The NRL off-season is always a prime time for fans to start hypothesising transfers, and for the rumour mill to kick into gear.
With reports that Mitchell Pearce has had his head turned by the Catalans Dragons, the veteran’s departure could trigger a chain reaction – despite the Wests Tigers protestations that their playmaker, Luke Brooks, is going nowhere.
The Bulldogs are apparently also interested in Brooks, and if they were to pull off that unlikely transfer coup, would be looking to move Kyle Flanagan on as well. But how much does any of this help anyone?
Luke Brooks
For better or worse, Brooks has been the face of the Tigers over the past decade, and the primary target of criticism when it comes to their mediocre performances in his tenure.
Brooks’ talent is unquestionable, and he was dealt a bad hand from the start – nobody is ever going to live up to the ‘Next Andrew Johns’ tag. Still, there have been times where this team should have been playing September football and didn’t, and that blame has to at least partly lie with him.
The 26-year-old feels like a prime candidate as someone who you could chuck into a competition heavyweight and see a level of play that we’ve not yet seen from him. Mitchell Moses thrived after leaving the Tigers, and James Tedesco became the best player in the world.
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There’s a world where Brooks pops up in the seven jersey for the Roosters or Storm for a year, they make the finals, and he looks solid enough. The issue is that contending teams are difficult to come by, and despite the Knights making the finals for the past two years they are undeniably a step below that top bracket of teams.
Mitchell Pearce
It’s difficult to properly quantify the veteran half’s career. A premiership winner in 2013, Pearce was unceremoniously dumped for Cooper Cronk by the Roosters who immediately went back-to-back after doing so.
If you speak to Knights fans, some insist he’s the heart and soul of the team and point to his injuries as the primary reason for their at times mediocre form, while others blame him for taking too much control and stifling the contributions of more creative players such as Kalyn Ponga.
What can’t be argued is that Pearce still has the ability to perform in the NRL – but having no doubt spoken to old friend James Maloney about the lifestyle and the team culture in the south of France, who could blame him for wanting to ride off into the sunset in Perpignan?
Kyle Flanagan
Few players have endured a tougher time of it over the past season than the Bulldogs halfback. In and out of the first grade team and repeatedly put under the microscope, the 23-year-old broke down in front of reporters following a game against the Dragons in which he was hooked.
He has another two years on his contract after switching to Belmore from the Roosters last year – and there’s probably not many players who would have benefited more from having the reserve grade football that COVID took away than Flanagan.
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There are obviously positive aspects to his game – he’s a fine support player and a very good goalkicker – and as it stands, he will likely get the chance at some point to make that number seven jersey his own, with the only competition from local junior Jake Averillo.
Overall it’s difficult to make the case that any of these moves make sense for anyone, other than Catalans. Pearce has been successful wherever he’s gone, but is nearing the end of his career.
Brooks has talent but will gain nothing from being thrust from one team outside of the top of the table to another – and Flanagan needs consistent football, not another change of scenery.
Given it’s only October, there’s still plenty of time for players to move and for others to come in and fill leftover voids – but right now, the best thing for all three of these NRL clubs would probably be to retain the status quo.
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