Luke Brooks is looking forward to a lower pressure job with new side Manly following years of scrutiny at Wests Tigers and firmly believes his best football is yet to come.
Brooks also predicted the Tigers will dodge a third consecutive wooden spoon as Benji Marshall takes the reins from 2024.
The 28-year-old playmaker began preseason with the Sea Eagles this week after more than a decade steering the ship at perpetual strugglers Wests.
Though his talent shone through at times, Brooks was repeatedly maligned by pundits and the joint venture's fan base for his inability to inspire a finals berth across 11 seasons.
His move to Manly came after years of speculation a fresh start could be just what Brooks needed to reproduce the form that made him the 2018 Dally M Halfback of the Year.
"It definitely (feels like a clean slate)," Brooks said at his first media appearance with Manly on Friday.
"It's going to be good for me, a bit of a change. I was at the Tigers for a long time so it gets me out of my comfort zone by coming here."
Brooks wished his old side the best and was hopeful they would not find themselves on the bottom of the ladder again.
"I hope not, I hope they do well, I wish them all the best," he said.
"I've moved on. I have a lot of mates there, a lot of good people I've known for so long, and I honestly hope they do well."
Brooks is poised to usurp Josh Schuster as five-eighth after Manly's experiment to shift the back-rower to the halves misfired in Anthony Seibold's first season as coach.
"Eyes-up football" has long been Brooks's strength and he has enjoyed some of his best form when paired with a game-managing half, most recently Jackson Hastings at the Tigers in 2022.
Playing second fiddle to Cherry-Evans, coming off a stellar year, looms as a lower pressure position to his spot running the show at the lowly Tigers.
"(Seibold) talked about taking a back seat because I copped it a lot over there (at the Tigers). I'm looking forward to laying low here," Brooks said.
"(Cherry-Evans) is definitely one of the reasons I signed here to be alongside him. He's a quality player and I think he keeps getting better with age.
"Taking my opportunities and running the ball is when I play my best footy so I think that'll definitely help me."
It's all combined to make Brooks feel that he can make the most of the next four seasons with Manly.
"I still think I've got the best footy in front of me," he said.
"Coming here, a lot of the pressure is off me so I can just focus on footy. I think I'm playing my best footy when I'm enjoying it so that's what I think will happen here."
