The Warriors new Bully
Isaac Luke has been signed on a 3-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors today. Luke was given permission from the Bunnies to jump ship given his extraordinary service over the years.
Citing homesickness and a desire to return home and play for the Warriors, Luke at 27, still has plenty left in the tank and could be a superstar signing for the Warriors.
The big question though, is he the right man for the job and now that the Warriors have a number of hookers and halves on their books, who is in the cross hairs?
With Bully’s signing, Nathan Friend can all but kiss his NRL career goodbye. This is a shame, as Friend has no doubt been the Warriors beset in the number 9 jumper, probably in all of their 20 years. The Chad’s name has been tossed about moving back to Sydney to be close to family and Cappy seems to love Leuleui, so the spine is set to look like this as of next year.
At fullback – RTS, Halfback – Magic Johnson, 5/8th – Thomas Leuleui and Luke at Hooker. If you are a Kiwis fan, you’d be close to reaching for the lotion right about now.
Back to the original question, is Luke the man for the job? What job? Building a house? No. Cannonball tackling training? Yes. Tip-tackling? Yes. Hooker? Hell yes.
At the moment, there is probably only one man who wears the number nine jumper who is better than Luke. That man is Cameron Smith. Two completely different players, with two completely different games. Smith is a cool calm and collected bloke, while Luke brings aggression strength and a loose cannon type attitude. Exactly what the Warriors need.
We are only a third of the way through the season, so for the Warriors fans above reaching for the tissues and lube, just relax. Your blokes have a mountain to climb in 2015 before they can even think about 2016.