The hasty healing of a large gash on Micheal Luck's thigh will allow the Warriors workhorse to front up for his third finals campaign for the Kiwi side when they take on the Gold Coast on Friday.

The tough forward isn't surprised he's back in action just a couple of weeks after the studs of Manly forward Anthony Watmough ripped open his leg, exposing the muscle in an incident that almost made his skipper Simon Mannering throw up.

"When the doc said there was no muscle damage I was never too worried," Luck said after putting himself though a rigorous training session this week.

"It will be a good story in the off-season, I'll have a few beers and tell a few wild stories about it."

While Luck was forced to sit out the last couple of games of the regular season, his teammates never doubted the 18-centimetre cut would stop him from pounding the paddock come finals time.

"We kind of knew that Lucky would come back, he's the kind of guy that wouldn't want to miss finals footy," big winger Manu Vatuvei said.

"He's the type of person that if he had a broken arm or something he'd still want to play.

"He's really tough - he's a bloke that never gives up."

Luck's inclusion is the only change coach Ivan Cleary has made to the starting 13 which has brought wins over Brisbane and Parramatta in the past fortnight.

"He looks fresh and keen so it's a good addition," Cleary said.

"He's moving really well and he's really confident."

Luck will be notching up his third finals campaign with the Warriors, having also been part of the 2007 and 2008 playoffs.

But this time around, instead of being one of the young guns, the 28-year-old is among a handful of stalwarts that brings age and experience to the fresh-faced squad.

"It's just a matter of not getting too caught up in the occasion that's about to confront us and just do what we do well and do it as well as we can," Luck said.

While plenty of pundits didn't back the Warriors as finals contenders, Luck said he knew the lads had the goods to make the top eight.

"This is a side, basically the same side we had last year, when people were tipping us for good things and we didn't play well," he said.

"This year we just found a game plan that works for us and defended pretty well and this is what happened."

One of the keys to the Warriors' change of fortunes this season was their results over the second half, when they won nine of 12 matches, and a big part of that was their defence.

In their last five outings, they have conceded an average of just 11 points.

But Luck said he won't be satisfied until the Warriors bring home a grand final berth.

"You can't be happy with what we've done so far, we've got to make sure it ramps up some more."

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