League: Warriors sweat on Issac Luke knee injury

Issac Luke. Photo / Photosport

The Warriors face a nervous wait on scans with hooker Issac Luke facing up to six weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury suffered in last night's 50-10 NRL Anzac Day defeat to Melbourne.

Luke lasted just 16 minutes before being forced off the field with a suspected cartilage problem that could require surgery to potentially rule him out until the round 14 match against Manly.

The 30-year-old will return home to Auckland with the Warriors on Thursday and have the injury assessed further, with coach Stephen Kearney remaining optimistic.

"He's obviously hurt his knee but in terms of what that looks like in time, we'll wait until we get a scan back and see," said Kearney.

"But there's a chance that he'll miss a week or so, we just need to see how that all pans out."

The eight-tries-to-two thrashing saw the Warriors blown off AAMI Park as the Storm dominated possession to race in six first-half tries to claim their biggest halftime lead in the club's history at 38-0.

The Warriors enjoyed more ball in the second half and managed two tries through right wing David Fusitu'a but the Storm never looked threatened as they extended their lead with left wing Josh Addo-Carr and halfback Ryley Jacks each scoring their second four-pointers of the match.

"It was really important that we showed in better effort and commitment in the second half and I thought the boys did that," said Kearney.

"Melbourne obviously executed really well in the first half and we didn't help matters there and added to that.

"That was encouraging. They had every reason to chuck the towel in but we did have a reason to stick at it because we've worked pretty hard in the first seven weeks."

The Warriors expect to have star halfback Shaun Johnson, second-rower Tohu Harris and centre Solomone Kata back on deck for their next game against Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium on May 5.

Kearney revealed first-choice front-rower James Gavet could also return from a hamstring injury that has kept him out over the past month, while outside back recruit Gerard Beale is due to return the following week in round 10 after a lengthy recovery from a broken leg suffered in the Kiwis' World Cup match against Samoa.

"James is a chance of playing (Wests Tigers). He might play this weekend for the ISP team to see where he's at. We'll just see how he goes."

Finding the motivation to bounce back from their second defeat of the season won't be a problem for the Warriors, insists Kearney.

"It's pretty easy. Just what they've achieved in the first seven weeks is a real positive for us and tonight was a bit of a lesson in a couple of areas.

"We need to take the learnings from that and focus on what's worked well for us.

"It's about sticking to what we know works for us and making a couple of adjustments that were highlighted for us tonight.

"That won't be an issue."

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