Scans confirm ACL injury and season over for Manly Sea Eagles’ Luke Brooks
Men’s halfback Luke Brooks was described as “incredibly brave” as he touched the ball six times and made three tackles with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. 30-4 win over Melbourne on Saturday night.
Scans on Sunday confirmed Brooks’ season was over and he would need surgery on his knee.
There was some good news for the Sea Eagles when Joey Walsh was not picked up for a hip-drop tackle by the match review committee, meaning the 20-year-old will likely replace Brooks at halves for the remainder of the season.
Manly coach Kieran Foran, respected for his resilience throughout a football career that included numerous serious injuries, said he was surprised Brooks remained on the field for almost 14 minutes after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his left knee. Brooks even signaled the referee to hurry up and continue the game after he fell to the ground clutching his knee.
“It’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen on a football pitch; you don’t see it and I don’t remember too many players playing with cruciate ligament ruptures,” Foran said on Sunday. he said.
“His toughness has been underrated for most of his career. He’s played great football for us offensively all year, but his defense has been really underrated this year.”
“He has a desire to put his head into the fight and put his body forward.
“I should be surprised that he keeps playing, but I don’t know how strong he is.”
Manly doctor Nathan Gibbs said there was hope the injury wasn’t too serious when Brooks stayed on the field.
“He could feel his knee slipping at different moments during that period, but it was surprising that it kept going,” Gibbs said. “Most people with ACL tears limp off the field or have to be carried away.
“We usually judge how a player is based on his functionality, and we are of the opinion that if you can run around and do stuff, it can’t be that bad.
“But when we looked at him at half-time we saw that he was very unstable and he was shocked. When we felt his knee, it wasn’t necessarily going in the direction it was going when I pulled it and that could just be because the ACL wasn’t working. Scans confirmed a rupture on Sunday.”
Walsh has played just four NRL games but Foran is confident the local youngster is ready to meet the weekly demands of the NRL.
“Like every young half, we don’t expect him to do everything right,” Foran said.
“The one thing I keep telling Joey is to go out and play. He’s got the ability to set his sights and play football and back himself. He’s got confidence and talent and I don’t want to take that away from him.”
“He’s going to make a difference and he’s a great kid. He’s ready.”
Manly will welcome back Reuben Garrick and Kobe Hetherington (concussion) for next Sunday’s match against Parramatta but could lose Haumole Olakau’atu, Tolu Koula and Tom Trboevic to NSW in the State of Origin series decider.
