To be the most polarizing figure in a team that throws up all sorts of emotions like a tweenie at Pauanui, ain't easy. To piss fans off to the extent where you're the example of all the Warriors problems while also doing enough to impress yours truly deserves some sort of recognition, even if I do think much of the disdain thrown Issac Luke's way is unwarranted.

I'm not overly fussed in trying to convince youz that Luke was one of the Warriors better players in 2017, it's all there in the vaults of the Niche Cache; whether it's Luke's nifty passing game, his ability to scamper 10m and then offload in a tackle, his kicking game or his ability to read defences and set up short-side raids. Luke is still the best kiwi dummy half and he would have been in my Kiwis squad, easily.

Unfortunately for Luke, his mediocre performances coincided with Nathaniel Roache excelling in stretches. This offered an illusion that Roache was better than Luke and while I really like Roache, he excelled in a limited role of running as much as possible in max 30 minutes of game time - more like 15-25 minutes, in a handful of games. Roache hasn't shown any signs of being able to kick accurately over 40m, nor has Roache shown signs of creating an extra number down a short-side and Roache hasn't done a job for 80 minutes in the middle of the park.

A 2016 montage dedicated to Kiwi International Issac Luke Keep updated with the Channel: https://twitter.com/RSHD__ Thanks to JBP Sports Edits for getting the footage for this video for me make sure to subscribe to him: https://www.youtube.com/user/JazzaBowler Footage found in this video can be found at NRL.com: http://www.nrl.com/ Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6ygYSxwEY Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

What Roache has shown is that he's lethal in spurts and this creates a combination that is going to be fun to watch in 2018, as the Warriors put a better roster around their running dummy halves. People love to highlight that Luke isn't the same player he was at the Rabbitohs, that he is just another example of players coming to the Warriors and settling into mediocrity, which doesn't really take into account the power of the Rabbitohs; they'd bombard the ruck area with the Burgess bros and Greg Inglis, then Luke would scamper.

Luke hasn't played in a Warriors team who has dominated the middle.

Let that simmer.

Much of what Luke has done has been as a creator in creating the momentum, sparking something with an offload or trying to get his team out of a pickle by kicking long. That Luke did this consistently is a mark of his quality and errors are to be expected when you're pushing the issue to such an extent, yet Luke's best work comes when he is sprinkling his magic on top of what others are doing.

Same goes for Roache and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. The most low key exciting thing I'm looking forward to this season is seeing these three work in conjunction with a more robust, aggressive and skillful forward pack. I suspect this will result in a stats-boost for these three with Luke averaging 10m/run, Tuivasa-Sheck pushing up to 220m/game and Roache blasting out 15m/carry in 20mins, however it's also worthy to suggest that they could maintain the same output in 2018 as 2017 and the team will be better.

What happens in the tackles before and after these three plow through the ruck area is crucial, just as support play can flip a nice run into an opportunity. Luke for example, was often on an island when he ran the footy as he never had a support player pushing up with him to benefit from his scoot. This season I reckon we are going to to see bodies flying through that middle area, with options either side of who ever is running the footy around the ruck.

Issac Luke from the South Sydney Rabbitohs performing Hotel California LIVE (acoustic) on the NRL Footy Show. In my opinion, within the top 3 hookers in the world.... and I've been to Thailand... But seriously he's a little behind Cameron Smith and equal to, if not better than Farah.

Put Luke in the trio of such run-and-gun fire and in a forward pack that will have an key objective of speeding up their ruck speed and I'm happy to invest in Luke's stocks.

Just on that forward pack: the big boppers are more mobile and aggressive, thus better suited to a quicker tempo. Adam Blair may not make big metres, but he is rarely dominated in a tackle and making 5m then setting up Luke or Tuivasa-Sheck with a quick play-the-ball is bloody handy, so is offloading to them. Tohu Harris will average 15runs/game as well folks, please don't sleep on Tohu the Great.

Chuck in this Alex Corvo chap and everything seems as though it is being aligned for the Warriors to play faster, for longer. That's beautiful for Luke and with Luke coming into a contract year, he'll be eager to demand another deal with the Warriors via dominant form. I've got Luke stocks, although I'm uncertain in how Luke's contract stuff will play out as the Warriors have Roache continuing his development and Manaia Cherrington isn't too far behind Roache in terms of being NRL ready.

Much will depend on what Luke wants; if he's settled in Auckland and is playing well, he's more likely to accept a deal that will keep the Warriors agile in their re-signing market. If Luke wants one last pay-day to set himself up for retirement, he'll likely head to the Super League as the Warriors won't be able to invest more money in Luke than what he's on now.

I can't really see the Warriors making another big signing in the next two years and they will instead target re-signing Tuivasa-Sheck and keeping Mannering happy. Luke is the third rung down on that ladder and even if he's playing well, he won't be able to command an upgraded contract.

I do however see benefit in keeping Luke around if it keeps the Warriors flexible. They finally have a team that is best-suited to Luke's style of play and young hookers who would benefit from Luke's presence at the club, under the regime. All of that starts with Luke demanding attention on the field and Luke is the one player who I am confident will snatch your attention in a positive way.

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Peace and love 27.