With the new coaching staff throwing their support behind Brooks it pretty much guarantees he isn’t going anywhere and will be the No. 7 for the foreseeable future.
Welded and cemented in until the day he retires it seems.
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With the new coaching staff throwing their support behind Brooks it pretty much guarantees he isn’t going anywhere and will be the No. 7 for the foreseeable future.
This seems quite likely. Brooks and Benji were both in the anti-Madge camp. Hastings and AD in the pro-Madge camp. The Madge camp is well and truely D.E.A.D
conspiracy theory: sheens et al don’t want to play Hastings 7, AD 6 because if it succeeds Brooks isn’t needed and can’t really play elsewhere so I expect it will be some time until we see that combo this year
@garry that is how they play it I think Doubie takes one side if the ruck and Brooks the other.
Think Hastings is gone in 2024, see his management is good friends with Newcastle recruiter and Bulldogs are very keen
@garry that is how they play it I think Doubie takes one side if the ruck and Brooks the other.
Think Hastings is gone in 2024, see his management is good friends with Newcastle recruiter and Bulldogs are very keen
Yeah Hastings was 1st receiver with AD and Brooks either side of the field.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Sheens rabbiting on overnight telling other clubs to stop chasing Luke Brooks. He is Wests Tigers long term plans.
Spare me.
Sheens rabbiting on overnight telling other clubs to stop chasing Luke Brooks. He is Wests Tigers long term plans.
Spare me.
Surely he’s foxing??
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With Hastings controlling the ruck from 13, Brooks and Doueihi either side of the ruck gives attacking options and difference and is a combo I’m looking forward to seeing.
Madden also gives exciting attacking options but at this stage is a liability in defence and for that reason alone is behind Brooks. Add to that the experience brooks brings to the team and it’s obvious to me why Benji and Tim want him in the 7.
I will say though if he wants to chase the kind of dollars he’s currently earning he won’t be at tigers and may not be in the NRL.
@helmesy He is. Sheens quotes aren't very convincing. Many 'buts' and 'ifs' in regards to Brooks.
Says that he will keep Hastings at 13 in 2023 which is interesting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nrl/comments/wdcj1q/tim_sheens_plan_to_retain_halfback_luke_brooks_on/
Tim Sheens has issued a hands off warning to the Newcastle Knights, insisting Luke Brooks will be staying at Wests Tigers next season.
And despite Brooks last month hinting his time at the club might be coming to an end, Sheens said the Tigers are keen to extend his contract beyond 2023, when he is due to earn a reported $1.1 million.
“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.”
It comes in the countdown to Sunday’s clash between the two clubs amid renewed speculation that the Knights are still desperate to tempt Brooks out of the Tigers for 2023.
The talk won’t go away that Brooks may have played his last game for the Tigers after going down with a season-ending calf injury last week.
Knights legend Andrew Johns was a driving force in trying to entice Brooks to Newcastle at the end of last year following Mitchell Pearce’s shock departure.
Johns went on the record saying he thought Brooks needed a change of scenery and that he could help the game’s most maligned playmaker fulfil his massive potential.
Johns recently signed an extension to stay on Adam O’Brien’s coaching staff next season, and some in Newcastle believe signing Brooks could be the key to saving O’Brien’s job as huge pressure builds on the Knights coach.
It was Sheens who stepped in last year and declared that Brooks would not be released.
Now Sheens has doubled down, adamant he and Tigers coach-in-waiting Benji Marshall want Brooks long term.
“I will stand by what I said,” Sheens said.
“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.”
Sheens was just as confident that he and Benji could help bring the best out in Brooks, just as Johns thinks he can.
He even reminded us that under Ivan Cleary in 2018 Brooks was crowned Dally M halfback of the year.
“Ring Benj, he will tell you,” Sheens said. “Look, I rate the kid. He is a one club player.
“I think we can certainly between Marshall and myself bring him back into the game as the seven he was and he is.”
Asked if he could guarantee Brooks would be at the club next season, Sheens added: “Unless the world changes that is what I am doing.
“Honestly, can I ever say yes to anything? No one can.
“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.”
Sheens said it was his intention to keep Brooks and Doueihi together as the halves combination, with Jackson Hastings the ball playing lock.
Sheens also has a good opinion of young Jock Madden but sees him as a work in progress given his limited experience.
Brooks, Doueihi and Hastings are all off contract at the end of next season, along with fullback Daine Laurie.
That is why Sheens insisted interim coach Brett Kimmorley moved Hastings to lock to accommodate all of them in the starting side before the club started any extension talks.
Unfortunately that plan has been put on hold with both Brooks and Hastings suffering season ending injuries.
“That is the only thing I really stood up and said,” Sheens explained. “I am not taking credit for it or anything like that.
“All I am saying is I said that was the way it was going to happen.
“We needed to look at it for the rest of this year before we made a decision (on the future) because I thought that was the best way it would work.
“And certainly with me coaching next year that will be the way it is going to work. It is only unfortunate now we have a situation with two of them out for the year.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-david-klemmer-signs-with-eels-midseason-move-knights-prop-parramatta-eels-newcastle-knights-loan-deal-transfers-contracts-news/news-story/f21b3e7b72c4c5d83e7c10ba3dec2bb1 If Klemmer is on the nose in Newcastle we should be looking at a Brooks Klemmer trade. I have had high hopes for this.
We need a forward to take it over the advantage line. We've lacked someone with this profile for 10 years +.
I think l read earlier this season that Mikaele was our best average metres per run player and was in the 53% percentile among props.
happy to grab klemmer but not on a Brooks trade no thanks
Sheens rabbiting on overnight telling other clubs to stop chasing Luke Brooks. He is Wests Tigers long term plans.
Spare me.
Surely he’s foxing??
Somehow I doubt it. Just remember that Sheens signed Blair and then played him out of position his entire tenure. He can be rather inflexible. Seems Brooks is his second surrogate son after Fitzhenrey.
Tigers half Jock Madden has dismissed rumours linking him with a move to Penrith and says Luke Brooks’ future plans won’t affect his decision making when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The 22-year-old has been in and out of the team for the past two years but has a clean run in the No.7 jersey with Brooks set to miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.
Madden was the perfect foil for Adam Doueihi on Saturday night when the Tigers shocked the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, and it’s no coincidence he’s been involved in their two highest scores of the season against Brisbane and the Bulldogs back in round 11 when they scored 36 points.
But Madden is off-contract and there’s no guarantee he’ll stay at the club that handed him his NRL debut, especially after incoming coach Tim Sheens said he wanted Brooks to sign on beyond next year.
“Not at all,” Madden replied when asked if the Brooks news would affect his plans for the future.
“I’m just worrying about my role this weekend for the team.
“I’m just taking it one week at a time and purely focusing on the Knights.
“That’s my manager’s role. I’m just focused on this week and I’ll leave the off-field stuff to my manager.”
The next five weeks can be seen as an audition for Madden, who made the move to the Tigers from Newcastle where he played his junior footy.
His control is exactly what Doueihi needs to play his natural game at five-eighth, and Madden’s own form will only blossom if he’s given the opportunity to keep working under Tigers great Benji Marshall, who will become the coach in 2025.
“You can think of it like that way (an audition), but I’m just purely focused on a week-by-week thing. I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself,” Madden said.
“When I signed down here at the Tigers, I thought it would be a really good experience for me to learn under Brooksy, Benji, Robbie Farah and Josh Reynolds.
“We had a lot of really experienced players here who played at the highest level. I thought it was a good opportunity to grow my game here.
“I’ve done a lot of work with Benji. My first two years here were with him and I’ve always stayed in contact with him.”
Madden will again get the opportunity to steer the side around the park against the Knights on Sunday, but he’ll have to step up with Jackson Hastings out for the rest of the season with a broken ankle.
Winger Ken Maumalo described Hastings as the “glue in the middle” that holds the team together but backed Madden to shine with the added responsibility.
“Ever since I got here, I knew he was a talent,” Maumalo said.
“The way he trains and the way he carries himself is testament to his character. He just needs an opportunity, and he’s got it now. I know he’s going to grab it with both hands.”
News.com.au
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rumour is brooks offered 2.3 million for 3 years including final year of contract so 2023,24,25
rumour is brooks offered 2.3 million for 3 years including final year of contract so 2023,24,25
Source?
rumour is brooks offered 2.3 million for 3 years including final year of contract so 2023,24,25
Considering he is meant to be on over $1m for 23 alone this would be a great deal for the club
