If Daly Cherry-Evans is Manly’s Batman, the Sea Eagles never wanted Luke Brooks to be Robin.
And that simple message was rammed home after a forgettable loss to South Sydney one cold night in June.
Brooks has quickly settled into life on the northern beaches, and is arguably the second pick behind Canterbury’s Stephen Crichton when it comes to the NRL buy of the year.
But it was not until a 14-0 loss to the Bunnies, in one of Manly’s worst games of the season, that Brooks truly appreciated what was expected of him at the Sea Eagles.
The playmaker was never going to be leaned on to do it all like he was during his 11-year stint at the Tigers – but Manly also wanted him to assert his authority when needed.
“We never wanted Brooksy to be ‘Chez’s’ sidekick,” coach Anthony Seibold says. “We don’t want Batman and Robin – we want Brooksy to have a voice. And he’s done that really well since our last bye.
It took a dour defeat to South Sydney for Luke Brooks to realise he had to step up.Credit: NRL Photos
“Brooksy has not just waited for ‘Cherry’ to come back from Origin to be the boss. We’ve encouraged him to have a voice and lead through his actions. He’s done that really well the past four games.
“He went into his shell against Souths and was conservative. We had players out of position, and it was a wet night. But the last month of footy, Brooksy has been back to his best.
“He started the year well. He was the lieutenant rather than the general. We want him to be as much of a voice as Chez and Turbo is. Everything I knew about Brooksy and seen in Brooksy, I feel like we’ve got that and more.”
Cherry-Evans, who got to know Brooks after rooming with him for ten nights in Las Vegas at the start of the year, said: “After that Souths game, I felt like Brooksy realised he had to be involved in the game as much as he possibly can, whether I’m there or not there.
Luke Brooks could be set to play in his first NRL finals series.Credit: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous
“He’s a good footy player. We need him to get his hands on the ball. Halves and fullback are usually your best decision-makers. They create opportunities, and since that night, Brooksy realised, ‘Hey, I can’t let this get away from me, I have to go for it’.
“I’ve seen him go after games the past few weeks. I’ve been able to just try to get him the ball because he has the ‘hot hand’. He scored our first try against the Roosters [a fortnight ago] when he created something from nothing.”
Brooks has played 224 NRL games but never featured in an NRL finals campaign. Victory over Canberra, who will be up for Josh Papalii’s belated 300-game celebrations, will edge him closer to that dream with only four rounds remaining.
Brooks had several chances to leave the Tigers to chase finals football, but said he had no regrets about not leaving sooner.
Fire up ... Luke Brooks and his parting gift from the Wests Tigers last season.
Brooks was often made the scapegoat at the Tigers – something Seibold said he could relate to after his own rough patch at the Broncos.
“I have thought about that, but what’s the point worrying about that? You can’t change it,” Brooks said when asked about why he waited so long to move on from Tiger Town.
“You learn about yourself over the years. I’ve ended up here, and I’m enjoying it. It’s not good to see them [the Tigers] where they are. They’ve got some good young players who can hopefully turn it around for them. They’ve got some good players coming over.
“There was so much baggage where I was, over the years it all built up, but I’ve come here for a fresh start and only had to worry about playing footy.
“The first thing I noticed when coming here was how quick all the outside backs were. I thought I was quick, but I can’t keep up with these blokes. And you can’t coach speed.”
Brooks said Cherry-Evans’ regular message was to “back myself”, and he often found himself admiring the skipper and the Manly right edge in full flight.
“You sit back and enjoy it,” Brooks said.
The five-eighth has walked off the field on the end of some horror scorelines against Canberra. In 2016, the Raiders beat the Tigers by a combined score of 112-16 over two games.
But Manly are not the Tigers.
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