‘He ducked his head’: Luke Brooks breathes huge sigh of relief after Sea Eagles star avoids ban for lifting tackle

The Bulldogs will be without Bronson Xerri next week after he was offered a one match ban for a tackle that will sideline Manly’s Jason Saab for up to a month, but there’s better news on the northern beaches after Luke Brooks wasn’t charged for a lifting tackle that could have ruled him out of his first finals appearance.

Brooks was placed on report in the 58th minute for a tackle that saw Jacob Preston land very awkwardly but thankfully no damage was done.

A grade two charge would have seen the Sea Eagles five-eighth miss three matches, but his name did not appear on the match review committee’s report on Saturday which means he’s free to face the Sharks next week.

A lengthy ban would have been brutal for Brooks who is a fortnight away from playing his first finals game after waiting 12 seasons for this opportunity.

“(My heart was racing) a little bit, but I don’t think it was that bad. I ended up lifting but I pulled out and I feel like he ducked his head as well,” Brooks said after the game.

“I feel like I picked him up and then sort of stopped, and then he ducked his head.

“I don’t think it’ll be too bad, but we’ll see how we go.”

The dodged bullet is a huge relief for the Sea Eagles who will be without superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic next week after he was forced off with an AC joint injury which sent a huge scare through the Manly camp.

Trbojevic got his arm pinned and also copped a knock to the head in the same play which saw blood pouring out of a wound above his eye.

There were fears he had torn his pec or suffered a serious shoulder injury, but the club is hopeful he’ll be fine to play in the first week of the finals having scored 10 tries and set up another 10 in his past seven games.

The good news is the Sea Eagles have options at the back with rookie Lehi Hopoate and Tolu Koula both excelling in the role.

“You can see what he does with the footy. He’s a freak, so any time we don’t have him we obviously lose a lot,” Brooks said.

“I guess the positive thing is that we have two young fullbacks that can play there. Lehi has played a lot of footy there (this season) and Tolu has also played a lot of footy.

“I know it’s disappointing (losing Tom) but whoever gets picked will step up.

“Losing that experience with Turbo, those guys are younger and haven’t played too much first grade there so we’re definitely going to have to step up. We’ve got all the confidence that we can play the same with those boys at the back.”

Hopoate seems the logical choice to move to fullback next week given how well he’s played there in his first season in the NRL.

Brooks was named rookie of the year a decade ago and can see his young teammate following suit when the awards are handed out in a few weeks.

“I reckon he’s a good chance (for rookie of the year),” he said.

“He’s scored that many tries and he’s a great finisher.

“He reminds me a lot of his brother, Will. I remember when he first came in, he was playing on the wing for Manly and he was doing the same sort of things.

“He’s only slight, but he must be hard to tackle because he always tends to make a lot of metres. I think he’s a good shot at rookie of the year.

“I think all the young kids these days, nothing fazes them. He’s got that confidence and has been playing outstanding footy for us.”