy Brooks who stood tallest and helped lift Manly to fifth on the ladder after North Queensland held on to defeat Canterbury 20-18 later on Sunday (see report below).
His 11 seasons without a finals appearance at the Tigers has made for 223 games and none of them coming in the post-season, the longest stretch of any player in rugby league history.
Such is the NRL ladder logjam that Manly’s one-point for a draw against the Warriors looms as a likely circuit breaker by season’s end.
Luke Brooks is doing his utmost to end the longest individual finals drought in rugby league history.Credit: Getty Images
And the come-from-behind win over the Gold Coast could well be crucial in Brooks ending his drought. When the Sea Eagles finally made it off the team bus, it was their No.6 at the wheel.
Manly didn’t look like scoring until Brooks took it upon himself to simply run, stepping inside David Fifita and strolling over for the Sea Eagles’ first points.
After doing it all himself to start, Brooks then put them in front three minutes later.
The 29-year-old had the Sea Eagles running on the last tackle and Hopoate cruising over the try line with only one functioning eye.
Lehi ‘one eye’ Hopoate battled on with a fractured cheekbone.Credit: NRL Photos
Hopoate suffered the blow to his left cheek 20-odd minutes earlier, and after blowing his nose it blew right up, to the point his eye was completely closed over before going off with what is expected to be a month-long injury.
Coach Anthony Seibold described Brooks’ effort as his best in maroon and white and a throwback to his 2018 Dally M halfback of the year form.
“Brooksy has really stepped up with Chez [Cherry-Evans] being away the last week and a bit,” Seibold said.
“I think back to when he’s played his best, he’s had a 200-game career, and he won Dally M halfback of the year one year. It was off the back of that running game. So I think Chez and Brooksy are really building that combo, and they’ll continue to do so”.
Manly are eyeing the top four after a third straight win.Credit: Getty Images
Just as Manly obliged with a slew of suspect defensive efforts in the first half, the Gold Coast returned the favour in the second.
Tom Trbojevic happily looped a pass over the top for Jason Saab to score in the 44th minute, before joining him on the scoreboard with a double that blew the final score out.
Hasler pegged his pen in frustration in the visitor’s coach’s box after Trbojevic scored his second try.
He admitted afterwards that the Gold Coast’s own slim finals are now on the rocks with seven rounds to play.
As for his return to Brookvale, Hasler could only grin and dismiss the occasion as “just another game of footy.”
Brooks, on the other hand, might just be ready to dream of the finals variety.
Dearden inspires Cowboys to gritty win over Bulldogs
Joel Gould
An inspirational final 10 minutes from North Queensland co-captain Tom Dearden has given the Cowboys a crucial 20-18 home win over Canterbury that has boosted their final hopes.
No.6 Dearden, one of Queensland’s best in their State of Origin series decider loss on Wednesday night, backed up with a gritty and skilful performance on Sunday.
The Cowboys trailed by two with nine minutes remaining when Dearden broke away 50m out and found rookie centre Jaxon Purdue in support.
North Queensland held on, with Dearden putting a huge hit on Canterbury forward Josh Curran to dislodge the ball at a critical moment in the closing stages.
The win kept the Cowboys in eighth position on 24 points, with Canterbury in sixth on the same number of points but with a better for and against.
Both sides had State of Origin representatives backing up, with the Cowboys quintet of Dearden, Jeremiah Nanai, Valentine Holmes, Reuben Cotter and Reece Robson taking the field.
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton also played after being an integral part of the NSW series win.
There was concern for Crichton in the 14th minute when he lost feeling in his right shoulder when burrowing towards the tryline. He was on the ground for several minutes in the hands of trainers before continuing.
In the next set, Bulldogs five-eighth Toby Sexton put in a perfectly weighted grubber kick for forward Josh Curran to race through to score. Sexton laid on a near replica of that effort for Bronson Xeri to plant it down and give the visitors a 12-8 lead.
Maroons Origin representative Tom Dearden turned in a second impressive display in four days.Credit: Getty Images
The Cowboys had opened the scoring when second-rower Heilum Luki streaked away after Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz dropped a Scott Drinkwater bomb.
Canterbury lost fullback Blake Wilson to the sin-bin early in the second half for a professional foul and Luki crashed over for his second try.
Kiraz made up for his earlier error when he leapt above Holmes to snaffle a deft Matt Burton bomb and score in the 55th minute.
The Bulldogs led 12-8 at half-time. They had won the previous 15 encounters with the Cowboys when leading at the break but on this occasion North Queensland showed plenty of resilience in defence to prevail.
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