Luke Brooks must have thought it was Groundhog Day last month when he had to start all over again with a new coach – for the ninth time in his NRL career.
New Zealand Warriors cult hero Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is the only other current NRL player to have played under so many clipboard holders.
Manly five-eighth Brooks watched Anthony Seibold walk out the door at 4 Pines Park two weeks ago, to be replaced by Kieran Foran – one the great modern-day Sea Eagles No.6s – on an interim basis. Foran is the latest in a long, long line of coaches Brooks has played for, including Jason Taylor, Andrew Webster, Ivan Cleary, Michael Maguire, Brett Kimmorley and Tim Sheens.
Foran himself played at five different NRL clubs during his career and said that while a change in coach could be destabilising, especially for a playmaker, there were also benefits.
“When you’ve had so many different coaches, like Brooksy now has, you can look at it as a chance to learn different styles and philosophies and take the one or two things you enjoyed to grow your own game,” Foran said.
“The other good thing with Brooksy is he has a cool head on his shoulders, and even with all the chopping and changing, it hasn’t affected him.
“I always admired him when I played against him. The one thing that stands out is his resilience. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and he’s had to overcome plenty of challenges, but he’s always kept turning up and playing high-quality footy.”
Brooks is into his third year at the Sea Eagles, but spent more than a decade as the perennial punching bag when halfback at the Wests Tigers.
Aaron Woods, a former Tigers teammate and good friend of Brooks – and someone who played under 11 coaches in clubland – said that the coaching carousel at the Tigers placed the 31-year-old well to help any Sea Eagles players struggling with the early season adjustment.
“Brooksy has been through worse at the Wests Tigers – and the good thing about this latest situation is Manly still have a really good side, which will help,” Woods said.
“None of this will faze Brooksy. He’s been able to take little things from each coach. And I think ‘Foz’ will be awesome for him. Foz was also a five-eighth, and just watching him play the other night against the Dolphins, Brooksy was happy to run the ball more, and that’s when he’s always at his best.
“[Halfback] Jamal Fogarty isn’t a game-breaker, but he gets the team to certain spots on the field, and that allows Brooksy to become more of a run threat.”
Foran said there was not much he had changed about Brooks’ game ahead of Friday evening’s away clash against a winless but desperate Dragons.
“You don’t have to teach a guy like Brooksy the Xs and Os because he knows how to get around a footy field, what works for him and what doesn’t,” Foran said.
“All I have to do is make sure Brooksy understands just how good he can be. We’ll keep encouraging him to take the line on throughout the 80 minutes.
“But my biggest thing for Brooksy will be telling him to keep believing how influential and good he can be for our footy team. He’s got plenty to offer. He’s such an integral part, and I really hope he knows and feels that.
“If we’re going to do anything this year, he’ll be playing a significant part in us doing that.”
Manly pulled off a shock 52-18 victory over the Dolphins in Foran’s first game in charge. The coach said the only thing he had worked on beforehand was getting the players to believe in themselves.
Barnstorming back-rower Haumole Olakau’atu said Foran had told him “to do what I do best, which is run the ball, and get involved early”, before he came out and played the best game of his career.
According to Australia’s premier statistician David Middleton, Parramatta legend Bob O’Reilly played under a record 12 coaches, followed by Woods (11), Dale Copley and Michael Gordon, also 11, while Shaun Johnson had 10.
