“He’ll be booed, for sure, they booed him as a Tiger,” Woods told this masthead. “But Brooksy looks set to have the last laugh because he’s only a few weeks away from playing in the finals.
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“They won’t care that he hung around so long. Watch how they will treat Stefano [Utoikamanu] next year when he returns with Melbourne. He’ll cop it. The fans don’t give a s–t. But Brooksy won’t care. He’s flying.
“I remember the first time I returned to play at Leichhardt. I was with Cronulla, it was the final round [in 2019], Robbie Farah played for the Tigers with a broken leg, and our bus had to stop halfway up Mary St because of the crowds.
“I hopped off, walked among the fans, and it was torture. Even my own mates in the crowd booed me that day. But that’s why Leichhardt is so good. You are so close to the ground. You hear everything.”
Tigers centre Adam Doueihi watched Brooks shoulder the blame for the Tigers’ failures on many occasions over the years, and said he hoped fans would respect his years of service to the club.
“Hopefully it’s not a warm welcome for him,” Doueihi said. “We had good fun with Brooksy here, I’m really good mates with him … he copped a lot of flak, especially wearing the No. 7 jersey at the club for so long.
“I’m glad to see him doing well with the change. You don’t hear his name in the media anymore, and there are no negative articles about him. He just has to play his game.”
Another former Tiger who now calls the northern beaches home, Nathan Brown, said it would be a shame if Brooks was jeered because of his contribution to the club. In 2018 he was named Dally M halfback of the year in a side that never made the finals.
“I’m sure the Tigers will respect him as a player and a person,” Brown said.
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