The Swansea-born No 8 was one of those bright young things when he made his debut for the Drovers against Cross Keys way back in 2011 and still remembers the shock of stepping up to the senior game.
It is the same for the Academy players who are sent to cut their teeth in the Premiership a decade on, although the 31-year-old Brooks believes the teenage wannabees of today need to be playing more often than they are.
“I started my senior career at Bonymaen and when I stepped up to the Premiership with Llandovery I noticed a big difference in the physicality, tempo and speed of the game,” admitted Brooks, who only switched to the back row when Swansea Schoolboys decided he was too slow to play at outside half and brought in a young Dan Biggar to fill their No 10 shirt.
“It took me six months to adapt to the new level. Since then the amount of ball in play time has risen dramatically and the physicality has just got more intense.
“Part of the reason I’ve decided to finish at Llandovery is because it takes so long to recover from every game. When I first started I was raring to go again by the time we got back to training on a Tuesday night.
“Recently, there have been some Saturday nights when I’ve had to sleep on the sofa because I can’t get up the stairs. And it can take until Thursday night’s training session before I felt ready to go again.”
Brooks had hoped to lead his side to a top two finish in the Premiership before the season was ended early, but still has the WRU National Cup win in 2016 to look back on as one of his best moments at the club.
He shared that moment, and the 25-18 win over arch-rivals Carmarthen Quins at Principality Stadium, with future Scarlets and Wales prop Wyn Jones. He is one of four team mates at Church Bank who have gained international honours, along with Emyr Phillips, Rhodri Williams, Richie Pugh and Adam Warren.
He has also faced a number of other players who have made the grade at the highest level and can reflect on playing Premiership rugby against nine of Warren Gatland’s World Cup squad in Japan and many more who have gone on to attain full caps.
“I’ve noticed in the past few seasons that a lot more younger players have been coming into the Premiership, but I don’t think they are playing often enough. They get taken out for blocks of weight training or weight gaining work and maybe only play once a month,” added Brooks, who hopes to play a few games for former club Bonymaen next season.
“Playing Premiership rugby is definitely the way for them to progress, but they need to become battle hardened by playing more regularly. It is the only way front five forwards are going to learn their trade.
“I’ve played alongside Wyn Jones and Emyr Phillips at Llandovery and it certainly proved the springboard for them to go all the way in the game. I remember playing against Rhys Carre on his Cardiff debut and being told to target him.
“He may only have been 17 or 18, but he had an incredible match, didn’t give an inch in the scrums and scored a try. I thought to myself then, he’s going to be some player.
“It was the same with the likes of Cory Hill, James Davies and Tomas Williams. So many of the current Welsh players have a lot to be thankful for about the way in which the Premiership helped to launch their careers.”
