Madge adds key ingredient to Wests Tigers' halves mix

Wests Tigers halves Josh Reynolds and Luke Brooks have proven to be quick learners, instilling the composure in their game that coach Michael Maguire wants to see more of.

Brooks' running game was superb in the 22-16 win over the Broncos but after the game he spoke of the area in both his and Reynolds' games that was most crucial to the win.

After failing to ice the game the previous week in the 9-8 loss to the Panthers, both Tigers halves showcased superb kicking games against Brisbane and kept their cool in the final play.

Instead of rushing a field goal, they took the right option by keeping the ball alive, which ultimately led to Michael Chee Kam's match-winning try.

Brooks set up a try for Luke Garner with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick and both halves were able to secure repeat sets with pinpoint grubbers.

"Madge is big on building pressure, and as a half that is so important in this day and age," Brooks said.

"It is about getting repeat sets so the kicking game is a massive part of it.

"Grub [Reynolds] has sort of changed his game and with Madge coming in it has taught us about building pressure. Grub has really grown that part of his game -building pressure and staying composed.

"We can learn a lot from what happened last week. Again, we were in control and let the Broncos in and started to worry that the same thing was going to happen, then Chee came up with a great play in the end and got us home.

"It happens quite a bit when you go through that adversity of losing a game at the death, especially a game that we should have won. You can go either way. You can turn up and really want to win and that was what we did. We didn’t have our best first half but we came out in the second half and found a way to win."

Maguire said both halves had been "working tirelessly" behind the scenes to fine-tune their game management in the big moments.

Brooks has also been working closely with veteran hooker Robbie Farah, who was superb against Brisbane, on complementing each other. That worked a treat against Brisbane with Farah and Brooks both taking charge without getting in each other's way.

"That is something that we have really figured out, just not stepping on each other’s toes. We are finding that balance," Brooks said.

"Especially in the first two weeks he was on, so I just let him do his thing.

"It is the same thing [vice-versa] where he just lets me do my thing as well. He has toughed it out the past two weeks. He’s been struggling with a bit of injury but he’s tough and has got through it."

Brooks' calling of the shots worked to perfection with the boot where his 11 kicks gained his side 357m. With five bombs, one grubber and a cross-field kick he mixed it up nicely to keep the defence guessing.

Just as impressive was his running game where Brooks had 20 runs for 158m.

"[Maguire] showed me  what my first two weeks were with my high running metres, and compared to last week it was low, so I came into this game really wanting to take the line on and get my runs up," he said.

The spark he played with was also inspired by his halves partner Reynolds whose infectious energy lifted the entire team

"He has been great for us," Brooks said.

"Seeing how he puts in a kick and goes down and chases, it just gets the whole team up. It is really inspiring."