GREAT NEWS: The two reasons Luke Brooks deserves gratitude from Wests Tigers supporters.

Luke Brooks, a Sea Eagles recruit, expressed his happiness with the Wests Tigers‘ encouraging start to the season and gave a high recommendation to Lachie Galvin, the team’s replacement in the halves.

After 11 seasons at Leichhardt, Brooks left the Tigers last year, making room for teenage phenom Galvin, who has drawn attention with some standout performances this season.

Admitting that he still harbors affection for his former team, Brooks has been supporting them under Benji Marshall, their new coach, who has guided them to thrilling wins over Parramatta and Cronulla over the past two weeks.

Brooks told this masthead, “I still have a soft spot for the Tigers; I was at the team for over ten years.” “Watching them has honestly been a little strange. Whether they are players or staff, I still have a lot of friends at the club and know a lot of people there.

They’ve had a few victories, a strong young team, and some seasoned leaders after so many difficult years and starts. They’re playing with great skill.

“[Galvin] has confidence, as evidenced by his willingness to do anything during his debut game.

“He looks tough as well. He gets in there and defends, has that big body, and runs the ball. He’s a great player.

“He’s come into first grade and Benji [Marshall, coach] would be giving him confidence to just go out there and play. I’ve heard it a few times how Benji has told him there are no expectations, and he wants him to go out and play what he sees. That’s good advice for a young kid.”

When Brooks tackled his best friend Mitchell Moses a week earlier, breaking his foot and missing two months of play, the Parramatta halfback unintentionally assisted his former club in defeating the Eels.

Without Moses, who would have trusted himself to kick a possible game-winning penalty goal after full time, the Eels labored on Monday. Tigers captain Clint Gutherson pushed the last kick left, and the team managed to hang on for a 17–16 victory.

For the record, NRL head of football Graham Annesley stated that Jahream Bula had not been tampered with by Eels center Morgan Harper, and the umpires had made the correct call in awarding the Eels a penalty.

“You would call it a mandatory penalty when a player touches the ball and a teammate in front of him picks it up,” Annesley explained. “The Parramatta player touched the ball and attempted to knock it backwards during the ball contest.”

Moses played with a broken foot for 11 minutes the week before against Manly, and is now out for two months.

Only eagle-eyed supporters would have realised it was Brooks who made the tackle on Moses, which was legal. Moses was later seen hobbling in pain in back play.

“I spoke to Mitch a couple of days after the game to check in on him, but I didn’t know it was me [who caused the injury],” Brooks said.

“It was a pretty significant injury, and for him to finish the game … he probably doesn’t get recognised for his toughness, but having played with him, he’s definitely one of the toughest.”

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