The Gus chat that helped convince Brooks to leave

Phil Gould has revealed a conversation he had with Luke Brooks that helped convince the maligned playmaker to end his Wests Tigers career.

Brooks, 29, played 205 NRL games across a decade for the Concord club, but left the perennial battlers without a single finals appearance to his name.

He was the one member of the club's "big four" who stayed on when a crippling exodus hit in 2017, watching close friends and teammates Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco, and Aaron Woods move on.

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The Tigers finished ninth in each of the two seasons immediately following that year, but then tumbled down the ladder to finish 11th and 13th before collecting the last two wooden spoons.

As the highly-paid playmaker it was Brooks who copped much of the flak for those dismal results. Requests to leave the Tigers previously were rejected by the club, but they've now let him go to the Sea Eagles to begin a new football life.

And it was Gould who played a part - however small - in convincing Brooks to leave.

"There is not one person who's not cheering for him, everyone is cheering for him," Gould told Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus podcast.

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"I've always believed (he will do well). I always said it... Luke Brooks (was) not the problem with the Wests Tigers, the Wests Tigers could be the problem with Luke Brooks.

"I honestly believe that. I think he's a talented player who's been harshly criticised over the years, and blamed for a lot of things that were outside his control.

"I applauded his decision to change clubs. I actually had a conversation with him during that period and I said, 'look, you need to look after yourself now, you've done your best for the Tigers, you've stayed loyal when others haven't'.

"He was the one who stayed loyal when others moved on to greener pastures, he stuck fat and he's copped a lot of the heat for it.

"It was probably time for him to look after himself and I think the Manly opportunity is a really good one for him."

Brooks will lace up for his first NRL game with the Sea Eagles this Sunday when they kick off the season against South Sydney in Las Vegas.

Many punters and pundits are tipping Brooks to shine in new colours, and alongside representative halfback Daly Cherry-Evans who will shoulder much of the playmaking load.

Gould believes Brooks will relish playing alongside Cherry-Evans, as well as gun fullback Tom Trbojevic - if the latter can stay fit.

"Manly always prided themselves on their attacking football," Gould said.

"I think he's going to be really good, I think he's going to suit playing with Cherry-Evans.

"The key to them is Trbojevic, Tom. They are certainly a different outfit when he's not on the field.

"But I'm certainly cheering for Luke Brooks... I want him to do well."