Although a brief foray to training over pre-season 2009 whet the appetite, Luke North has not been seen gracing the Main Oval since 2006. An integral part of the 2004 premiership, North has been living the dream for the past two and a half years. There have been sightings on every continent. Heads swivel as he brushes by. Husbands live in fear. Where will he show up next??? Intrepid reporter Perry Hesslop caught a quick flight to Central America, then a chicken bus to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala where he caught up with North and asked him some tough questions.
Luke North is holed up in northern Guatemala not because he is hiding from the law (although he is sporting a decent beard!) but because he is learning Spanish at the prestigious ICA school in Quetzaltanengo. Following a recommnendation from a friend, North headed over to work on his Spanish verbs, especially those tricky tenses. Whilst there, fellow Blue Tim McKinnon stopped by for a week with his fiancee, Anna, to learn a bit more Spanish than 'Una cerveza, por favor', which T-Mac had already mastered. When quizzed about his reasons for learning Spanish, North told of his elaborate plans to head over to Barcelona, Spain, to study for his MBA in Spanish. Could prove tricky. Especially the 'c' sound. Remember Pluggsy, it is pronounced Bar-th-elona, not Bar-s-elona.
For 2007 and 2008, North moved over to New York with his job at ANZ. He stunned that city with his ability to woo and also his football. North turned out for the New York Magpies during the 2007 season and quickly became one of their dominant players. See here for video footage of North in action. Fellow players Solly, Gleeson, Lowcock, Suvoltos, Brookes and Hutchison headed over to see what North was up to, and to quote current captain Lowcock, North had quickly established himself as 'The Man About Town'.
His time in New York came to an end at the beginning of 2009, so North headed back to the Main Oval. A bit of pre-season saw North looking to return to the field. Unfortunately for North, Supercoach Granleese could not find space for him in the Club XVIII team. Disenchanted, North headed to Guatemala. When quizzed about the impact of not being able to get a game with one of the great Club XVIII teams, North did not hide his disappointment. His response was that it was a bitter pill to swallow and he had to enrol to do an MBA in another language in a foreign country just to get away.
From Guatemala, North plans to do some travelling through Central America before hot-footing it over to Spain to start his studies in a month or two. He says he is somewhat nervous but very excited about his prospects. Taking on an MBA is a big ask, especially in another language. Still, it is hard not to be envious of Luke as he sifts around the globe compiling life experiences.
Until next time, this is Perry Hesslop for uniblues.com
Postscript: While writing this story, it came to our attention that Luke has made a trip over to Miami for some surgery. His parents, John and Sue, have headed over to support Luke. He is expected to make a speedy recovery and be back on a flight to Xela in no time. All in the Uni Blues family wish Luke the best of luck and hope that he is back to his best in no time.
