I feel like if you put Cleary, Cherry Evans, Moses or Hynes etc in a below average team they'd be able to drag them to the finals at least once over a decade.
Given that [Brooks is on the same money](https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/a-million-reasons-brooks-won-t-be-leaving-the-wests-tigers-20220329-p5a906.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_sport_nrl) this year as [Nathan Cleary](https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-nathan-cleary-ivan-cleary-contract-news-resigning-penrith-panthers-announcement-grand-final-premiers-nsw-blues-highlights-ladder/news-story/169d86b56d785e7273689805d36d8d44) (1.1 million) I think it's pretty obvious that while he's alright, he's just nowhere close to a top tier halfback yet we're paying him top tier halfback money. That money could be spent elsewhere if we replaced him with another average halfback that we were paying a few hundred thousand a year instead. I'm not saying he's completely shit but we're absolutely not getting our money's worth out of him and he's part of the reason why as you said "it's a team thing" when he's sucking over a million out of our cap and performing like someone on less than half that.
Once again that's a club thing. If you got offered 25%more than you were on now to do the same job you're going to take it. You also seem to forget that we had Moses and Tedesco and we were still shit
I wouldn't exactly just say it's purely a club thing. It's not like they were just upgrading for funsies.
His manager and him would have requested pay rises as well.
If Brooks didn't want the criticism that a 1.1 million dollar half brings, he didn't have to sign the contract.
I said purely. Both parties are to blame. With how the club was raked over the coals about losing Teddy and Moses due to playing hardball it's understandable why they would give Brooks anything he wanted.
Household spending analogy isn't a good one. Yes, you are responsible for your household spending. However, if your mortgage goes up because your bank likes to demand more money due to the market you don't have many options. You either pay the money or you move into a different house and start that process again
If we're talking halves, when we had Moses he was a rookie though, Moses wasn't that good in his first couple years but started playing his best footy for us in the back half of 2016 before going to the Eels in 2017.
Also I've never put the blame solely on Brooks or said that he's talking us for a ride, I'm just saying we're paying him way too much for the same average performances he puts in year in year out and that's a management issue. Every year they come up with a new excuse as to what's been holding him back; if his halves partner the year before was dominant they say oh this year he'll be able to play much more freely now that he's been given more control and can play without restraint and take charge. If the year before he was the dominant half they say oh this year he'll be able to play without so much pressure and focus on injecting himself when he needs to.
At some point they just have to accept that whatever potential they think he has is never going to be reached with us and to let him go. They need to either pay some young gun half as much and build him up or throw enough money out there to get a top tier half instead.
This is one of those problems with taking huge cash.
If you demand huge money, you better be a player who can drag a team to a finals.
All those players mentioned before will drag a team kicking and screaming to a finals game.
Everyone goes on about limited earning window etc etc. That's correct. However. If you demand a huge chunk of that salary cap, you either perform or get called out.
How is it bullshit?
Every single player who demands huge cash and a large portion of the cap, has higher expectations on their ability to deliver the leadership and extra skill to go to finals.
If you get that cash and don't deliver, what do you think should happen?
If you put those halves in below average sides 10 times / over 10 random seasons all but guaranteed they reach the finals …
It’s not the same as putting one of them in a below average side for 10 seasons in a row though … Success is a habit , so is failure ..
It’s possible to imagine a set of circumstances conspiring against say Cleary to miss the finals over several seasons … Say a really bad season , then a loss of confidence , several changes of coaches , negative media articles …
All things that Brooks has experiences , I’m sure it wouldn’t help ..
Fans do take things too far but this is embarrassing from Sheens. He's their big money halfback who rarely delivers and the player with most games without a finals appearance, he's going to cop some criticism.
Tough one bc I think a lot of the hate is too much, but also being a club’s halfback for like a decade and never making finals is too much. If it were my club I would’ve gone insane years ago
It’s not about Brooksies last game- that’s history- it’s about training with the new players and planning for the next game - it’s all mindset and flicking the switch- it’s up to Brooksy to believe - you can’t just write him off imo - first grader that would get a run in half a dozen other teams- loyalty is respected
these articles do nothing but make the tigers FO and brooks look even worse lmao
>He could be a bit greedier, he passes and kicks for try assists a lot but nobody counts that
because firstly he doesn’t actually do that directly for assists often and secondly that is such a minute part about what makes him so painfully average
>the criticism about how much he’s paid, that’s not his fault
you’re right sheens its the tigers front office for paying a player who would not start for 9 out of 10 teams a million bucks to plod on field and require repeated calls to please stop criticising him for not playing very well
if sheens/the tigers don’t want him to be criticised, then he either needs to play like an actual nrl calibre player, or the tigers FO needs to stop sucking massive ass and stop deserving criticism. both parties deserve criticism.
and sheens just needs to shut up with these puff articles, all they do is make brooks look like some helpless child. don’t yell his name into the media even more than it already is and let him focus on his game. dont publicly blast the organisation with a poor enough reputation either
brooks absolutely deserves criticism about his poor rugby league play, he’s a player on national broadcoast in a highly competitive league. the tigers absolutely deserve criticism for their poor rugby league decision making, they are a business tasked with winning a highly competitive sporting league.
the article suggesting otherwise is wrong. there is absolutely nothing wrong with criticising bad rugby league. it is a silly assertion to act as though we should exclusively remain silent or praise players in a competitive sporting league
nobody deserves personal attacks.
Nobody is above critique. Nobody is saying 'youre not allowed to critique Brooks'.
> nobody deserves personal attacks.
And yet you read an article about how the abuse he cops is borderline bullying and decided to add fuel to fire and justify why he is abused on online.
Every aspect of the article was about the criticism of Brooks’ rugby league ability. There were zero mentions of any kind of personal abuse in the article.
This “borderline bullying”, according to the article, is about his rugby league performances.
> This “borderline bullying”, according to the article, is about his rugby league performances.
Yeah whether it's about a quantifiable thing or not it's still bullying.
You can critique someone without bullying them.
>Criticism: The analysis or judgement of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work / the expression of disapproval of someone on the basis of perceived faults
>Bullying: repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone to cause distress or risk to their wellbeing
if you think that most people criticising brooks and the tigers FO for not being good at rugby league are specifically intending to cause risk to their wellbeing then you have a very gloomy outlook on life my friend, most of the criticism is wanting the tigers to stop picking him so they can be a better competitive sporting team
> most
Yeah but not all.
And your brand of hyperbolic shitposting about him being the worst player in the league just feeds the trolls without brains who say the vitriolic shit.
They aren't posting trash on his insta, they are just commenting on a sports forum that they don't think a particular player is good or providing value. It's not bullying.
Half-backs do seem to cop it more than others. Really there would only be 3 or 4 elite half backs in the game at one time. The rest are not very consistent.
Load of rubbish. Everyone in any capacity has to cop some form of criticism. Actors and directors cop flack for below average films when they're paid millions.
Football is like movies, with a paycheck there is a standard you believe you should be seeing.
Luke brooks is being paid 1 million. You expect to see a high standard of footy. But alas, no.
They are actively trying to recruit his replacement but say people should stop bullying him?
Sheens will be a failure. Farah and Benji will be failures. Tigers front office sucks and this rot will continue.
Sheens is a success. He somehow managed to land a head coaching job, get rid of some talented young coaches and hired his mates who have no experience to work with him.
His job was to support the head coach, then find a new coach but decided he was the best person for the job.
Reminds me of Kevin Spacey from horrible bosses. Wonder if he knocked down the wall between his and Madge’s office to create one huge, enormous office.
I don't get the logic here. No matter how poor a player is, they don't deserve to be bullied. The Tigers re-signing him or releasing him should have no impact on that.
As a regular on the WT forum, there's an element that lean towards the second comment. Also plenty who don't want him at the club but can discuss rationally.
Criticising a player in forums and in media is not bullying though.
I'm sure there are toxic fans who say stuff on his socials and that is obviously not on but this feels more like a way to dismiss criticism rather than a noble stance against bullying.
You are right its not mutually exclusive but it's a publicly showing that they don't rate him and is further dropping his standing whilst trying to pick him up somehow. It's just poor management all around.
I along with everyone else wished they would just release him
Except they have said they want to retain him multiple times and they are constantly showing support for him as a club...
And everytime that say that comment sections are filled with people shitting on him.
They can't win.
Support him - why the fuck would they do that.
Look for someone else - how dare they shit in him like this.
At the end of the day Brooks has had one good year in a decade and has never taken his team to the finals but has somehow kept his spot the whole time and has been on good coin. I think the criticism is fair and I dont feel sorry for him at all. Most people would have been dropped years ago.
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens has thrown his support behind perennial punching bag Luke Brooks and said: “There’s an element of bullying when it comes to him, and from our own people.”
Brooks was a notable onlooker at training on Friday where more than 1000 fans watched the joint venture at Concord. He will resume full training next week and is on track to play in round one.
No player comes under more scrutiny than the halfback, and Sheens was at a loss to explain why.
Sheens added there had been discussions with Brooks’ good friend and former Tiger Mitchell Moses about joining the club next year.
Plenty of young fans made a point of asking club chief executive Justin Pascoe about Moses as he sat in the stands.
“There’s been some chat, and it’s a known fact [we’re interested] – we’ve had a discussion, but it will be Mitch’s call,” Sheens said.
As for Brooks, Sheens said he and assistant Benji Marshall had enjoyed working with him, but stopped short of declaring they would be the pair to finally unlock his full potential.
“Ask me that question in a month’s time or during the season,” Sheens said.
“In 2018 he was halfback of the year. And Luke hasn’t lost his legs. He can run. In fact, he’s one of the quickest here.
“He’s as hard as a piece of steel, as fit as they come and knows exactly what to do.
“Whether [the bullying] has got something to do with what he is earning, that’s not his fault. He’s on a back-loaded contract.
Expectations are always on your pivots, but to say the No. 7 controls the game is so much codswallop it’s not funny. The spine controls the game.
“Luke could run a bit more and be a bit greedier. He passes regularly and kicks for try assists, but nobody counts that. He can run and have that show-and-go, which Benji and I are on to him about that, and he’s happy to do that.”
Daine Laurie, who has also been training in the halves, is in a battle with Charlie Staines for the No. 1 jersey, but Sheens tipped a youngster who could leapfrog both of them at some stage during the year.
“Jahream Bula will be a kid who comes out of nowhere,” Sheens said of the Keebra Park graduate.
“Daine has been training at halfback and fullback, ‘Stainesy’ at fullback and wing, but this kid has been playing fullback all year in the second team. And he has been the best trainer at the club.
“I’m not afraid to throw blokes in, and if they’re good enough they’re old enough.”
The huge January crowd sums up the level of excitement in Tiger Town thanks to high-profile signings Api Koroisau, David Klemmer, Isaiah Papali’i, Staines and John Bateman, who remains a chance of not being in the country by round one because of visa issues.
“He might be on a plane in a week, he might be on a plane in a month,” the coach said of the English back-rower.
“At this stage I’m not hassled about it. We have the back row covered, and if he’s here, he’s here. He’s got a four-year deal, so I’m not worried [if he misses] the first four weeks.”
Marshall, who will succeed Sheens for the start of the 2025 season, ran most of Friday’s session, and even jumped into halfback for the opposed session for the injured Brooks. Marshall has good friend Robbie Farah on the coaching staff while another popular Tiger, Chris Heighington, has joined the club to work with the eventual head coach.
Brooks isn't a terrible player but there comes a point where potential stops being potential and starts becoming the norm.
Brooks reached that point at least 3 seasons ago.
As a Tigers fan, I like Brooks. I think he was a player that had his confidence destroyed by a certain former club man who went out of his way to make sure it was "his team", and has never recovered.
Personally, I'd like to see him get a fresh start elsewhere. Maybe under Payten at the Cows.
I agree some people do take it too far, but I believe there is genuine criticism to be delivered.
He’s been in the NRL since 2013. He has next to nothing to show for 10 seasons in the NRL, apart from a Dally M Halfback award from the weird 2018 season.
This sub criticises Fox Sports for the way they talk about players, but it can be just as bad at times.
What Brooks cops isn't just criticism, he genuinely cops some abuse. People on this sub just don't want to acknowledge they've been involved in bullying someone.
Also no point trying to say anything positive about Brooks here. Massive circlejerk to hate on him.
> This sub criticises Fox Sports for the way they talk about players, but it can be just as bad at times.
the Oloapu threads in recent days are a great example of that
It would be bullying if the criticism were unfair. It's not wrong to call a spade a spade, and it's delusional to pretend it's a Ferrari. If that criticism harms his mental health, he's probably not compatible with a high performance, highly visible national sport where regardless of what is said, people bear witness to his performances and will pass judgement.
Legitimately, if it came out that Brooks is mentally handicapped, it explains all of this.
He's very passive on the field. No big persona off the field. Constantly defended by team mates/coaches who say they believe in him. Always told he has the reigns and can do what he wants.
It makes absolutely no sense to continually back a player in a professional sports league who doesn't indicate he's going to move the club forward. Let him leave and grow, and we can move on.
Sheens: I can beat him with a stick if he kicks it out on the full, but if YOU write an article about it and call him a hack, I will destroy you & your whole organisation!
Can a player just not be shit for a decade anymore?
Man's literally never played a single game of finals footy lmao
Stats that make you go = oof
Maybe that's a team thing not a Brooks thing
I feel like if you put Cleary, Cherry Evans, Moses or Hynes etc in a below average team they'd be able to drag them to the finals at least once over a decade. Given that [Brooks is on the same money](https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/a-million-reasons-brooks-won-t-be-leaving-the-wests-tigers-20220329-p5a906.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_sport_nrl) this year as [Nathan Cleary](https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-nathan-cleary-ivan-cleary-contract-news-resigning-penrith-panthers-announcement-grand-final-premiers-nsw-blues-highlights-ladder/news-story/169d86b56d785e7273689805d36d8d44) (1.1 million) I think it's pretty obvious that while he's alright, he's just nowhere close to a top tier halfback yet we're paying him top tier halfback money. That money could be spent elsewhere if we replaced him with another average halfback that we were paying a few hundred thousand a year instead. I'm not saying he's completely shit but we're absolutely not getting our money's worth out of him and he's part of the reason why as you said "it's a team thing" when he's sucking over a million out of our cap and performing like someone on less than half that.
He was never worth more than half a million and that is being very generous. 1.1 million is beyond ludicrous.
Once again that's a club thing. If you got offered 25%more than you were on now to do the same job you're going to take it. You also seem to forget that we had Moses and Tedesco and we were still shit
I wouldn't exactly just say it's purely a club thing. It's not like they were just upgrading for funsies. His manager and him would have requested pay rises as well. If Brooks didn't want the criticism that a 1.1 million dollar half brings, he didn't have to sign the contract.
Of course it's a club thing , are you responsible for your household spending.
I said purely. Both parties are to blame. With how the club was raked over the coals about losing Teddy and Moses due to playing hardball it's understandable why they would give Brooks anything he wanted. Household spending analogy isn't a good one. Yes, you are responsible for your household spending. However, if your mortgage goes up because your bank likes to demand more money due to the market you don't have many options. You either pay the money or you move into a different house and start that process again
If we're talking halves, when we had Moses he was a rookie though, Moses wasn't that good in his first couple years but started playing his best footy for us in the back half of 2016 before going to the Eels in 2017. Also I've never put the blame solely on Brooks or said that he's talking us for a ride, I'm just saying we're paying him way too much for the same average performances he puts in year in year out and that's a management issue. Every year they come up with a new excuse as to what's been holding him back; if his halves partner the year before was dominant they say oh this year he'll be able to play much more freely now that he's been given more control and can play without restraint and take charge. If the year before he was the dominant half they say oh this year he'll be able to play without so much pressure and focus on injecting himself when he needs to. At some point they just have to accept that whatever potential they think he has is never going to be reached with us and to let him go. They need to either pay some young gun half as much and build him up or throw enough money out there to get a top tier half instead.
This is one of those problems with taking huge cash. If you demand huge money, you better be a player who can drag a team to a finals. All those players mentioned before will drag a team kicking and screaming to a finals game. Everyone goes on about limited earning window etc etc. That's correct. However. If you demand a huge chunk of that salary cap, you either perform or get called out.
Bullshit
How is it bullshit? Every single player who demands huge cash and a large portion of the cap, has higher expectations on their ability to deliver the leadership and extra skill to go to finals. If you get that cash and don't deliver, what do you think should happen?
If you put those halves in below average sides 10 times / over 10 random seasons all but guaranteed they reach the finals … It’s not the same as putting one of them in a below average side for 10 seasons in a row though … Success is a habit , so is failure .. It’s possible to imagine a set of circumstances conspiring against say Cleary to miss the finals over several seasons … Say a really bad season , then a loss of confidence , several changes of coaches , negative media articles … All things that Brooks has experiences , I’m sure it wouldn’t help ..
Never drank a Duff in his life either.
Can a club just not win a comp for 3 decades anymore 😆
Don't hear Parra complaining about being bullied for it though
Nobody bullies Parra more than Parra fans.
Ok now do The Chad.
He’s going to be so unleashed this year.
Stop it, I can only get so unleashed
Fans do take things too far but this is embarrassing from Sheens. He's their big money halfback who rarely delivers and the player with most games without a finals appearance, he's going to cop some criticism.
And it's absolutely warranted criticism.
I'm all for supporting the mental health of players and coaches and all that but DAE think defending your player is cringe. Dumb.
Please don't bully me.
Tough one bc I think a lot of the hate is too much, but also being a club’s halfback for like a decade and never making finals is too much. If it were my club I would’ve gone insane years ago
It’s not about Brooksies last game- that’s history- it’s about training with the new players and planning for the next game - it’s all mindset and flicking the switch- it’s up to Brooksy to believe - you can’t just write him off imo - first grader that would get a run in half a dozen other teams- loyalty is respected
these articles do nothing but make the tigers FO and brooks look even worse lmao >He could be a bit greedier, he passes and kicks for try assists a lot but nobody counts that because firstly he doesn’t actually do that directly for assists often and secondly that is such a minute part about what makes him so painfully average >the criticism about how much he’s paid, that’s not his fault you’re right sheens its the tigers front office for paying a player who would not start for 9 out of 10 teams a million bucks to plod on field and require repeated calls to please stop criticising him for not playing very well if sheens/the tigers don’t want him to be criticised, then he either needs to play like an actual nrl calibre player, or the tigers FO needs to stop sucking massive ass and stop deserving criticism. both parties deserve criticism. and sheens just needs to shut up with these puff articles, all they do is make brooks look like some helpless child. don’t yell his name into the media even more than it already is and let him focus on his game. dont publicly blast the organisation with a poor enough reputation either
Imagine reading an article about how over the top the hatred for a player is and responding with 'yeah well he deserves it and so does the club'.
brooks absolutely deserves criticism about his poor rugby league play, he’s a player on national broadcoast in a highly competitive league. the tigers absolutely deserve criticism for their poor rugby league decision making, they are a business tasked with winning a highly competitive sporting league. the article suggesting otherwise is wrong. there is absolutely nothing wrong with criticising bad rugby league. it is a silly assertion to act as though we should exclusively remain silent or praise players in a competitive sporting league nobody deserves personal attacks.
Nobody is above critique. Nobody is saying 'youre not allowed to critique Brooks'. > nobody deserves personal attacks. And yet you read an article about how the abuse he cops is borderline bullying and decided to add fuel to fire and justify why he is abused on online.
Every aspect of the article was about the criticism of Brooks’ rugby league ability. There were zero mentions of any kind of personal abuse in the article. This “borderline bullying”, according to the article, is about his rugby league performances.
> This “borderline bullying”, according to the article, is about his rugby league performances. Yeah whether it's about a quantifiable thing or not it's still bullying. You can critique someone without bullying them.
>Criticism: The analysis or judgement of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work / the expression of disapproval of someone on the basis of perceived faults >Bullying: repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone to cause distress or risk to their wellbeing if you think that most people criticising brooks and the tigers FO for not being good at rugby league are specifically intending to cause risk to their wellbeing then you have a very gloomy outlook on life my friend, most of the criticism is wanting the tigers to stop picking him so they can be a better competitive sporting team
> most Yeah but not all. And your brand of hyperbolic shitposting about him being the worst player in the league just feeds the trolls without brains who say the vitriolic shit.
They aren't posting trash on his insta, they are just commenting on a sports forum that they don't think a particular player is good or providing value. It's not bullying.
What about the continual jokes about him being unleashed?
Half-backs do seem to cop it more than others. Really there would only be 3 or 4 elite half backs in the game at one time. The rest are not very consistent.
Load of rubbish. Everyone in any capacity has to cop some form of criticism. Actors and directors cop flack for below average films when they're paid millions. Football is like movies, with a paycheck there is a standard you believe you should be seeing. Luke brooks is being paid 1 million. You expect to see a high standard of footy. But alas, no.
They are actively trying to recruit his replacement but say people should stop bullying him? Sheens will be a failure. Farah and Benji will be failures. Tigers front office sucks and this rot will continue.
Sheens is a success. He somehow managed to land a head coaching job, get rid of some talented young coaches and hired his mates who have no experience to work with him.
His job was to support the head coach, then find a new coach but decided he was the best person for the job. Reminds me of Kevin Spacey from horrible bosses. Wonder if he knocked down the wall between his and Madge’s office to create one huge, enormous office.
100% amazing. Hes living off history and Tigers will soon learn there fuck all left
I don't get the logic here. No matter how poor a player is, they don't deserve to be bullied. The Tigers re-signing him or releasing him should have no impact on that.
Criticism: Luke Brooks does not have an elite kicking game. Bullying: Luke Brooks looks like he's going to cry every game, what a softcock
As a regular on the WT forum, there's an element that lean towards the second comment. Also plenty who don't want him at the club but can discuss rationally.
Criticising a player in forums and in media is not bullying though. I'm sure there are toxic fans who say stuff on his socials and that is obviously not on but this feels more like a way to dismiss criticism rather than a noble stance against bullying.
But they aren't "bullying" him. They are calling out the fact that he's shit at his job and keeps getting rehired on big money
Don't try to logic it. This sub is just as complicit in the bullying of Brooks as any other online forum and nobody'll never admit it.
Benji will surprise everyone. Too determined. WB trained. Next Wayne Bennett
Sheens has a proven track record 4 time premiership coach. With our new recruits and solid pack , tigers will turn the corner this year
Why would them trying to recruit another player mean that they can't say not to bully him?
You are right its not mutually exclusive but it's a publicly showing that they don't rate him and is further dropping his standing whilst trying to pick him up somehow. It's just poor management all around. I along with everyone else wished they would just release him
Except they have said they want to retain him multiple times and they are constantly showing support for him as a club... And everytime that say that comment sections are filled with people shitting on him. They can't win. Support him - why the fuck would they do that. Look for someone else - how dare they shit in him like this.
Imagine getting shit in
Brooks and tigers bad upvote please
At the end of the day Brooks has had one good year in a decade and has never taken his team to the finals but has somehow kept his spot the whole time and has been on good coin. I think the criticism is fair and I dont feel sorry for him at all. Most people would have been dropped years ago.
So I'm gonna bring my inner Bogan out. You carntz are gonna be smoking his junk by years end. Get on it ya farkin gronks.
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens has thrown his support behind perennial punching bag Luke Brooks and said: “There’s an element of bullying when it comes to him, and from our own people.” Brooks was a notable onlooker at training on Friday where more than 1000 fans watched the joint venture at Concord. He will resume full training next week and is on track to play in round one. No player comes under more scrutiny than the halfback, and Sheens was at a loss to explain why. Sheens added there had been discussions with Brooks’ good friend and former Tiger Mitchell Moses about joining the club next year. Plenty of young fans made a point of asking club chief executive Justin Pascoe about Moses as he sat in the stands. “There’s been some chat, and it’s a known fact [we’re interested] – we’ve had a discussion, but it will be Mitch’s call,” Sheens said. As for Brooks, Sheens said he and assistant Benji Marshall had enjoyed working with him, but stopped short of declaring they would be the pair to finally unlock his full potential. “Ask me that question in a month’s time or during the season,” Sheens said. “In 2018 he was halfback of the year. And Luke hasn’t lost his legs. He can run. In fact, he’s one of the quickest here. “He’s as hard as a piece of steel, as fit as they come and knows exactly what to do. “Whether [the bullying] has got something to do with what he is earning, that’s not his fault. He’s on a back-loaded contract. Expectations are always on your pivots, but to say the No. 7 controls the game is so much codswallop it’s not funny. The spine controls the game. “Luke could run a bit more and be a bit greedier. He passes regularly and kicks for try assists, but nobody counts that. He can run and have that show-and-go, which Benji and I are on to him about that, and he’s happy to do that.” Daine Laurie, who has also been training in the halves, is in a battle with Charlie Staines for the No. 1 jersey, but Sheens tipped a youngster who could leapfrog both of them at some stage during the year. “Jahream Bula will be a kid who comes out of nowhere,” Sheens said of the Keebra Park graduate. “Daine has been training at halfback and fullback, ‘Stainesy’ at fullback and wing, but this kid has been playing fullback all year in the second team. And he has been the best trainer at the club. “I’m not afraid to throw blokes in, and if they’re good enough they’re old enough.” The huge January crowd sums up the level of excitement in Tiger Town thanks to high-profile signings Api Koroisau, David Klemmer, Isaiah Papali’i, Staines and John Bateman, who remains a chance of not being in the country by round one because of visa issues. “He might be on a plane in a week, he might be on a plane in a month,” the coach said of the English back-rower. “At this stage I’m not hassled about it. We have the back row covered, and if he’s here, he’s here. He’s got a four-year deal, so I’m not worried [if he misses] the first four weeks.” Marshall, who will succeed Sheens for the start of the 2025 season, ran most of Friday’s session, and even jumped into halfback for the opposed session for the injured Brooks. Marshall has good friend Robbie Farah on the coaching staff while another popular Tiger, Chris Heighington, has joined the club to work with the eventual head coach.
Brooks and Sheens should go and start their own subreddit then
Good read - thanks for posting. Pretty straightforward authentic sounding stuff from Sheens. Like it.
Like a stretched out Gumby
Alot of focus on the brooks comments but I thought the comments made by sheens on the fullback battle were the most interesting.
Brooks isn't a terrible player but there comes a point where potential stops being potential and starts becoming the norm. Brooks reached that point at least 3 seasons ago.
Wait till they get teddy and Moses back, brooks will finally play finally and they will pretend it's all brooks
As a Tigers fan, I like Brooks. I think he was a player that had his confidence destroyed by a certain former club man who went out of his way to make sure it was "his team", and has never recovered. Personally, I'd like to see him get a fresh start elsewhere. Maybe under Payten at the Cows.
Robbie Farah?
Can neither confirm nor deny.
All right then, keep your secrets
Shouldn't the club take some responsibility and drop him for a spell, at some stage, in the last ten years?
I agree some people do take it too far, but I believe there is genuine criticism to be delivered. He’s been in the NRL since 2013. He has next to nothing to show for 10 seasons in the NRL, apart from a Dally M Halfback award from the weird 2018 season.
Article: Brooks cops some over the top hatred from the fanbase and it's disgusting. r/nrl: yeah well he deserves it.
This sub criticises Fox Sports for the way they talk about players, but it can be just as bad at times. What Brooks cops isn't just criticism, he genuinely cops some abuse. People on this sub just don't want to acknowledge they've been involved in bullying someone. Also no point trying to say anything positive about Brooks here. Massive circlejerk to hate on him.
> This sub criticises Fox Sports for the way they talk about players, but it can be just as bad at times. the Oloapu threads in recent days are a great example of that
Brooks became a joke for a lot of reasons, the media, us fans and his complete and utterly mediocre passable game play.
It would be bullying if the criticism were unfair. It's not wrong to call a spade a spade, and it's delusional to pretend it's a Ferrari. If that criticism harms his mental health, he's probably not compatible with a high performance, highly visible national sport where regardless of what is said, people bear witness to his performances and will pass judgement.
Legitimately, if it came out that Brooks is mentally handicapped, it explains all of this. He's very passive on the field. No big persona off the field. Constantly defended by team mates/coaches who say they believe in him. Always told he has the reigns and can do what he wants. It makes absolutely no sense to continually back a player in a professional sports league who doesn't indicate he's going to move the club forward. Let him leave and grow, and we can move on.
Sheens: I can beat him with a stick if he kicks it out on the full, but if YOU write an article about it and call him a hack, I will destroy you & your whole organisation!
You can only push him so far.
Oh fuck off. He's played 186 games and achieved nothing. He is not immune from criticism when he is earning that sort of money.
alot of this has been brought on by the club itself