NRL: Young players to step up in Luck's absence

Michael Luck will have an operation on his left shoulder. Photo / Getty Images

A host of players are lining up to step into injured Warrior Micheal Luck's shoes at the start of the NRL.

Luck will sit out the start of the NRL season next year as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

The 29-year-old has been booked in for an operation on his left shoulder on Thursday this week, which will rule him out of three preseason trials in February and the first month of the new NRL campaign.

Coach Brian McClennan told RadioSport there are many players who could see game time in the back row, including this year's Junior Warriors captain Ben Henry.

He says Henry, Elijah Taylor, Ukuma Ta'ai and others all have a chance to push for a place in Luck's absence.

McClennan says they've got time to get used to him not being there at the start of the season, and when he comes back he'll add a lot to the side.

Luck has coped with an AC injury in his left shoulder for most of the last two seasons.

"I've managed to get by with it and it felt fine at the end of last season but it's been a problem for me again lately. It's getting worse and I just have to have the operation as soon as possible,'' Luck told team website www.warriors.co.nz.

"It's really disappointing and it'll make for a tough Christmas Day I guess but it's better to have it sorted out now so I can get back as soon as possible once the season starts.''

The surgery will reattach the clavicle and will face 12 weeks in recovery before he can resume full contact training.

It will be Luck's second operation since appearing in the Warriors' 24-10 NRL grand final loss to Manly at ANZ Stadium on October 2.

It emerged in the days after the match that Luck, who made a game-high 46 tackles, had played with a broken left wrist for most of the 71 minutes he was on the field in the grand final.

Several days later X-rays revealed a broken scaphoid [bone on the thumb side of the wrist], which he subsequently had pinned.

Since starting his Warriors' career in 2006, Luck has missed only 10 of a possible 154 games, leaving him just six games short of becoming one of a handful of players who have appeared in 150 NRL games for the club.

- APNZ/NEWSTALK ZB