Michael Luck out, but not for long
There's bad luck and then there's hard Luck, and the Warriors' tough-as-nails lock certainly comes into the latter category.
On Saturday night Micheal Luck was lying in the ingoal at Manly's Brookvale Oval, a horrific gaping wound in his leg and blood quickly filling his boot.
He had to be given morphine to help with the pain and was taken to hospital to have the injury cleaned and stitched.
Then here he was late yesterday afternoon limping into the arrivals hall at Auckland Airport, already plotting an unlikely return to the field.
Maybe not this week – though the rugged Australian said he hadn't completely ruled that out – but definitely next, the regular season closer against Parramatta in Sydney.
That's Luck's admittedly "optimistic" view, but he believes it's a realistic one. Put it this way, if it can be done he'll find a way to get back on the field as the Warriors look to seal a playoff spot, and then make some noise in what looks a wide-open post-season.
"I've got no idea," he said when asked about his likely return schedule.
He hasn't even spoken to the surgeon who applied 15 stitches on the outside to close the wound and a lot more internally.
"If I could play this weekend I would. But that would be pretty optimistic thinking. I'll do everything I can to give myself every chance [of being there] against Parramatta. If there's an opportunity to play I'll take it."
Luck's injury – when Anthony Watmough's boot sliced across his leg in a 68th-minute freak incident – is already taking on folklore status at the Warriors, with coach Ivan Cleary saying it looked like he'd been bitten by a shark, and skipper Simon Mannering declaring it the worst he'd seen.
"The skin was just ripped off and you could see down to his muscle, all this pink flesh kind of hanging out. He's such a tough bugger, he wanted to keep playing, but there was no way," Mannering said.
Remarkably, Luck played out the set before collapsing to the ground in agony. "I didn't feel it at the time," he shrugged yesterday. "I suppose it's adrenaline and that running through your body. You do what you have to do. It's a job."
Luck, arguably the Warriors' most important defender, is amused by all the fuss over his injury.
"It was nothing. It just felt like a bang in the leg. I only realised what had happened when we had that break in play and I looked down and saw a bit of blood there.
"But it was pretty sweet until I got in the ambulance, then they whacked the drugs into me and away you go. I felt fine until today."
Luck admits he's not a great spectator and says he'll do it tough from the sidelines this week. Jacob Lillyman is favourite to replace him – but Luck is confident the playoff spot can be sealed in the Friday night clash against the Broncos.
The Warriors are seventh on 28 points and the Broncos one spot and two points further back.
The Warriors hope to welcome back Lewis Brown (shoulder), Ian Henderson (ankle) and Jerome Ropati (groin) this week, and will need all the help they can get to make up for the loss of their hardest-working and toughest forward.
