Luke Brooks is set to become Manly's five-eighth from 2024 after signing a four-year contract that signals an end to a tumultuous 11 seasons at the Wests Tigers.
The deal comes as part of a spending spree that has lured outside backs Jaxson Paulo and Tommy Talau from the Sydney Roosters and Tigers respectively, and earned Tolu Koula a contract extension.
Off-contract at the end of 2023, 28-year-old Brooks rejected the Tigers' offer of a new deal earlier this month after years of speculation that a fresh start could benefit the much-maligned playmaker.
Despite links to Newcastle, Canterbury and North Queensland, Manly confirmed Brooks' signing on Monday afternoon.
Brooks, sidelined with a hamstring injury, is earning more than $1 million this season on a back-ended Tigers contract.
Brooks will partner Queensland State of Origin representative Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves, freeing the recruit up to play the kind of eyes-up, running football that suits him, and that has frequently been lost in his role as the Tigers' game-manager.
"Luke is a quality halfback,'' Manly coach Anthony Seibold said.
"He has got a fantastic left-foot kicking game and is a really good runner of the football.
"We feel as though he will add to the spine players we have already got at our club."
The move looks likely to spell the end of Josh Schuster's time as Manly's five-eighth.
Off-contract at the end of next year, the highly rated back-rower missed last year's World Cup to trim down and learn the ways of the five-eighth but has struggled for form in his new position, not least due to a run of injuries.
Brooks made his NRL debut as a 19-year-old, earning comparisons to Newcastle great Andrew Johns before he had played a first-grade match.
But Brooks has been unable to inspire the Tigers to the finals in his 202-game stint at the club, leaving him on the receiving end of repeated and often intense public and media criticism.
He is the most-capped active player to never have made a finals appearance, though has shown glimpses of brilliance since debuting in 2013.
Brooks was named the 2018 Dally M Halfback of the Year and enjoyed an upswing in form prior to his hamstring injury this season, notably guiding Wests to a 66-18 thrashing of North Queensland in his 200th game.
The Sea Eagles have bolstered their outside back stocks with the acquisitions of Talau and Paulo, who will join next year on two and three-year deals, respectively.
"What Jaxson and Tommy add to us is competition for spots because we are trying to build consistent performances as a team," Seibold siad.
"We want competition for spots and they add to the quality that we have already got in our outside backs."
Manly have also re-signed centre Koula until the end of 2027, reiterating his status as a player of the future.
"We are really looking forward to seeing him play his best football," Seibold said.
Despite his rejection of their contract extension, the Tigers had previously been hopeful Brooks may have reconsidered his position if a revised offer was fielded.
But now that Brooks has signed elsewhere, Wests' halves situation for 2024 is in urgent need of attention as they prepare to begin a new era under Benji Marshall in 2025.
First-choice five-eighth Adam Doueihi will be sidelined well into next season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered in April, while back-up playmaker Brandon Wakeham is off-contract at the end of this season.