Luke shoulders burden
Warriors hope scans will clear hooker after dislocation in victory over Dogs.
The Warriors are hopeful hooker Issac Luke will make a swift recovery after he dislocated his shoulder in Friday night’s gritty 21-14 NRL win over the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Luke was a leading performer for the Warriors in the first half at Mt Smart Stadium, with the Kiwis international running and kicking well from dummy half before suffering the injury seven minutes before halftime as he was flung to ground after making a pass.
Luke will have the shoulder assessed today and although Warriors coach Stephen Kearney is optimistic, it is too soon to know if he will be fit for Saturday’s clash against Manly in Perth.
“He has pulled up really well and he feels really confident about it,” Kearney said.
“He’s got some pretty good movement in it but it’s one of those things, we’ve got to get it assessed.
“But he’s waving his arm about so he felt pretty good, but we’ll see how he pulls up over the next day or so.”
Despite the loss of one of their most experienced players, the Warriors lost little with replacement hooker Nathaniel Roache adding spark to their attack and starch to their defence to help the home side grind their way to victory.
The 21-year-old made 11 appearances last year — but ankle, thyroid, and back issues disrupted the early part of this season, limiting him to seven outings off the interchange bench.
Kearney was pleased with Roache’s contribution and said he would be comfortable handing him a start next Saturday if Luke is unavailable to face the Sea Eagles at nib Stadium.
“I wouldn’t have an issue putting him in there,” he said. “It’s been a really tough one for Nate, because we’re trying to manage him in terms of trying to find the spot to get him on the field.
“My expectation is that’s certainly what he’s capable of and not only in the attacking side, I thought he defended really strongly, and that’s what he’s got in his ability.
“We just got an opportunity to see it and it has been in short bursts previous [to the game].”
With Kieran Foran missing due to a quad injury, young five-eighth Ata Hingano slotted in well alongside halfback Shaun Johnson, who kicked effectively to keep the Bulldogs in their own half for much of the match.
“We anticipated given the conditions it was going to be a really tough grind, so we had a real focus on kicking and making them work really hard to come out of the back field and the guys did that pretty well for most of the game,” Kearney said.
“It was certainly playing to the conditions.
“In terms of the movement of the footy, it was going to be a little limited, given it was pretty greasy out there. If they were going to get points, they had to come from a long way to try to get them, so that was a focus for us.”
The Warriors have now won three of their last four games.