{"id":425699,"date":"2026-01-20T15:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425699\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:07:09","slug":"super-league-linked-soni-luke-makes-decision-on-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425699\/","title":{"rendered":"Super League-linked Soni Luke makes decision on future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Penrith Panthers man Soni Luke will continue to ply his trade in the NRL in 2026, penning a deal with the North Queensland Cowboys.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His cross-NRL switch comes amid reports from <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk\/news\/penrith-panthers-hooker-attracts-super-1357166\" target=\"_blank\">All Out Rugby League<\/a>\u00a0that Catalans Dragons were interested in the 29-year-old; however, that move never materialised.<\/p>\n<p>Soni Luke to continue in the NRL for 2026 as North Queensland Cowboys switch confirmed<\/p>\n<p>The Penrith-native began his career with his hometown club in 2017, featuring for the club\u2019s reserve side in the NSW Cup. He later made his first-grade debut for the Panthers in 2022, and went onto make a total of four appearances that season.<\/p>\n<p>He then enjoyed a stellar breakthrough season in 2023, making 20 appearances in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/nrl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NRL<\/a> as the Panthers went onto claim a third-successive Premiership title. However, he would make jus two more senior appearances for the club across the next two seasons, returning back to the club\u2019s NSW Cup side.<\/p>\n<p>Around that, he has also won 10 Test caps for Tonga between 2022 and 2025, including at the World Cup and last season\u2019s Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n<p>Want more Love Rugby League? Add us as a <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=loverugbyleague.com\" target=\"_blank\">preferred source on Google<\/a> and ensure you never miss our exclusives and breaking news!<\/p>\n<p>His move to the Cowboys also comes amid the exit of Karl Lawton, who has now joined reigning Super League champions Hull KR ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the move, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/tag\/north-queensland\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cowboys<\/a> General Manager of Football Micheal Luck said: \u201cWith the departure of Karl Lawton, we had an open spot in our roster for an experienced dummy-half to complement Reed Mahoney and Xavier Kerrisk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSoni has been a part of the Panthers system during their four consecutive grand final wins, so he knows what it takes to win and remain successful in the NRL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis craft from dummy-half is excellent, and we believe he will be a strong addition to our squad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He now becomes the latest new recruit to join the Cowboys ahead of the new season, following the likes of Matt Lodge and James Walsh through the door.<\/p>\n<p>TUESDAY\u2019S READS ON LRL<\/p>\n<p class=\"px-3 xs:px-4 mt-3 mb-2 font-semibold leading-snug text-base text-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/post\/jason-demetriou-lays-out-new-look-london-broncos-growth-aims-following-bumper-first-crowd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jason Demetriou lays out new-look London Broncos\u2019 growth aims following bumper first crowd<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"px-3 xs:px-4 mt-3 mb-2 font-semibold leading-snug text-base text-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/post\/scott-murrell-hails-ryan-carr-impact-castleford\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Castleford Tigers coach offers pre-season insight as Ryan Carr impact hailed<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"px-3 xs:px-4 mt-3 mb-2 font-semibold leading-snug text-base text-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/post\/ranking-the-seven-best-wingers-in-super-league-ahead-of-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ranking the 7 best wingers in Super League ahead of 2026: Hull KR star tops billing<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"px-3 xs:px-4 mt-3 mb-2 font-semibold leading-snug text-lg text-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/post\/ranking-every-super-league-stadium-from-worst-to-best-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ranking every Super League stadium from worst to best: Hull FC 8th, Hull KR 4th\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Penrith Panthers man Soni Luke will continue to ply his trade in the NRL in 2026, penning&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-425699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}