If there’s anyone that knows the pressure that comes with wearing the No.7 jersey, it’s Luke Brooks.

The Wests Tigers halfback copped a tonne of criticism during club’s failed 2021 season and he also joined the top 10 list of most games played without a finals appearance.

But the tide could change this year for both Brooks and the Tigers with Moses Mbye backing the 27-year-old and his ex-club to have a much better season.

Mbye played 63 games over three-and-a-half seasons for the Tigers but has now joined the Dragons after gaining an early release. There’s no bad blood between the two parties with the 28-year-old telling The Sydney Morning Herald he just “needed a change.”

But while Mbye is focused on locking in a spot in the Dragons’ 17, he’s also thrown his support behind his former teammate.

He believes Brooks has been used as a “punching bag” and has a lot of potential yet to be unlocked

“You keep seeing guys like ‘Brooksy’ used as a bit of a punching bag, but he’s just an exceptional player,” Mbye said.

“It’s going to take one little thing to unlock him and he’ll be away. He just needed a few more people around him to give him the knowledge and information and he’ll be fine.”

Mbye also lauded the return of the club’s only premiership-winning coach, Tim Sheens to in a coaching director role, as well as the appointment of Nathan Cayless as an assistant to Michael Maguire.

“I think what they’ve gone and done now is get some real experienced guys with Sheens and Cayless, and I think they’ll be a real threat this year.

“I think they’re definitely moving in the right direction.

“But for me, I knew I needed a change. I didn’t have a preference where I wanted to go, but I just knew I needed a change from the Tigers.

“I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity at the Dragons.”

Mbye joined the Tigers in mid-2018 on a big-money deal. His versatility is his best asset but also proved to be a curse in some ways as he struggled to find his place in the starting 13.

The three-time Queensland representative spent time in the halves, centres, at fullback, hooker and was a valuable supersub during his Tigers stint.

With Jayden Sullivan tipped to partner Ben Hunt in the halves at the Dragons, boom centre Moses Suli joining the club, Andrew McCullough in the No.9 jersey and two young guns competing for the fullback role, it seems Mbye will once again be a supersub.

“It’s actually quite refreshing having that open mind about what I’m going to be doing,” Mbye said.

“I’ve been training pretty much in every position, and for me it’s just about making the 17 each week. That’s the goal.”

Mbye joins the Dragons with 157 NRL games worth of experience but he says he’s keen to learn from coach Anthony Griffin — someone he had no relationship with prior to signing with the club.

“If I can just be fit, be ready and be healthy (that will be great),” he said.

“In my conversations with ‘Hook’ (Griffin), I’m just willing to learn. He’s such a deep thinker of the game, but in saying that he keeps it very simple for his players.

“I’d played against his teams before and I had no relationship with him until he got to the Dragons.

“You come up with an impression in your head what you think someone is going to be like, but you’re just not sure.

“If you’re from central Queensland like ‘Hook’ is, you either play footy and, if you’re not good enough, you start coaching. And if you’re not good enough to coach, you usually start refereeing. That’s usually how it goes in central Queensland.

“But he just has good expectations of what he wants out of his players, and he lets you know when you’re not living up to those expectations.”