Off-contract NRL forward suffers season-ending injury as club confirm blow ahead of 2025
Heilum Luki (centre, ball in hand) is congratulated by his North Queensland Cowboys team-mates after scoring a try in 2024
North Queensland Cowboys forward Heilum Luki has suffered a season-ending ACL injury, and won’t feature at all in 2025, the NRL club have confirmed.
23-year-old Luki – who made his first-grade debut back in May 2021 against Newcastle Knights – featured 19 times for Todd Payten’s side last term as they finished 5th.
With 15 tries scored at senior level to date, he picked up the Cowboys’ Rookie of the Year award in his debut campaign
The towering back-rower, hailing from Cairns, has a total of 57 NRL appearances to his name but won’t be able to add to that tally in 2025.
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NRL forward suffers season-ending injury as club confirm blow ahead of 2025
Luki – whose contract expires at the end of the upcoming 2025 season – is also a two-time Samoa international having featured against both Australia and New Zealand during the 2023 edition of the Pacific Cup.
He would have been competing for a spot in the Cowboys’ side with both Kai O’Donnell and John Bateman next term.
O’Donnell has, of course, joined the club from Leigh Leopards having established himself as one of the best back-rowers in Super League, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.
Veteran England international Bateman meanwhile brought an end to his contract saga at Wests Tigers earlier this week when he linked up with the Cowboys, also signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2026 campaign at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The club confirmed Luki’s ACL injury in a very short press release published on their website on Saturday morning.
That press release reads: “North Queensland Cowboys second-rower Heilum Luki suffered an ACL injury at training this morning.
“Luki will have surgery in the coming weeks and miss the 2025 season.”
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