PRE-MATCH PRESS: Sam Luckley talks returning from injury, Salford connections and more!

PRE-MATCH PRESS: Sam Luckley talks returning from injury, Salford connections and more!

You missed the first couple of games of the season with injury so you three games into your own season so far how you feeling uh yeah pretty good actually um I’m building nicely obviously I didn’t really have a preseason so um it’s been a bit tough um with me Fitness

And and all that I’ve just been satting a w bike for last few months so um yeah the lungs have been on fire the last few weeks and just getting used to the right movement again and so I’m kind of just getting back into it as the games are

Going on and but I’m happy I’m playing more more minutes each week and I’m starting to feel feel comfortable and and a bit like me old self so um things are going really well positive and I’m happy how things are G for myself personally cool is the foot holding up

All right it’s feeling good to play on yeah really good um it’s a bit tough with the the conditions at the minute and the pitches and it’s things are a bit buggy and you know we’ve had so much rain um we fot gets a little bit sore

But it’s nothing major it’s just you know the the nature of the game these days um but yeah doing all the right recovery and and preab and Rehab sort of things so taking all the boxes so yeah I’m doing well have you had that sort of injury that’s needed surgery and in a

Good few months on the sideline before in your career no not really this is probably my first um biggish one um yeah uh obviously bit stupid towards the back end of last year and I just kept playing on it and and and jabbing it up with you know painkilling

Injections and stuff and by the end I just I just couldn’t walk so um you know some of that needed to get fixed um but I’m glad it’s done now and it’s behind us and onwards and upwards now is it just the case of building up those

Minutes again pretty much yeah I I’m pretty much nearly there now I think um yeah just getting the Reps in and and you know most of these Lads have been training since October uh and have started like three or four five weeks ago so um yeah it’s just catching up

Mate and just getting back into it cool how do you see the team’s first five games then and their position so far this season um I think we started really well especially you know in the derby as well getting the win it was really good um and obviously there’s always things

To work on each week each game um and I think we did that nicely and then um third game in we we just there’s moments in games where we just let our Sho ourselves in the foot a bit and let other teams off the hook but um I

Thought the the Huddersfield game you know we had a real emphasis on starting well um and I thought we did that um you know it was a it was a tough contest you know us feel like to get into that grind um you know we we put it on ourselves to

Challenge them at that and and see we can go for the longest and you know I thought we did that so we’re really happy with how things are going um and you know each week we’re always looking to improve um but so far so good so for it again this week I think

That was your first game back wasn’t it yeah when you played them a couple of weeks ago uh what have you made of them so far this season uh they were a great team um you know there’s a lot of news you know surrounding the club um about

The squad size or injuries and and you know where they’ll finish and you know you’ve kind of just got to block out that noise because they are a really good team um you look at their backline it’s probably one of the best back backline in the competition um so

They’ve got you know they’ve got quality in that side and um you kind of underestimate a team like souad and obviously not from my spent my time there you know there it’s full of great people um you know who really care about the club so um you know I love playing

Against him I get to see with me old piles again and that so it’s always it’s always nice but um yeah they’re a great team um and we always you know tend to have a good uh competition against them you know both teams going at it and

Obviously it’s the our first round the challenge cup and you will want to go into the next round so I’m looking forward to it it should be a really good game what have you taken as a squad from that first time you played on to build

Into this game say that again pal what have you taken from that first game against sford that you’ll be building on as a squad going into this game um I think from that first we just went away from our our plan a little bit um and

You know we we just yeah we had we had a set plan of what we’re going to do and we just went away from it and then the game got away from her um and we came back in it a little bit but um yeah just

You know you do things like against a team like sad you’ll get punished and um you know with Mark sne at Helm and you know his kicking game and stuff uh you know they’ve got strike all over the park so um we’ll be looking just to

Stick to our play our own game and stick to what we’ve we’ve been training all week so um yeah hopefully we can just put plan action and you played in that challenge Cup Final last August how do you feel personally about that final in the defeat seven months on how’ you look

Back at it chance for bringing it up yeah um yeah I don’t think you’ll ever get over it um it’s just one of them it was a it was a great spectacle um I enjoyed it first taste of a of a final um and a great game to play in but uh

Yeah it was hard um but you just just makes you hungry for more I guess um yeah so it’s just one of them and it’s it is it’s just one of them Paul I was Will been using it this week I think he said he using it a little bit to

Motivate the squad is that something he’s been doing yeah we haven’t spoken about with too much um we just like to take it week by week and you know games a game really at the end of the day um but you can obviously we did really well

Last year getting there um so you can use that as motivation as you know we want that feeling again of of going to the final and um yeah so I guess it’s uh it’s been used a little bit but we’re we’re not getting too far ahead of

Ourself or anything like that it’s just week by week game by game and um if we get there we get there but uh everyone’s hungry to to crack on and and really push on to these later rounds I think is this the first time we spoke to you

Since your new contract got announced as well is that right I did not M me I have so much going on M I didn’t know what’s going on well assume it is um all right so three years contract extension as well what did Willie speak to you about his vision for the future

For these next three years um it wasn’t really a a talk about um his vision it was just more of a like I’m I’m really happy here um I love this club um I love the fans and I love the people the staff it’s just um you know it feels like a

Bit of me this club so you know I was more than happy to stay um I’ve spoke I’ve had meetings with Willie um the first time assigned um about his vision for the club and the culture he wants to create so that really hasn’t changed so

I didn’t really have to go over that again I knew what um what the plans were um and we were just happy to to sign again and just keep working together um I think he’s he’s getting the best out of me as a player um and you know we’ve

Got a good rapport as a as a player coach so um I’m just happy to continue that relationship with him and and the rest of the staff and and the bo the boys yeah the group we’ve got is absolutely outstanding um and you know I love coming to work each day and and

Being around these men so um yeah it was a no-brainer for me and you know I was really excited just to get a long-term deal and a bit of security and yeah so and me Mom wants a new kitchen so she was telling us to sign

It yeah going to argue with that that’s everything for me Sam I’ll pass you to the guys cheers mate thank you hey Sam how you doing hello Paul um just a few quick ones for me and just again touching on the contract you you’ve signed it now and you’ve

Committed your long-term future to the club individually and collectively what do you hope to achieve during this the period the duration of the contract uh well I’d be silly if to not say win you know win Sila away um I think that’s everybody’s goal and everyone who plays

The game wants to want Sila away in the cabinet you know so that’ll be the ultimate goal um you know whether it takes one year three years you know it is what it is but I’ll be happy just to turn up the work you know put my Graft

In work hard and and hopefully take the boxes um and get some medals in me cabinet because I think I’ve one note at the minute what about individually like without putting words in your mouth is is England and aspiration um anything else small large or otherwise that that you you know

Beyond the silverware that you want to achieve yeah um obviously I was born in Scotland myself and I’ve had the privilege to represent uh Scotland but um you know the rest of me family are of English and you know born and bred Jordi so um I would I’d probably consider the

The the call up to to play for England and represent them um that would be a great honor as well for me family um but individually yeah I’m just you know Willie spoke about um getting the best out of us as a player um and each day

Just working hard and and working on those areas that that’ll get me 1% better um so yeah I’m was going to keep me head down keep working individually and you know hopefully I could be one of the best props in the comp um that’s my aim anyway besides um Silva where you

Know I want to have me uh my name and the hat when they speak about props in Super League so I’ll try my best I’ll work hard uh hopefully I’ll get there I don’t know how much you you’ve kept up in the last week or so about um some of

The changes that have been made uh with International Rugby League um and some of the Nations having um the licenses I think that’s the correct wording like taking off the head the World Cup um if it is something you’ve you’ve kept on top of have you

Got an opinion on it you know given you know you’ve represented Scotland and um it you know it it means a lot to people I know George King obviously one of your teammates is very passionate about Ireland I just wondered if that was a conversation you guys had had and

What your thoughts were on it um yeah well I seen an article about it um I don’t haven’t really kept up to kept up with much to be fair M um but I did say that like yeah they had the license or something taken off and they’re not

Allowed in the in the world cup is that right yeah um yeah I mean look it’s it’s a shame obviously isand On in It Scotland won’t be in it is it Italy as well um off the top of my head I believe so maybe well yeah a couple of our

Nation um and it is a real shame I guess it’s uh you can’t really have a a World Cup without you know the majority of the Nations there I guess um but you know it’s out of my hands you know I’ve it’s it is what it is um it’s a shame for

Everybody involved but um hopefully in the future we can um fix it and um everyone can be back back playing brilliant cheers Paul cheers mate thank you I met you all right hello Paul um I just wanted to ask about um obviously like say you’ve already played

Sford this season and one of the big differences was Marx both with the boot in play and also conversions how do you I mean you’ve played with him how do you nullify marade he’s basically best in the comp well with the boot anyway yeah

He’s a great kick isn’t he um you know I think he’s he’s that good of a player he’ll always find a way to you know play to his strengths um but as a an opposing team you’ve just got to put him under a heap of pressure um I think he’s little

Gr a kicks and giving him giving him time with the ball is probably going to hurt hurt yourself um so you just got to take that away from him and put him under pressure and and hopefully I mean conversions is they’re all up the him really aren’t there’s not much you can

Do um apart from just stop the try and didn’t let him kick in the first place um but yeah just put him under as much pressure as he can um but he’s a great player so yeah and um just one more I wanted to ask was about magic weekend I know that

You were I think you were giving it large in front of the gallate weren you and you’re at St James’s last time so what do you think about magic being moved to Ellen Road this season I mean I know it’s not been confirmed to be permanently moved from St James it could

Well go back but just missing out this year I just want to see what your thoughts were on that yeah obviously I’m going to be a bit biased on I and say s Jans is the best place um but look I understand you know we’ve got to expand

This game and um and I mean an AR Ellen rad like there’s not much expansion there but um they’ve got to mix it up um I don’t know if there was something you know behind closed doors where there might have been a fixture on at St James

And it’s not there you know Clash of schedules or anything like that but um I loved it at St James I think it’s you know newcastle’s a an unbelievable City and I think it’s rugby league um you know it fits nicely up there um but if

They’ve got a to take magic week on the road to to different places you know it might go somewhere else after Ellen road so um yeah look I’m happy to to expand um but I’ll always be biased and say uh Newcastle is a best spot