NRL 2022: Wests Tigers should let Luke Brooks leave and link up with Andrew Johns at the Knights

Andrew Johns always raved about the talents of Luke Brooks, saying at one stage he was going to be a superstar, maybe it’s time for the eighth Immortal to work his magic on him at the Knights.

ROCKHAMPTON, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 21: Luke Brooks of the Tigers looks dejected after losing the round 23 NRL match between the Wests Tigers and the Cronulla Sharks at Browne Park, on August 21, 2021, in Rockhampton, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The story was told by News Corp seven years ago. It was a Friday night at Leichhardt Oval and Andrew Johns was tucking into his dinner with his Nine Network colleagues when Luke Brooks name cropped up.

Johns had watched Brooks leading his opposition on a merry dance in the under 20s the year prior. He couldn’t contain his excitement as he enthused about a kid who was going to be a superstar.

Johns apparently cut short his dinner that night so he could go and watch Brooks play in the curtain-raiser to the NRL. Since that fateful night, Brooks has played more than 150 games in the NRL and the jury remains out.

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The future of Luke Brooks is set to dominate the next few months.

He could still be something special. Or, he could be remembered as a unique talent who never quite reached his potential. The outcome may be determined over this off-season as Brooks’ future comes under renewed scrutiny.

Let’s cut right to the chase. Luke Brooks needs to leave the Wests Tigers. And the Tigers need to let him go.

This has been an unhappy marriage for some time now. It hasn’t worked and chances are it won’t work, not while Michael Maguire continues to steer the ship at Concord.

There’s something about Brooks and Maguire that hasn’t quite clicked. The relationship has a touch of oil and water about it. Brooks was a joint winner of the player of the year award for the club with Daine Laurie, but that owed as much to the lack of quality in the dressing room, as his own form.

Ask Tigers fans and chances are most would suggest he had a disappointing year, although that view is no doubt largely due to the high expectations that have been placed on his shoulders as a local junior who has long been earmarked for stardom.

Knights and Bulldogs are after the Tigers No.7.

At the same time, there is no question that he has stagnated under Maguire. Some would suggest he has regressed. He is yet to play a finals game, which also means he is yet to lead the Tigers to the promised land.

As the Tigers season was coming to another disappointing end, I was among the journalists who suggested something had to give. If it wasn’t Maguire, it had to be Brooks. They needed to go their separate ways.

The Tigers made their call on Maguire and retained faith in the coach. A penny for Brooks’ thoughts. The Tigers have dug in their heels amid talk that Brooks is wanted by Newcastle to potentially replace Mitchell Pearce.

The club took the extraordinary step of releasing a hands-off statement this week in which director of football Tim Sheens insisted Brooks was going nowhere.

Sheens, he said, had spoken to Brooks. He said Brooks was passionate about delivering success to the club. Sheens is one of the shrewdest minds in the business but he isn’t at Concord. He hasn’t been in the dressing room or on the training track.

Andrew Johns has left the Eels to link up with the Knights.

He hasn’t seen how Maguire and Brooks respond to each other. He has been watching events from afar but he will touch down in Sydney soon and his first order of business should be to determine whether Brooks is the answer, or more pointedly whether Brooks and Maguire can finally click.

If the answer is no, he should pick up the phone, reach out to the Knights or Bulldogs for that matter, and cut a deal. By then, Newcastle will have hammered out an agreement with Catalans and severed ties with Mitchell Pearce.

The Knights are rightly holding out for a transfer fee. Pearce has a year to go on his contract and he is a crucial member of the squad. Catalans demanded a transfer fee for Israel Folau even though he was going to a side in the Gold Coast A grade competition.

They apparently even demanded a transfer fee for Brayden Wiliame before he joined St George Illawarra. Now general manager of football Alex Chan insists that a transfer fee shouldn’t go the other way. It doesn’t wash.

Regardless, Pearce has already checked out of the building and it is only a matter of time before he flies into the anonymity of the south of France.

Mitchell Pearce looks headed over to the south of France.

The Knights will need a replacement and Brooks appears the perfect fit.

He would have Kalyn Ponga to ease the burden. Seven years after News Corp documented Johns’ enthusiasm for Brooks, they could be given the chance to work together.

Johns has landed in Newcastle as an assistant coach and would no doubt love to get his hands on a player who has long caught his eye.

The Tigers and Sheens will have the final say.

Immortal returns to solve Knights halfback crisis

- Phil Rothfield, Michael Carayannis

Andrew Johns is back at the Knights in a move Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien has described as a “big shot in the arm” for the club.

Immortal Johns has quit the Eels to join Newcastle’s coaching staff and will throw most of his time at mentoring the halves.

It shapes as a key appointment given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Mitchell Pearce’s future at the club. Pearce is on the verge of quitting the final year of his contract at the Knights to join French club Catalans.

O’Brien said Johns would not only help the NRL squad but will also work with the club’s youngsters.

Recently retired Blake Green is the club’s pathways halves coach while Willie Peters will continue to lead the NRL’s attack. But Johns will have a big say on how Newcastle plays next season.

Andrew Johns will be a part of the Knights’ coaching staff next season. Picture: AAP Image/Darren Pateman

“If anyone listens to Joey (Johns), he makes a lot of sense and he simplifies things really well,” O’Brien said. “He sees the game better than anyone.

“I can tell just by talking to him that he is passionate about coming back and coming home. He will not only help our senior side and improve our attack but he will work with Willie and Blake. To have someone of his calibre becoming back involved in the club is huge.”

He will replace former Broncos and South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold on O’Brien’s coaching staff.

O’Brien met with Johns and others members of his coaching staff on Monday.

The club is keen to bring Johns on-board before the opening of its centre of excellence next season. The complex will house Newcastle’s pathways teams and the NRL squad in the one precinct.

“Producing halves for the future is important to us,” O’Brien said. “I thank him for wanting to get back involved. His commitment in making that slog up the freeway is a big shot in the arm for the community and the club.”

Johns has spent the past two seasons working with the Eels having had a similar role with the Roosters and Manly. He has been part of the NSW coaching staff.

With Pearce expected to leave, the Knights will be heavily relying on Johns to work with Jake Clifford, who signed from the Cowboys last season, and Adam Clune, who recently left St George Illawarra after 25 NRL games.

Andrew Johns worked with the Parramatta Eels last season.

He could also oversee Kalyn Ponga’s switch to the halves from fullback.

Johns is Newcastle’s all-time greatest player who played 249 games for the club and won two premierships.

He will spend up to two days each week with the Knights and continue in his media role with Channel 9 on the network’s rugby league coverage.

Newcastle’s backroom staff has undergone a huge shake-up with experienced performance gurus Hayden Knowles and Craig Catterick joining the club.

Former Rabbitohs, Roosters and Bulldogs head strength and rehabilitation coach Harry Harris has also signed on.

Originally published as NRL 2022: Wests Tigers should let Luke Brooks leave and link up with Andrew Johns at the Knights