Green urges Warriors to show their worth on field
WESTS Tigers coach Ivan Cleary admits his desire to bring son Nathan to Concord is real as speculation begins to swirl about Luke Brooks’ future.
The Tigers have a big decision to make over the next four months as they attempt to lure Penrith and NSW playmaker Nathan to the club in 2020 with No. 7 Brooks off contract at the same time.
Under NRL rules, both will be able to field offers from rival clubs from November 1, with Nathan stating his desire to sort out his future in the off- season.
Nathan has made clear his desire to work with his father at one point in his career. “It’s just another recruitment option,” Ivan said.
Pushed on whether he would like to team up with his son at the Tigers, Ivan said: “Yes.”
It puts Ivan in an awkward position – he has previously told Brooks to own the side and the Tigers local junior has responded by turning in the best season of his career.
It remains to be seen whether the Tigers can accommodate both Cleary and Brooks in the same side.
Both are organising playmakers ANY Warriors feeling belittled by the referee “demotion” tag surrounding them this week should take their frustration out on the field.
That’s the attitude of playmaker Blake Green following Gerard Sutton’s appointment to control Sunday’s NRL match against the Gold Coast Titans in Robina.
An NRL statement leading whistler Sutton said had and are arguably too similar. Asked whether his son and Brooks could play together as a six and seven combination, Ivan said: “Who knows.”
Brooks has stated he wants to sort out his future sooner rather than later and Ivan denies there is any lingering tension.
“I think Luke is doing really well this year,” Ivan said.
“I think he’s developing nicely as a player. He’s a good person, he loves the club and that’s really important. He’s doing a great job at the moment.” been “demoted” following a widely criticised performance in charge of last week’s Canberra- Cronulla clash. Veteran Warriors hooker Issac Luke described the NRL wording as an insult and disrespectful to both teams in a deleted tweet.
Coach Stephen Kearney and captain Roger TuivasaSheck said the issue had been discussed but didn’t want to comment on whether they or other players grieved as Luke.
Green said it was important the eighth- placed Warriors didn’t get too distracted by the slight as their play- off hopes enter a crucial phase. Instead they should funnel any angst into controlled physicality at Cbus Super Stadium.
However, the veteran fiveeighth couldn’t resist a dig when it was suggested the were as ag- Auckland club aren’t rated by officialdom.
“Hopefully they get a big crowd to the game this week, that might be a reflection of how we’re travelling,” Green said.
“Maybe we’re a bit more important than what people see us at the moment. But we can’t control what people say about us or how they feel about us. We’ve just got to keep winning footy games, we’ve got a big six weeks coming up.”
Nobody at the Warriors was seeking an apology and Kearney had calmed down following his scalding post- match critique of the state of NRL refereeing following the 12- 6 loss to Melbourne in Auckland.
On Sunday, Kearney described that element of the game as “poorly led” and “a blight on our game”.