A dislocated finger put an end to Issac Luke's days of wearing his wedding ring, but last week the Warriors hooker found the ultimate alternative.
The 29-year-old now proudly wears a tattoo of a ring on his finger, featuring the initials ‘ML’ for wife Mickayela Luke.
Luke said it was something which meant a lot to him, and spoke of his pride in being be able to take it onto the field with him every week.
"She [Mickayela] is pretty much the backbone of my whole career, so to be able to take her out there with me is special," Luke said ahead of Sunday's trip to face the Sharks at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
"I can't wear my wedding ring on this finger, so I just got it tattooed on.
"She loved that (NBA star) Steph Curry did it, and his wife has done it, so I think she wanted me to do it as well."
Earlier this year Luke also paid a public tribute to Mickayela and newborn daughter Frankie, with a special on-field celebration following his try against the Broncos in Round 2.
After an underwhelming start to 2016 the veteran Kiwi No.9 has crept back closer to top form in his last two games, running for over 100 metres in both and playing the full 80 minutes at dummy-half.
"I’m getting there, it's just getting used to the structures and players in our team and being able to work off them," Luke said.
"There's a bit of competition between [the forward pack] to see how many times they can get a fast play the ball, and with them leaving a platform like that we get to reap the rewards after it.
"As long as we are taking all our opportunities at the right time then things are going well."
Luke was instrumental in the Warriors' 12-10 victory over the Roosters last week, booting four goals from as many attempts to give them the crucial edge in a game where they only scored one try.
With Shaun Johnson battling a quad strain, Luke became the first-choice kicker for the Warriors, but coach Andrew McFadden was unsure who would handle the duties against the Sharks at this stage.
"We will wait and see, obviously Shaun is our main kicker, so when he feels comfortable and ready – it may be this week – we will wait and see how he pulls up," McFadden said.
"We will have to [limit Johnson's training] at the moment, obviously it's a short week and he is still a bit sore."
