Micheal Luck calls time on NRL career

Sunday, 22 April 2012:

Veteran Warriors loose forward Micheal Luck is to hang up his boots at the end of the 2012 NRL season.

Luck, in his seventh season with the Auckland club, is retiring rather than taking a new one-year contract for the 2013 season.

After much soul-searching Luck has acknowledged the toll the game has taken on his body and is to return to his native Queensland.

"This was not a rushed decision, and an extremely difficult one for me to make," says Luck, who also turned 30 on Saturday.

"After carefully weighing up all options with the people closest to me, I have decided that for the good of my family and me, it is the right time to make this decision."

Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah says the club offered Luck a new one-year deal and also wanted to retain him in a role when his playing days finished.

While disappointed, the club respected Luck's wishes, Scurrah says.

"He's a wonderful person to have at the club and we owe him so much for his contribution in all areas both on the field and off it. It's impossible to say enough about what he has done for us."

Luck, has played 144 of his 220 NRL games for the Warriors.

"For the last six and a half seasons, I have given my heart and soul to this club. In return I have had some of the greatest experiences and memories of my life, and I am absolutely committed to finishing my career on a high by winning the 2012 NRL grand final."

Luck was the club's 2009 player of the year.

AAP