NRL: Luck hopes to be match fit in time for Eels

Michael Luck of the Warriors is carried from the field after injuring his leg. Photo / Getty Images

Micheal Luck couldn't walk up stairs just a couple of days ago, but the Warriors lock hasn't given up hope of facing Parramatta on Saturday in a match that could yet earn his side an unlikely home final.

The Titans' shock loss to the Sharks has left the door slightly ajar for a Warriors side that had seemed certain to be shut out of a top four finish despite thrashing the Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

If the Titans go down again in their final match - against the Tigers on Friday night - the Warriors could overtake them with a win over the Eels.

With the Dragons and Tigers now out of reach, the only other way the fifth-placed Warriors could rise as high as fourth is to overtake the Panthers. With the Panthers holding a 73-point differential advantage over the Warriors, the only realistic way that will happen is if the Panthers lose both of their remaining fixtures - against the Bulldogs tonight and at home to the Sharks on Saturday.

The Roosters are the potential fly in the ointment for the Warriors. Having beaten Manly yesterday, they are equal with the Warriors on 30 points and share an identical +39 differential. With a match against the lowly Cowboys to come on Saturday night, the Roosters will also be eyeing fourth place.

On the other side of the coin, if the Warriors lose to the Eels they could still be overtaken by the Roosters, Sea Eagles and Raiders and finish as low as eighth.

Luck, who suffered a gaping leg wound that required over 50 stitches against Manly nine days ago, said the prize on offer wouldn't influence the timetable for his return. He also discounted the idea that he may sit out the Eels match to allow himself more time to heal ahead of the club's opening finals match a week later.

"I'll play when I'm fit," Luck said. "There's nothing else that comes into my mind. If I am fit enough to play then I will play - if not this week then hopefully next week. As soon as I am right to go I'll play."

The gaping wound left in Luck's thigh by Anthony Watmough's boot was such an unusual injury there was no standard recovery time, but he says: "It's healed up really well. The stitches will still be there for a couple of days yet so I am taking it as it comes.

"There are six days to go to the Parramatta game and possibly 13 or 14 to the next. If it continues to improve the way it has you'd have to think it will come right somewhere in [that timeframe]."

A special moulded plastic shell will protect Luck's wound when he returns.

"The main thing will be if there is any risk of it opening up again if I get hit on it. That is the thing I suppose you have to be a bit careful about."

With a finish anywhere between fourth and eighth still possible, the team hadn't given any thought to the potential permutations, Luck said.

"It is out of our hands. The only thing we can control is what we do against Parra. There are so many different outcomes for the games left that can all affect where we end up. We just have to continue the momentum we have got and whatever happens happens." Friday night's comprehensive victory over the Broncos set the benchmark for the remainder of the season.

"We have proved to ourselves that we can play like that so you can't accept anything less now. There are only five weeks of footy left. It's not like it is at the start of the season looking too far ahead. This is what you do all the hard work for, to be in the situation we are now. We have got ourselves in this position so now it is up to us to determine where we finish."