He spent 11 seasons and 205 games playing for the Wests Tigers, but Luke Brooks is going to have to wait until round 25 to face his former side after making the huge call to link up with the Sea Eagles for the next four years.
Brooks spoke last week for the first time in a Manly jersey and said he expected to be booed like so many former Tigers stars at Leichhardt Oval, and he’ll find out just how the faithful feel when the Sea Eagles open the round on August 22.
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The showdown between Brooks and the Tigers is just one of several juicy reunions in 2024, with former fan favourite Jack Wighton to return to the nation’s capital to close out round 21.
Wighton won a Clive Churchill Medal and a Dally M with Canberra but has joined the Rabbitohs even though the Raiders were reportedly willing to pay him more than South Sydney for him to stay.
Penrith will seemingly have a grudge match with every team looking to knock off the three-time defending champions, with Brisbane the most eye-catching opponent in round 3 in the grand final rematch.
Panthers fans only have to wait another week when they come up against former wrecking ball Spencer Leniu and his new club the Roosters, while all eyes will be on round 10 when the mountain men host Canterbury.
The Bulldogs have made a habit of poaching some of Penrith’s biggest stars, and 2024 will be no different with Stephen Crichton and Jaeman Salmon joining the likes of Api Koroisau, Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau to have swapped the black jersey for the blue and white.
It’s not just the players who are bracing for potentially mouth-watering meetings, with premiership-winning coach Des Hasler set for a salivating showdown with the Sea Eagles after they sacked him last year.
Hasler can get his revenge at home in round 7 before things heat up in round 20 when the Sea Eagles legend returns to 4 Pines Park for a Sunday afternoon spectacle that will have the fans on the hill torn between club loyalties and supporting a man who did so much for the area.
There’s another premiership-winning coach looking to make a big statement against his former side, with Shane Flanagan heading back to the Shire in round 9 in a tantalising Sunday afternoon local derby.
The man who ended a 50-year premiership drought with the Sharks in 2016 is back coaching with the Dragons after a lengthy exile from the top job, with plenty of pressure on Flanagan to save a Dragons side that has won just one finals match since the 2010 premiership.
