More mature Issac Luke proves his value to South Sydney
South Sydney Rabbitohs League News
Date March 13, 2014 - 9:56PM
Issac Luke takes on the Roosters defence in last week's win over the
When Issac Luke was named the 2013 Rugby League International Federation hooker of the year, the selection of the New Zealand and South Sydney No.9 ahead of Cameron Smith barely raised a murmur among those at the awards dinner in Manchester on the eve of the World Cup final.
While the Darren Lockyer-like control that Smith asserted last Saturday night to engineer Melbourne's golden point win over Manly again showed why he is considered the greatest hooker of all time, Luke has consistently proven in the past 12 months that he is more than worthy of being mentioned in the same breath.
Despite Smith's field goal heroics in the Storm's 23-22 comeback win, Sports Data's Contributor Value Ratings system ranked Luke as the best performed hooker of last week's opening round of NRL matches based on a combination of dozens of statistics from his role in the Rabbitohs' 28-8 defeat of Sydney Roosters.
Luke was also the NRL's No.1 ranked hooker for the first time last season, according to the CVR rankings, and is far and away the most prolific dummy half runner in the game - making 2100 metres in 2013 compared to 1571m by Smith.
"He is one of the best dummy half runners that the game has ever seen," former Souths captain and teammate Michael Crocker said. "He is that strong and fast and good on his feet."
But there is now also a lot more to Luke's game than being able to get out of dummy half quickly and catch opposition defences on the back foot.
Once considered as an ill-disciplined "grub" because of his on-field antics, which included cannonball tackles on Sam Thaiday and David Shillington and a self-confessed attempt to break the leg of Rangi Chase during the 2011 Four Nations, Luke had no judiciary problems last season and has become a member of the leadership group for both Souths and the Kiwis.
In fact, so highly regarded is the 26-year-old by the Rabbitohs now that talks are already advanced about extending Luke's contract beyond 2015, which would enable him to become one of an increasingly rare group to play his entire career for one club.
"To be called a grub is really hard to take on but I am over it," Luke said. "I don't do that any more. I am more controlled now. I just see the importance of my role at the club and with the boys and the team. That is more effective than how I was before."
The key to the turnaround in Luke's game was the arrival of Michael Maguire as Souths coach.
Away from football, wife Mikayla and manager Martin Tauber have also been a huge influence.
"My family is a massive backbone for me, they have been making sure I do the right thing," Luke said.
Asked who was the toughest on him, Maguire or Mikayla, Luke laughs: "Probably my wife, she is pretty scary."
At Souths, Maguire has worked behind the scenes to help Luke mature on and off the field and while he can be tough, the Rabbitohs mentor has also shown care and concern for him.
Luke admits his transformation stems from a conversation he had with Maguire after meeting the new Rabbitohs coach upon his return from the 2011 Four Nations tournament.
"He sort of fanned it out and I had a pretty good look at it and how I was previously up to that event," Luke said of his discipline. "It is a massive change and I think about my teammates and not myself. I have got a very angry coach so I don't want to piss him off."
Crocker, who also played under Maguire when he was assistant coach at Melbourne, said he once had a similar conversation with Storm mentor Craig Bellamy.
"He told me 'don't lose your aggression but don't give away silly penaltes because I won't tolerate it' and Madge is exactly the same, he doesn't cop any of that sort of stuff because it hurts the team," Crocker said.
Under Maguire, Crocker said Luke was only just beginning to realise how good a player he could be.
"He has developed all those skills over time and last year he really worked on controlling the game as well by making sure he got the ball to the halves at the right times and playing with the markers a little bit more," Crocker said.
"That is where Cameron is obviously the best in the world and probably the best we have ever seen in controlling the game so the more Issac continues to work on his game the better he is going to be and he will continually be talked about in the same sentences as Cameron."
New Zealand team manager Tony Iro said he had also noticed the change in Luke's game.
"We drafted him into the leadership group after what I thought was a real big transition in his performance in 2012 where he seemed to have got his game and his emotions under his control," Iro said. "I think his next progression is controlling the big games because every side will be gunning for Souths as they are now favourites for the title."
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http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...outh-sydney-20140313-hvi4o.html#ixzz2vsvpUz9z
