There were plenty of familiar faces at Wests Tigers training on Monday, with legends Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall, Robbie Farah and Chris Heighington all there to take the club back to the glory days after their year from hell.
And there could be another familiar face there next season, with Luke Brooks keen to link up with former halves partner Mitch Moses.
The pair played together for four seasons before Moses left for the Eels midway through 2017.
Brooks said there was unfinished business for them to accomplish at the Tigers after their core four split up just when things were looking good.
Moses’ future is one of the hottest topics ahead of the new season, with the Eels and Tigers ready to splash the cash for his contract and the Bulldogs seemingly dropping out of the race.
A lot has changed since Brooks and Moses last played together, with the Tigers now training out of a new facility that has helped lure some top talent to the club.
“I’ve spoken to him a couple times and told him what the vibe was like and how much it has changed – I’ve been selling the place to him,” Brooks said.
“I’m not too sure what his thoughts are, but I think he’d be a great addition to our side and I’d love to play with him again.
“I think when we came in (to the NRL) we were very young.
“We sort of spoke before about how we would like to have a chance to play together again.
“Whether that’s now or not, I don’t know, but hopefully he makes a decision soon, the one that’s best for him.”
The Tigers are fresh from their worst ever season that included the club’s first wooden spoon, which is why they’ve made a major coaching change and have overhauled the roster with big names Api Koroisau, John Bateman, David Klemmer and Isaiah Papali’i signing on.
Luring those guys was made a lot easier by the new centre of excellence that has state-of-the-art gym facilities, a lecture room for video analysis, swimming pools, a rec room and even some books if the players get really bored.
It’s something that didn’t interest Brooks when he first heard about it from the chief executive, but his mood has changed significantly since seeing the finished product.
“Justin Pascoe showed me their plans back in 2015 and I told him it doesn’t really matter to me,” he recalled.
“But then coming here and having everything here, I think it does make a big difference. It’s something that the club will show off to players and can incentivise them to come here to a world-class facility.”
A shiny new facility counts for nothing if you don’t have the players to win games, and the Tigers have given Brooks and halves partner Adam Doueihi all the tools they need to succeed with a vastly improved pack to play behind.
The veteran halfback’s chances of taking the Tigers to the finals for the first time since 2011 have never been better, and he says the new stars and returning youngsters like Shawn Blore and Stefano Utoikamanu make it the best pack he’s ever played with.
“100 per cent,” he replied when asked if this was the strongest pack he’d seen.
“The guys like Stef and Blorey, you forget they kind of missed the whole of last year. They’re looking strong and fit and then you’ve got Klemmer and Ice and Bateman, who are strike players on each edge and then Api will be in the middle and be able to bring them on to the ball and really get us going forward.
“That can lay the platform for us to play off the back of. Those guys in the pack plus all our young forwards who had a bit of a taste last year will only benefit our side.”
