Luke hooks into pre-season training

Trimmed-down Warriors hooker Issac Luke admits he has failed to deliver for the past two seasons but has vowed to repay the club’s longsuffering fans in what could be his final year with the Auckland-based NRL franchise.

The 30-year-old former Kiwis hooker is entering the final season of a hefty three-year contract, and regardless of whether he extends his time at the Warriors, he’s determined to right some wrongs.

Since arriving at the club as a marquee signing in 2016, Luke has battled weight and fitness issues and struggled to recapture the form that made him one of the game’s best hookers during nine seasons at the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

“I came over to do a job and the last two seasons, I’ve failed,” Luke told the Herald on Sunday. “I’ve pissed most fans off but I don’t want to piss them all off.

“I know I haven’t played up to my standard. The name I made for myself [in Australia], it wasn’t tarnished here, but it has been questioned.

“I’ve just got to have a good season. It’s my last year at the club, if I was to leave, so I’m going to try to impress.”

Luke’s renewed determination comes after he was dropped late last year by coach Stephen Kearney in favour of young hooker Nathaniel Roache, after the Warriors slumped to their fifth straight defeat with an embarrassing round 22 performance at Newcastle.

That was a wake-up call, but reality hit home for the 37-test veteran when he was overlooked by New Zealand selectors, with 22-year-old Knights hooker Danny Levi getting