Manly five-eighth Luke Brooks credits a tough night facing former club Wests Tigers for preparing him to shine on his long-awaited NRL finals debut.
Brooks broke a 4040-day post-season drought when he ran out for Sunday's elimination final against Canterbury at Accor Stadium.
His first taste of finals could hardly have gone better, with the 29-year-old touching the ball in the lead-up to three of Manly's four tries in a 24-22 win that books a date with the Sydney Roosters.
"It was a crazy game and an awesome experience - 50,000 fans here; it was so loud," Brooks said of his finals debut.
Brooks had felt mentally prepared to perform on the big stage after a shaky outing against the Tigers in the final month of the regular season.
As was the case ahead of Sunday's finals debut, there was plenty of anticipation surrounding Brooks' return to Leichhardt Oval, the spiritual home of the club he represented for 11 seasons.
Maligned by Tigers fans for his inability to inspire a finals berth in that time, Brooks has admitted he felt nervous for the round-25 clash and subsequently struggled to assert himself on the contest.
The Tigers eventually sprang a 34-26 upset on the highly-fancied Sea Eagles.
But Brooks found he was able to shake the nerves ahead of his similarly highly-anticipated finals debut.
"(The nerves) weren't too bad, to be honest," he said.
"I felt like it was just another game, to be honest, just with a bigger crowd.
"I think (the Tigers game) came at the right time. Obviously it was a new experience for me and I probably didn't handle it as well as I should have.
"I think it's held me in good stead for these big games. I wasn't too nervous going into the (finals) game, it definitely helped me."
Brooks was one of a handful of Manly players involved in putting left centre Tolu Koula over for the decisive try in the final 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon.
Tom Trbojevic began the play with a nifty offload to Reuben Garrick, who found Brooks and the left edge ready to pounce as the Bulldogs hung back on the last tackle.
"It was a big play by Chez (Daly Cherry-Evans) and Turbo to run it on the last, especially in that field position and get the ball out to Tolu," Brooks said.
"It was a great bit of individual brilliance to score the try and put us in front."
