NRL: Luck itching to get back on the field

Michael Luck injured the hand in the Warriors' grand final defeat to Manly on October 2 and has been a frustrated bystander since. Photo / Greg Bowker.

June 13 can't really come soon enough for Micheal Luck.

It's the day he has the final scan on his broken hand and the day he hopes to be given a full clearance to finally play again.

It has been a long wait. Luck injured the hand in the Warriors' grand final defeat to Manly on October 2 and has been a frustrated bystander since.

What has made it even more difficult is the fact 2012 will be his last as a professional rugby league player. After nearly 12 years and 220 NRL games, the 30-year-old's body has told him enough is enough. As each week passes, the opportunities to add to his tally of games diminishes.

The Warriors play Cronulla in Sydney on June 16, three days after the scan, but Luck is being cautious about an immediate return to first grade and a stint with the Auckland Vulcans is a distinct possibility to regain match fitness and test the hand.

"The hand is going really good," he said. "I'm starting to get some strength and stability back in it. It still hurts but it's nothing that will affect how I play, I don't think. I have a final scan on June 13, which is a couple of days before the game against Cronulla. As long as that is all good, I am hoping to go around that weekend somewhere.

"I haven't done full contact yet. That's why for the first few weeks that I'm back I will will need to go back to New South Wales Cup [and play for the Vulcans]. Geez, I haven't done any contact since October... but that's something I am looking forward to.

"What keeps me going is that I have only got 10 or 12 games to go and I just have to get back in shape and finish those 10-12 games as well as I have played any in my career and leave with my head held high."

There's no question he will be able to do that regardless of what happens over the next four months. He is one of the most respected players and individuals in the game.

In 2009 he was the Warriors' Player of the Year, the year he made an NRL record 74 tackles in a match, and in 2006 and 2007 was club man of the year. In 2008 he made the most tackles of anyone in the NRL and in 2007 was called up to the Queensland State of origin side as 18th man.

Luck once played 70 consecutive games for the Warriors but he's not as durable any more, which is why he is looking forward to retiring at the end of the season.

"I'm ready for a job that doesn't require me getting hurt every weekend," he said.

Luck's return to the playing field will be a welcome one for a Warriors outfit who have had a scratchy start to their season. There is plenty of potential in Brian McClennan's side but they lack leadership and a hard-nosed attitude, qualities which Luck has plenty of, and might have won games like the one they lost 24-22 to the Wests Tigers last weekend if he had been on the field.

"I sit there and I suppose I get frustrated in that I can see momentum swinging in games and we're not dealing with it that well," he said. "It's something I'm not going to fix by myself but I would like to think I can contribute something.

"We have a really young side. You go through the ebbs and flows when you have a lot of young guys at the one time but they are all acquitting themselves tremendously well and they are only going to improve and become more consistent as we go on."