Brooks to get his Knights wish as Tigers look to new halves pairing

The Newcastle Knights have their big-money halfback signing all but locked up: Once Ts are crossed and Is are dotted, Luke Brooks will move on from the Wests Tigers, despite having a year left to run on his $900,000 deal.

Brooks has been target number one for the Knights since before the 2022 NRL season.

Newcastle originally tipped Brooks as a strong replacement in the blue-and-red number seven jumper after veteran star Mitchell Pearce exited his contract early to take up a Super League opportunity. At the time, the Tigers were unwilling to let their 186-game playmaker leave without a ready-made succession plan on paper.

Heading into 2023, the Wests board now feels they would be better placed to move Jackson Hastings into the halfback role alongside Adam Doueihi and are happy to get Brooks and his $900,000 off the books—especially if the Knights foot the entire bill for next year.

Brooks’ new club has a similar halves shuffle planned. The 27-year-old Leichhardt junior would take the reigns for Adam O’Brien’s team while out-and-out superstar Kalyn Ponga would move into five-eighth to get him closer to play.

The move seems imminent, with Brooks requesting a release earlier this week.

This Knights signing will see the club’s current halves pairing, Adam Clune and Jake Clifford, relegated to reserve grade while they play out the last years of their contracts. Both are signed through to the end of the 2023 season.

In a shocking call on the Toohey’s News podcast, O’Brien lamented not scoring Brooks sooner.

The Knights coach, who has a 43% win rate in his first coaching gig and exited the finals in straight sets in 2020 and 2021, pointed to his halves combo as a reason why 2022 may have gone off the rails. He said he wished the Tigers had come to the table on the Brooks deal and added “had we landed him, maybe we would have had a different season.”

Newcastle slumped to a 14th-place finish in O’Brien’s last campaign in charge.

Brooks has enjoyed a long career with the Tigers, but even the Knights’ recent exits outshine his best years. He was crowned Dally M Halfback of the Year in 2018 but has never played finals.

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