Luke Brooks has confirmed to the Wests Tigers that he will not be remaining with the club into the 2024 season.
Off-contract at the end of the current campaign, Brooks has been offered a new deal by the Tigers, but according to various media, will not accept the deal.
Brooks is believed to have rung assistant coach Benji Marshall on Sunday morning to deliver the news, according to both News Corp and The Sydney Morning Herald.
While the rumoured deal presented to Brooks has been disputed, it's believed it was approximately half the value of the one expiring at the end of this year, and could have been for two or three more years, coming hot on the heels of a dramatic turnaround in form for the now injured halfback, who suffered a significant hamstring blow on Thursday night against the Gold Coast Titans.
It's something Tigers' chairman Lee Hagipantelis has confirmed, telling The Sydney Morning Herald that the deal wasn't acceptable to Brooks, who will now test the market, although the Tigers haven't neccessarily shut the door on the idea of retaining Brooks.
“Luke rang Benji himself and communicated to him that the offer made by the club wasn't acceptable,” Hagipantelis told this masthead on Sunday.
“We believe that we had made what we considered to be an attractive offer, managed in accordance with salary cap expectations moving forwards. Luke's perfectly entitled to accept or reject the offer and test the market, which he's intending to do.
“The offer made by the club has been formally rejected. But that doesn't necessarily mean the door is closed. If Luke or his manager came to us with a proposal it would receive proper consideration.”
The chairman admitted to News Corp that the club were "disappointed."
Brooks has spent 11 years with the Tigers, never being able to guide the side to the finals - he holds the unwanted record as the most-capped NRL player to never play a finals game.
The much-maligned halfback had burst onto the scene as one of the best young prospects in the game, but has, for the most part, failed to realise his potential.
In a move that will be seen as the best for his career and the future of the Tigers by the majority, Brooks will now likely field offers from both NRL and Super League clubs, with a significant lack of talent in the halves off-contract at the end of this season.
That in itself will put the Tigers in a difficult spot to secure a replacement following the exit of Jock Madden to the Brisbane Broncos prior to the 2023 season starting, with Brandon Wakeham likely to be extended as a starting point. Adam Doueihi is also likely to return about halfway through next year after suffering a significant knee injury at the start of this campaign.