Isaac Luke. Photo / Getty Images
Run Rabbitoh, run. Issac Luke was the highlight of the weekend, as rugby and league's branding exercises fizzled rather than sizzled.
Luke is a marvel. The little Kiwis league hooker tormented France, as he has done to NRL defences throughout the year. He is so dangerous that opponents are inclined
to minimise the number of big men, because they can't handle his repeated sorties and are left exhausted trying to do so.
We've never had a dummy half to closely match Luke. He busts tackles, runs through gaps, offloads, twists and turns and runs and runs. He puts up terrific tackle numbers and sets up tries. Luke is also clever at winning penalties against tired or distracted markers. He does everything, apart from command a game with quite the control that the masterful Aussie captain Cameron Smith does.
Luke, the key to South Sydney's revival, has respect from one and all, yet doesn't quite get the limelight he deserves in New Zealand. Luke is heading towards joining our finest league legends, the Mark Grahams and co. Yet Sonny Bill Williams gets more press coverage for tying a shoelace. Thanks largely to the remarkable Luke, the Kiwis smashed France even though they didn't play overly well at the weekend.
The league World Cup is already going through the motions, although with more heart than the sad rugby debacle which took place in Tokyo. League has given up doing anything regularly meaningful to support a test programme, and runs half-hearted tournaments instead. There might be 14 nations allegedly competing for the league World Cup, but they are operating under flags of convenience.
