Warriors hooker Issac Luke says tomorrow's Test against England in the United States is likely to be his last for New Zealand.
The surreal sight of rugby league markings, goalposts and corner posts on an NFL stadium greeted players from New Zealand and England as they visited Mile High Stadium for a captain's run on Saturday.
But in the case of the Kiwis, it was a captain-less captain's run as although 31-year-old Luke will lead the team out, new coach Michael Maguire has elected not to appoint a skipper.
The reasons for Luke playing despite a chronic shoulder injury became apparent when he said that by the time the Kiwis tour Europe at the end of the year, "I'm expecting another baby so I've got to probably let the young fellas take over.
Asked then if his 38th Test might be his last, Luke said: "It could be, yeah."
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Maguire told AAP he was not surprised to hear his former South Sydney player might be playing his final Test and has hinted that Luke may be thinking of a move to the English Super League.
"I've had some discussions with Issac around that," Maguire said. "He has to make a decision on his career first and then go from there."
Stadium staff took advice from Soldier Field in Chicago, where several high profile rugby union international have been played, in sewing new grass running right up to the fence and inserting the goalposts.
Heating tubes and other under-soil pipes had to be moved to facilitate the posts in an elaborate and, presumably, costly operation.
Luke said he was confident the likes of Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck would return to the side, despite not making themselves available for the trip to the US for reasons which have not yet been made clear.
"The boys that aren't here will be itching to play despite certain circumstances that put them in a different (position)," he said.
"I know that Madge hasn't cemented everyone's place, everyone's jersey's up for grabs.
"I've been getting some messages from Roger. He's gutted he couldn't make it."
A curious onlooker at training was Denver Broncos NFL player Casey Kreiter.
"I couldn't imagine running for 80 minutes straight," he said.
