How Wests Tigers readied Brooks for finals campaign

Sea Eagles five-eighth Luke Brooks has revealed how Wests Tigers helped ready him for his first finals series as he prepares to face former team-mate James Tedesco on Saturday night.

Brooks played a key role in Manly’s two second half tries as they snatched a 26-24 win against the Bulldogs on Sunday, and he said returning to Leichhardt Oval to play Wests Tigers four weeks ago had helped him shake off any nerves.

The 29-year-old playmaker spent 10 seasons at Wests Tigers without playing a finals match and he was a target for fans as the home side sprung a 34-26 upset in his first trip to Leichhardt since joining Manly this year.

“I think that came at the right time, obviously it was a new experience for me and I probably didn't handle it as well as I should have,” Brooks said after waiting 4040 days from his NRL debut for Wests Tigers to play a finals match.

“I think it's held me in good stead for these big games. I wasn't too nervous. It definitely helped me. I felt like it was just another game, to be honest, just with a bigger crowd.

"It was a crazy game and an awesome experience, with 50,000 fans. It was so loud, especially the Dogs fans ... but the Manly fans were behind those sticks where we scored, so it was pretty awesome."

The Sea Eagles play Sydney Roosters on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium, with the winner advancing to the grand final qualifier against the Storm next weekend.

The Roosters will be looking to bounce back after being blown off the park in the first half against Penrith last Friday night before going down 30-10 and Brooks said Tedesco, who he came through the ranks with at Wests Tigers, would be a danger.

“It's another big game and I'm looking forward to coming up against him,” Brooks said. “He's just so consistent that you're sort of just used to him playing so well. This year he's been killing it, so he's someone we're going to have to stop next week.”

Despite being unable to perfect a scrum base move with Daly Cherry-Evans at training last week, Brooks stood tall on the biggest stage as he delivered a perfectly weighted short pass for his halves partner to score in the 56th minute.

“I think we'd practiced it twice and stuffed it up, so I was a little bit worried when we went to it, but it worked perfectly so that was good,” Brooks said.

He then acted as a link between Reuben Garrick and Ben Trbojevic as the Sea Eagles shifted the ball inside their half on the last tackle to unleash speedster Tolutau Koula on a 47m run to score the match winning try in the 72nd minute.

Cherry-Evans had spotted that the Bulldogs defenders dropped deep on the last tackle in anticipation of a kick and instead passed to star fullback Tom Trbojevic, who made a half break before passing to Garrick.

“It was a big play by Chez and Turbo to run it on the last, especially in that field position, and get the ball out to Tolu,” Brooks said.

“I felt someone coming to me and we had a bit of space out there. Obviously, the winger drops back so we knew there was a bit of room out there.

“It was a great bit of individual brilliance to score the try and put us in front.”