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Crowe then pledged that the bell would only be rung at South Sydney grand finals from that point on.
Twelve years later Rabbitohs legend Bob McCarthy was given the privilege of doing so before the 2014 grand final – a match Luke was forced to watch from the sidelines after being suspended for a tackle on Sonny Bill Williams in the preliminary final.
Mark Carroll passes on the bell to Bob McCarthy to ring before the 2014 grand final.Credit:Getty
Seven years on from South Sydney’s drought-breaking victory against the Bulldogs, Luke’s contribution to the cardinal and myrtle hasn’t been lost on those who matter at the club, despite leaving in 2016 to join the Warriors.
“Russ messaged me and said ‘you’re still a big part of the group and the club – we consider you the Prince of Redfern and want you to have the honour of ringing the bell’,” Luke told the Herald.
“The last person to do that is Bob McCarthy and he’s a legend. To be amongst that group, I’m truly grateful and humbled. I’ve always bled red and green. I followed the club, even when I left.”
Crowe admitted that the bell would only ever be rung when his Rabbitohs qualified for a grand final.
“It is just a rule with that bell. The bell gets no use, it doesn’t even get seen by anybody, unless it’s a situation where South Sydney is in a grand final,” Crowe said on NITV’s Over The Black Dot program on Wednesday night.
“Issac will represent all of the past players, the John Suttons and everyone else who can’t make it to Queensland.
“There wouldn’t be a single South Sydney player, whether they played with him or not, who wouldn’t understand and appreciate and support the selection of Issac Luke as the man to ring the foundation bell.”
South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly said Luke’s contribution to the club would never be forgotten.
Ethan Lowe, Issac Luke, Scott Sattler and Petero Civoniceva at an NRL event in Brisbane on Wednesday.Credit:NRL Photos
“In some ways, Issac is a favourite of the club,” Solly said. “He was a player that walked the full journey to get us to the point where we have been so successful on the field.
“It’s a shame he missed the 2014 grand final but hopefully him being chosen to ring the bell is an honour that goes some way to making up what he missed out on.”
The NRL has also granted Luke his request to be retired as a Rabbitohs player at the official NRL ceremony on grand final day, despite finishing his career at the Broncos this year.
It will be an emotion-charged afternoon for Luke, who will feature in the curtain-raiser for Wynnum-Manly in their Queensland Intrust Super Cup preliminary final clash against the Tweed Seagulls at Suncorp Stadium.
“This would be an honourable moment for me,” Luke said. “To go out and retire as a Rabbitoh, the NRL granted my request to be seen out as a Rabbitoh. I’m going to have Rabbitohs players honoring me, that’s very special.”
Even when he left the Rabbitohs on a mega deal with the Warriors, Luke was always seen as a Rabbitoh by his former teammates – something that rubbed off on his children.
“When I was at the Warriors, my son became the ball boy for the team,” Luke said.
“Every time we played Souths, they would kidnap him. Well, not kidnap him, but catch him and dress him up in South Sydney gear and put the ballboy gear over the top. One time he brought the tee out for me to kick and he had Rabbitohs socks on. I was like ‘You little shit!’.
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“I went to take a goal kick, I looked over to the bench and my son was sitting next to his uncle Sam [Burgess]. I was like ‘You little traitor!’ He bleeds red and green too, my son.”
Several of Luke’s Rabbitohs teammates offered their 2014 premiership rings to the suspended hooker. One of them was his hooking replacement, Apisai Koroisau, the man who will wear the No.9 jersey for the Panthers on Sunday night.
Luke instead accepted the ring that was initially awarded to then-coach Michael Maguire.
“The crazy thing is, the boys lined up and said ‘here, you deserve this more than us’,” Luke recalled.
“It was Dave Tyrrell, Chris McQueen, Kyle Turner, Api, D-Walks [Dylan Walker]. They all lined up and said ‘this is for you’.
“I said ‘get lost, I’m all good’.
“And then just before we sung the song on the podium, [Maguire] said ‘This [ring] is for you, you got us here.’”
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