NEW rules seem custom made for Dragons rake Issac Luke but the returning veteran see he's most excited about resuming his tag-team with former understudy Cam McInnes.
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Monday's clash with the Bulldogs will be the first time the pair have played in tandem since round 12, 2015 with South Sydney, McInnes' second year in the NRL.
Their roles have firmly reversed five years on, with Luke now playing understudy, the role the 33-year-old had prepared to play through the preseason before an untimely injury to McInnes saw thrust him back into the starting line-up for the opening two rounds.
A coronavirus test that limited his time on the training paddock saw coach Paul McGregor leave Luke out of last week's loss to the Warriors.
"I live in Sydney so to drive down to [Wollongong] with any kind of symptoms and be turned away... it's is a long drive for that but had to be as honest as I can, as much as I want to play or train," Luke said.
"Once I filled that out they came down pretty hard with it but that's part of the protocols we have to follow. I thought Mary did the right thing picking the team he did with me being unavailable because of that.
"I've got the all clear now, I'm teasing a few of the boys around training pretending I have a runny nose still but I'm looking forward to being back out there."
Luke's return to the 17 this week alongside fellow veteran Trent Merrin comes as McGregor - under a mountain of pressure to keep his job - looks for the right formula in the middle of the park.
McInnes made a staggering 74 tackles in an 80-minute effort last week but the Dragons did little to test the Warriors around the ruck. It's something Luke will be looking to bring from the bench, either as a replacement of complement to McInnes.
"It's something we spoke about before the COVID-19 [shutdown], we were training [together] right up to before we were about to play Canberra," Luke said.
"We've been working on our combinations and sometimes, I know he won't like it, he might have to come off. It's a combination thing we'll be working on throughout the next few weeks and this week's no different.
"It just goes back to 2013-14-15 where we were able to share duties on the field together at South Sydney. We've picked up where we left off there so we'll get to see what that looks like this weekend."
The long turnaround into Monday's clash has seen the club cop a sustained barrage of criticism over the 18-0 defeat to the Warriors - who were subsequently out-classed 26-0 by Penrith on Friday.
It will go up a further notch should they fall to the battling Dogs, but Luke has seen enough to how quickly things can turn.
"I think it's pretty important we block that stuff out," Luke said.
"Fans are going to be critical of things in the game, it's just about what we're judging ourselves on and keeping each other in here accountable rather than how we're perceived outside.
"Everything can change with a win, fans will jump back on board. It happens like that. We're just worried about what we can control here with our footy, with our training, and try and put it out there on the weekend."