South Sydney legend and Kiwi Test great to coach Marsden SHS

A New Zealand Test great and South Sydney Rabbitohs legend will make his coaching debut in the 2024 Langer Trophy season … at Cameron Smith’s old school.

Former NRL champion Issac Luke with Year 11 students (L-R) Hayden Watson, Adaquix Luke and Javon Andrews at Marsden State High School team. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

NRL champion Issac Luke will make his coaching debut in next season’s Langer Trophy schoolboy competition at Cameron Smith’s old school.

Luke, New Zealand’s greatest ever No. 9, said he would take a bit of this and a bit of that from the coaches he encountered during a glittering 286 game NRL career (2007-2020) when he debuts at Marsden SHS.

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His past coaches Jason Taylor, John Lang, Michael Maguire, Andrew McFadden, Stephen Kearney, Paul McGregor and David Kidwell (Māori) have each imparted knowledge on Luke, with Maguire the most influential of his mentors.

Former NRL champion Issac Luke – he will coach Marsden State High School. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

It was Maguire who first gave Luke the confidence to speak up and become a forward leader at the mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs.

“In a nutshell I never thought I’d be a coach,’’ Luke said. “But Madge (Maguire) said I had a lot of knowledge. However, I was never able to project my voice or get across what was in my head.’’

Former NRL star Issac Luke running the water at Marsden SHS – he will now be head coach in 2024. Picture: Adam Head

But Maguire, having identified Luke’s vast reservoir of rugby league IQ, gave him the confidence to come out of his shell and annunciate his thoughts in team meetings and at training.

In front of Luke’s teammates Maguire would “ask me for my thoughts and then say ‘sweet, we’ll go with that’,’’ Luke explained.

“And then in our meetings, there were big names like Sam Burgess, John Sutton and GI (Greg Inglis), but I got to a point where people were starting to listen to me.’’

Former NRL champion Issac Luke with Year 11 students (L-R) Hayden Watson, Adaquix Luke and Javon Andrews, with school principal Marcus Jones. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Luke did not know it at the time, but Maguire’s role in broadening his communication skills was Luke’s first step toward becoming a coach.

Fast forward to the 2020s and Luke said Matt Hartigan, Marsden SHS’s coach of the last three seasons, also gave him confidence he would be an outstanding coach. “I have grown with Matt because of Matt,’’ Luke said.

Asked what type of coach he would be, Luke was unsure but said he would demand discipline off the field, and then on it.

South Sydney’s Issac Luke.

“Rugby league should be a privilege and I want them to earn their time on the field,’’ said Luke, a Foundation Educator at TAFE Qld.

“You teach yourself habits off the field, and those habits transfer onto the field.

“I want our players to have habits and behaviours that lead them to want to go and get the next thing in their life.

“That may not be in the NRL. But I want them to leave having taken something from me and used that in their own lives.’’

WHAT HE LEARNED FROM HIS PAST COACHES

Jason Taylor (South Sydney): “Jason was excellent from a details perspective and he enjoyed being around the group. He gave me my start in the NRL and I can never take that away from him. He turned me from a fullback into a hooker.’’

John Lang (South Sydney): “He was old school, real old school. But he was cool. I loved Langy and he gave me the confidence to be an 80 minute hooker.’’

Souths Coach Michael Maguire talks to his team during South Sydney Rabbitohs training at Redfern Oval, Redfern. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Michael Maguire (South Sydney): “The first phone call I got from him (2011, off-season) was after I had made a name for myself for the cannonball tackle (in the Four Nations). But he didn’t like it and he went off about the whole noise around what I had done. The best thing about Madge (Maguire) was his detail and he put an emphasis on team culture.’’

Andrew McFadden (Warriors): “I enjoyed him. If I was to rank my coaches it would be Michael Maguire first, and then he and Kearney level second. He loved high energy games and I wished I had been coached by him more.’’

New Zealand Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney (right) looks on during the team's captain’s run. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

Stephen Kearney (Warriors and New Zealand): “He was good in a cultural way and knew when to give you a cuddle or be hard on you.’’

Paul McGregor (Dragons): “He was the best dressed coach. He looked a million dollars.’’

David Kidwell (Māori): “He was at the Rabbitohs when I made my debut. Kiddie (Kidwell) actually showed Jason Taylor (coach) vision of my reserve grade games and said ‘you have to give this fellow a go’.’’

Former NRL champion Issac Luke with Year 11 students (L-R) Hayden Watson, Adaquix Luke and Javon Andrews., Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail