Luke Yates has been one of my favourite players for years.
When he was 15 he was the sort of forward who led the team from the front. He was always the guy who put his hand up to run hard when everyone else was out on their feet, and guys would lift for their captain.
Strangely, he made the NSW squad as 18th man in both under 16s and under 18s and got a game at both levels when others dropped out, and went on to be one of the best on the field. They didn't want to pick him because he was small, but when he got a chance, his big heart made up for his lack of size.
At Newcastle he was captain of most age group sides because he was the guy who led the way. He always put his hand up for the hard plays.
Nathan Brown only picked the little guy for firstgrade because he ran out of forwards, so picked the little guy who always had the best stats in reserve grade, but never let him play long minutes, and playing long minutes and doing far more than his share of the work is where Yates shines. When Yates turned 21, Brown told him he didn't have a spot for him and begrudingly gave him a chance to trial the next year for a reserve grade contract. Yates trained every day from the end of the season and showed up at the first training session and smashed all the fitness records. He still only got a second tier contract.
I found it funny that him and Pauli Pauli were together at Salford, because I always said when they played together at Newcastle in reserve grade, that you could make the best prop in the world if you put Yates' heart into Pauli's body.
He is the little engine that could (do you have that over there?)
The sceptics have always lined up around the block to tell him he can't be a middle forward in a halfback sized body, and he just works twice as hard as everyone else and does the job.
