Veteran representative halfback Daly Cherry-Evans believes new recruit Luke Brooks will flourish in the Manly Sea Eagles system next season.
Signed from the Wests Tigers, Brooks failed to make the NRL finals once during his stint with the club and holds the longest finals drought of a current player.
However, Cherry-Evans believes that Brooks will be better when playing alongside him in the halves, will flourish in the club's system and the two can make the Manly Sea Eagles once again be a premiership threat.
The club's skipper is also eager to find some stability in Brooks after going through several halves combinations after the departure of Kieran Foran to the Gold Coast Titans.
The 2023 season saw Cherry-Evans play with four different players in Josh Schuster, Cooper Johns, Kaeo Weekes and Jake Arthur.
“Brooksy has always been a cool player to watch, and his best footy is exciting footy,” Cherry-Evans said via the Herald.
“He's a left-footed kicker, he loves running the ball and he's a brave defender – he doesn't get enough of a rap for being as tough as he is in defence. Being tough in defence doesn't mean you make all your tackles, but if you're tough, you get the respect from your teammates.
“He's been good in a side that has done it tough during his career. But I think he will flourish in the Manly environment.
“You have Jake [Trbojevic], Tom [Trbojevic], Schuster, people who can create space for other people. And the way we play our footy, that expansive footy, he will really enjoy that.
“I get the luxury of going into Origin camp and into Aussie camp, and you learn and hear different ideas; it keeps me thinking.
“With Brooksy having a change of coach, and being around different players, that will also really help him.”
After talking about Luke Brooks, Cherry-Evans would also go on to discuss Josh Schuster and his move to the second-row next season.
Schuster had an interesting season and showed signs of his potential but struggled with a lack of fitness and made some bad decisions in the halves which saw him dropped at the backend of the season in favour of Jake Arthur.
“He faced some adversity this year, and he had to get his body right,” Cherry-Evans said.
“He put himself into a position where he didn't finish the season in first grade and now he needs to get that mindset where he has to win his jersey back at all costs. I know he can do it.
“I know how skillful he is, and how much ability he's got. He needs to keep that consistency, not just with his footy, but his mindset – he needs to stay hungry all the time, and if he does that, I know how good a footy player he will be.
“He can be a very good five-eighth or a very good back-rower. That can only be a good thing for Manly.
“Good sides have that luxury of moving players when things go wrong in games. It could end up being an awesome combo with him and Brooksy.”
The Manly Sea Eagles will kick off their 2024 NRL campaign in Las Vegas against rivals the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who are set to be without new signing Jack Wighton due to the former Raider earning a suspension for biting Tyson Gamble.