After 287 games in the NRL, Issac Luke has finally hung up the boots, however South Sydney Rabbitohs' co-owner Russell Crowe has given Luke a gift he will treasure for the rest of his life.
The South Sydney owner has asked the former premiership winner to ring the famous bell that is only rung when South Sydney are in a grand final.
Since their return to the NRL competition, the bell has only been rung twice. Once when South Sydney returned to the Sydney Football Stadium in 2002 against the Sydney Roosters and the second when they took on the Bulldogs in their 2014 grand final triumph.
Bob McCarthy was given the honour of ringing the bell on that last occasion ahead of the 2014 decider.
Crowe told NITV's Over the Black Dot that it was the rule with the bell to not use it unless it's 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.
"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."
The foundation bell was originally used to signal kick-off and full time in South Sydney's first-ever game against the North Sydney Bears in 1908.
"There was an auction in 1999 to raise money for Souths, who had been temporarily taken out of the competition by News Corp, and I bought the bell," Crowe said.
"The bell started the first South Sydney game back in 1908, the first professional game, and I made a promise that it would never be rung unless South Sydney got back in the comp.
"In 2002, we were let back in the comp, we rung the bell and then I said it is never going to be rung again unless South Sydney get to play in a grand final. In 2014 the bell came out and we rung it. This is the same thing."
With this years grand final being played outside of Sydney the issue of getting the bell from Crowe's residence in Northern New South Wales too Queensland has been a logistical nightmare.
"It is very complex this week with logistics," Crowe said.
"We still don’t know if it is being driven across the border or flown across the border because we are waiting on Queensland Health announcements tomorrow."
Additionally Rusty had to choose someone who is already currently residing in Queensland ring the bell and without hesitation Issac Luke was the man for the job.
"We were talking about who is the best person to ring it and Issac Luke has been a soldier for the sport of rugby league," Crowe said.
"He represented his country, he played 43 Tests [for New Zealand], played 180-odd games for South Sydney, and it was a heartbreak when he left."
The Kiwi international, who played 189 games for South Sydney from 2007 to 2015, was suspended for the 2014 NRL decider for a lifting tackle on Sonny Bill Williams in the preliminary final.
"As people who follow the sport would know, that champion little player didn’t get the reward of being able to play in a grand final," Crowe said.
"It was taken away from him and I just actually had a reason to be watching that footage again this weekend of that tackle on Sonny Bill Williams in the preliminary final.
"Sonny Bill is twice the size of Issac and he landed on his elbow so to call that a dangerous tackle is ridiculous.
"When we talked about it I said if Issac is in Queensland I would like to give Issac the honour of ringing that bell because he deserves it."
