After scoring his first try as a Cowboy in his maiden Queensland derby against Brisbane, Soni Luke is hoping to build on his best performance of the year against Manly.
Injected into the contest in the 10th minute after Reed Mahoney left the game with a head knock, the former Panther pushed himself to play the remainder of the intense game, experiencing the celebrated rivalry between the two clubs first-hand.
Prior to the Broncos game, Luke's longest stint so far this year had been 24 minutes.
“It was awesome, massive atmosphere, the boys spoke about it all week, how big of an occasion it is, and it definitely lived up to the hype,” Luke told NRL.com.
“Good blow in the lungs and I was cramping up towards the end there, which is always fun, but I really enjoyed it.”
With Cowboys medical staff opting to rest Mahoney for another week, Luke has been named to start in this week’s contest, with the club shooting for five wins on the trot.
Luke said he’d be happy to again take on more minutes if required by coach Todd Payten, with no other specialist hookers named in the 19-player squad.
“Definitely (happy to play longer minutes) if Toddy wants me to play some more minutes next game, I'll be happy to," Luke said.
“Hopefully the legs are sweet to go and they hold up a bit better ...”
Soni Luke Try
Kicking off Round 7 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Thursday night, Luke was wary facing off against a team that had as much strike power out wide as his own side, with the likes of Jaxon Purdue and Tom Chester to face off against Tolu Koula, Jason Saab and Lehi Hopoate.
“They're a good team, they've got strike everywhere,” Luke said.
“I think Tolu Koula’s playing some really good footy, they have got big Haumole [Olakau’atu] out there … it'll definitely be exciting.
“It'll be good to see the boys out wide, competing and going at it.
“It's going to be a good battle out on the edges.
“They're in really good form, so I think it's going to be a real close, real tough game and we'll be up for it.
“Hopefully we can compete well and be in the fight all game.”
On his own improvements, Luke praised the work of his forward pack – including a rejuvenated Jason Taumalolo, in-form Coen Hess and an improving Tom Mikaele – for setting a platform him to use his own speed and capitalise on the new rules giving him more room to play around the ruck.
“(I am) just lucky that I'm playing on the back of a really good forward pack with Jase and Tommy and Hess and guys like Big Griff [Griffin Neame].
“They get me going, get the boys going forward and makes my job a lot easier if I want to get out.
“I think as long as I can hang in the fight there when it gets a bit tough and quick … there's going to be a lot of joy for guys like myself and Tommy Dearden, Scotty Drinkwater, Jake Clifford, and if we can capitalise on that and keep executing those type of plays we have to do, we'll be going pretty well.”
Match: Cowboys v Sea Eagles
Round 7 -
home Team
Cowboys
4th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
9th Position
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
