SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 04: Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold walks on the field during the round one NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Canterbury Bulldogs at 4 Pines Park on March 04, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Manly Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold has detailed the reasons why the club signed maligned former Wests Tigers half Luke Brooks.
In a move which has widely been considered the best available for all parties, Brooks finally ended his decade-long stint with the Tigers, where he failed to play a single finals match.
Moving to the Sea Eagles, some of the pressure Brooks felt at the Tigers will be released with Daly Cherry-Evans playing halfback and organising the team, allowing him to play a more natural running game in the number six jersey.
Seibold told NRL 360 that factor, combined with a single performance against the North Queensland Cowboys when the Tigers recorded a surprise enormous win, were the major reasons behind Manly signing Brooks, who said at the time he left the Tigers after being placed under a tight deadline to re-sign with the joint-venture.
“I think when Brooks has been at his best his running game has been outstanding,” Seibold said on the Fox Sports show.
“He has got a great left foot kicking game and I just thought that's what we needed.
“Cherry-Evans and Trbojevic do all the organisation for us and I just thought if we could free him up from the organisation role and just play a running game and use his left foot kick.
“And he is a brave guy as well. He gets his body in front of the big edge back-rowers, so we just thought it would be a good fit for us and a good fit for him.
“Probably the clincher was I watched a game against the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval and the Tigers had a fantastic win that night.
“I think it was Brooks' 200th game and he was outstanding and I just thought he would be great for us as a club and we would be good for him as well.”
Brooks starts his time as a Sea Eagle on Sunday (AEDT) in Las Vegas against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.