League: Kiwis hooker taking nothing for granted

Kiwi Hooker Issac Luke. Photo / Getty Images

Hooker Issac Luke is taking nothing for granted as he presses his claims for the Kiwis' No 9 jersey during the inaugural Four Nations rugby league tournament.

Luke, 22, was in the starting 13 against Tonga in Rotorua on Wednesday when his elusive darts out of dummy half were a feature of New Zealand's mixed performance in a 40-24 win.

The test was the South Sydney Rabbitoh's seventh, and his first since the World Cup final victory over Australia in Brisbane last November, when he was came off the bench to relieve Thomas Leuluai.

The positions were swapped this week, with Leuluai the back-up dummy half.

But Luke, who missed the Anzac test in May through suspension, didn't consider he had the inside running for the opening Four Nations fixture against the Kangaroos in London on October 25 (NZT).

"Not really, it could change from week to week," he said.

"It just depends on your attitude and how you take training.

"You've got to earn your spot in this team. That's what each individual has to do. That's all we're worried about."

Hawera-born Luke, who left Auckland today with the rest of the New Zealand tour party, knows from experience the cost of a lax approach.

Five months after gaining his first cap in the last year's Anzac test, he was omitted from the Kiwis' World Cup opener against Australia and told to sharpen up his act at training.

He went on to play in every match of the tournament after that, coming off the bench each time.

Luke said he hadn't given any thought to the latest trans-Tasman test, which will be at The Stoop, Harlequins' home ground.

"We'll worry about that when we come to it," he said.

"At the moment we're just worrying about training."

Luke, who created the Kiwis' opening try against Tonga with a snipe out of dummy half that was finished off by skipper Benji Marshall, said the Kiwis were given a good hitout in Rotorua.

Some players like himself hadn't been in action since the National Rugby League's regular season ended more than five weeks earlier.

"I was looking to get back into the rhythm of things," he said.

"I had had a month off and was just trying to get rid of the cobwebs."

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