Micheal Luck

Not to be confused with Michael Luck.

Micheal Luck
Personal information
Born (1981-04-21) 21 April 1981 (age 43)
Gatton, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
PositionLock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2001–05 North Qld Cowboys 76 5 0 0 20
2006–12 New Zealand Warriors 150 7 0 0 28
Total 226 12 0 0 48
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 Prime Minister's XIII 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Micheal Luck (born 21 April 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys and the New Zealand Warriors. Micheal Luck's position of choice was lock or second-row.

Playing career

Queensland

While attending Kirwan State High School, Luck played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1999.[2] He also attended Townsville Grammar School. His junior club was North Thuringowa.

In 2001, Luck made his National Rugby League debut for the North Queensland Cowboys. He played 76 first grade games for the North Queensland club, mostly from the bench. Luck played nine games for the club during the 2005 NRL season but was not part of the side which reached the 2005 NRL Grand Final against the Wests Tigers.

New Zealand

At the end of 2005, Luck moved to the New Zealand Warriors, seeking more playing time. In his first season for the club, 2006, Luck managed to play every single NRL game for the Warriors and won the clubs Clubman of the Year award. He played over 50 consecutive games for the club and made the most tackles for the club in 2007, again being named Clubman of the Year. In 2007 he was called into the Queensland squad as injury cover but was not required. He was named in Queensland's Emerging Origin side for 2009.[3]

On 25 April 2009, whilst playing against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park, Luck made an NRL record-breaking 74 tackles in an extra time draw, 14-all, which was beaten a year later in Round 11 2011 by Shaun Fensom with 75 tackles against Canterbury-Bankstown. The previous record was held by Nathan Hindmarsh of the Parramatta Eels who had 69 tackles in a match in 2007.[4]

At the end of 2009, Luck picked up the Warriors biggest award, the club Player of the Year. Luck claimed the trophy ahead of Manu Vatuvei and Sam Rapira.

In 2010 Luck became the 17th player to play 100 games for the Warriors.[5]

On 14 September 2010, he was selected in the Prime Minister's XIII to play Papua New Guinea on 26 September.[6]

Luck played in the 2011 NRL Grand Final against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles which New Zealand lost 24–10.[7]

Luck announced on 21 April 2012 that he would retire at season's end (2012 NRL season).[8]

Administration career

In 2012 Luck was appointed as the North Queensland Cowboys' elite pathways manager for 2013 and beyond, working to build local junior talent.[9] In 2013 he completed a master's thesis at Auckland University of Technology on drinking culture in rugby players.[10]

References

  1. ^ RLP
  2. ^ "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  3. ^ QRL Names Emerging Origin Squad Archived 2 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine qrl.com.au, 5 December 2008.
  4. ^ http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhqnews/tackle-record-proves-hard-luck-story/2009/04/25/1240606655245.html[dead link‍]
  5. ^ NZPA. "Michael Luck named Warriors player of the year". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Broncos forward Corey Parker to captain Prime Minister's XIII against PNG". The Courier-Mail. 14 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Michael Brown: Warriors must retain grand final team". The New Zealand Herald. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. ^ Heveldt, Guy (22 April 2012). "Micheal Luck announces retirement". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Looking Back: Michael Luck". North Queensland Cowboys official site. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  10. ^ Luck, Micheal (2013). The impact of education and employment on the sport-related drinking motives of professional footballers: a study of National Rugby League and New Zealand Super Rugby players (Masters thesis). Tuwhera Open Access, Auckland University of Technology. hdl:10292/5214.