NRL: Warriors hopeful of quick recovery from Isaac Luke

Issac Luke of the Warriors comes off the field with a dislocated shoulder. Photo / Getty Images.

The Warriors are hopeful hooker Issac Luke will make a swift recovery after he dislocated his shoulder in last night's gritty 21-14 NRL win over the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Luke was a leading performer for the Warriors in the first half at Mt Smart Stadium, with the Kiwis international running and kicking well from dummyhalf before sustaining the injury seven minutes before halftime as he was flung to ground after making a pass.

Luke will have the shoulder assessed over the weekend and while Kearney is optimistic it is too soon to know if he will be fit for next Saturday's clash against Manly in Perth.

"He's pulled up really well and he feels really confident about it," said Kearney.

"He's got some pretty good movement in it but it's one of those things, we've got to get it assessed tomorrow, but he's waving his arm about so he felt pretty good, but we'll see how he pulls up over the next day or so.

"He was swinging it around after the game so he was in pretty good condition."

Despite the loss of one of their most experienced players, the Warriors lost nothing with replacement hooker Nathaniel Roache adding spark to their attack and starch to their defence to help the home side grind their way to victory.

The 21-year-old made 11 appearances last year, but ankle, thyroid, and back issues disrupted the early part of this season, limiting him to seven outings off the interchange bench.

Kearney was pleased with Roache's contribution and said he would be comfortable handing him a starting role next week if Luke is unavailable to face the Sea Eagles at Nib Stadium.

"I wouldn't have an issue putting him in there," he said.

"It's been a really tough one for Nate, because we're trying to manage him in terms of trying to find the spot to get him on the field.

"My expectation is that's certainly what he's capable of and not only in the attacking side, I thought he defended really strongly, and that's what he's got in his ability.

"Tonight we just got an opportunity to see it and it's been in short bursts previous to tonight."

With Kieran Foran also missing with a quad injury, young five-eighth Ata Hingano slotted in well alongside halfback Shaun Johnson, who kicked effectively throughout to keep the Bulldogs deep in their own half for much of the match.

"We anticipated given the conditions it was going to be a really tough grind so we had a real focus on kicking and making them work really hard to come out of the back field and the guys did that pretty well for most of the game," said Kearney.

"It was certainly playing to the conditions. In terms of the movement of the footy it was going to be a little limited tonight given it was pretty greasy out there.

"So if they were going to get points they had to come from a long way to try and get them so that was a focus for us."

The Warriors have now won three of their last four games and move into ninth spot on the premiership ladder on 16 competition points with five games still to be played throughout the remainder of the weekend.