LUKI’S ROOKIE YEAR JUST THE BEGINNING
WHEN Heilum Luki penned his goals for the season, there was only one item on the agenda – debut in the NRL. Now he has emerged as the future of the Cowboys’ forward pack.
The towering 20-year-old capped a promising maiden campaign with North Queensland’s rookie of the year award, finishing with three tries from 11 games.
Such was his rise throughout 2021, Luki found himself in the starting side on three occasions, painting a picture of what the future may hold for the Cowboys.
While he surpassed all of
his expectations, Luki still considers his first game the finest moment in his life.
With 50 family members in the crowd, donning shirts etched with his name, he dived over to score in the dying stages against Newcastle, sending the Luki clan into raptures while losing his kicking licence midcelebration.
“It (my debut) was pretty special. My family has been there my whole life, especially in footy. To have all of them there at my debut was really special,” Luki said.
“(They make) sure I’m turning up and giving 100 per cent every week, whether it be at training, at the game or
helping out at the canteen. They were always making sure I was helping out.
“I had a few goals this year and to debut was one of them. I guess being my first year in the NRL system, I just wanted to train hard, rip in every day and my ultimate goal was to debut. I did that and everything else has been a bonus.”
Luki is among a promising group of young Cowboys forwards who endured the challenging 2021 campaign. The hope now is the harsh lessons learnt take them to greater heights.
The likes of Tom Gilbert, Griffin Neame, Ben Condon and Jeremiah Nanai have
shown enough signs to suggest if they can overcome the form spiral that has plagued the club in recent years, there is a formidable pack in the making.
Coach Todd Payten has already flagged mass changes to the way in which they approach the season, leaving Luki bracing for the toughest summer of his life.
But with visions of owning a spot in the Cowboys’ second row for the longterm, he said it would be necessary to become a dominant unit. “I’m going to enjoy my holidays because once that pre-season comes around, I know it’s going to be pretty tough,” he said.