Made in Newcastle, reunited in Warrington and now ready for Wembley
A CONNECTION that was formed more than 10,000 miles away, reformed in Warrington and is now heading to Wembley.
When Luke Yates joined Warrington Wolves midway through last year, it allowed him to reunite with a good friend from back home in Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
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Indeed, his fellow Novocastrian – meaning a native of the New South Wales city of Newcastle – appears to have gone into bat for him.
'I think he got a 10 per cent fee,' Yates jokes before Fitzgibbon chirps up that he's still waiting for it.
'I think he put in a decent word for me with Gaz Chambers and Sam (Burgess) so it came to fruition pretty quick.
'I'm grateful for him being a bit of a cheerleader!'
Fitzgibbon chimes in: 'He's doing himself a disservice!
'He's been churning out some great footy over here for years so for Warrington, it's great for us to have been able to get a player like Yatesy, especially mid-season.
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'He's going to be at the club for a long time, so hopefully we can get him a trophy to kick off.'
Luke Yates powers forward during the recent Super League clash with Wembley opponents Hull KR (Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com) Finding themselves about to walk out onto British sport's biggest stage alongside each other will certainly be quite a moment for the two forwards who have been friends since they were teenagers.
For two local lads, progressing through the ranks at Newcastle Knights to eventually turn out in the NRL was the ultimate honour.
Fitzgibbon was the first to graduate into the first team at the end of 2015, with Yates taking that final step in 2017.
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'It's a full circle moment for us having come all the way from Newcastle,' Fitzgibbon says.
'I was 17 when we first started playing together, and Luke was 16 – he was the year below me.
'We've been great mates for 14 years so it's special.'
Yates adds: 'It was the SG Ball comp when we first played together, which is the 18s. I played an age up.
'We went through the 20s, New South Wales Cup and then first-grade together, now we're on the other side of the world.
'It's a funny one but to get the chance to win a trophy together is really special for us as Newcastle lads.'
Yates' NRL career was brief as he made the move over to England in 2019 with London Broncos.
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Since then, he has carved out a reputation as one of Super League's hardest-working and most underrated forwards having moved on to Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants before joining Warrington.
Fitzgibbon went on to play more than 100 first-grade games for his hometown club but when he decided to take the plunge and move to Super League, he knew exactly who to turn to.
'When Yatesy moved over here, we always stayed in touch and when I was thinking about coming over, he was one of the first people I went to,' he said.
'We were speaking throughout and I was always interested in the kind of footy they played over here.
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'It made the decision much more comfortable knowing I was coming over here and having someone familiar close by.'
Lachlan Fitzgibbon - seen here celebrating scoring against Leigh Leopards last year - is in the midst of his second season in England (Image: John Clifton/SWpix.com) And so then to Wembley – a place steeped in folklore but one both men will be desperate to create some happier memories of.
While his move to The Wire came just after their loss to Wigan Warriors in last year's final, Yates experienced the national stadium at perhaps its most eery while playing for Salford.
He helped them reach the 2020 final, which was played behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions, where they fell to an agonising 17-16 loss to Leeds Rhinos courtesy of a late Luke Gale drop goal.
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'We went for a look around the day before the game and it was empty, then it was the same again on game day,' recalls Yates, who was also on the losing side of the 2022 final as Huddersfield captain against Wigan in a game played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
'It was a bit of a weird thing because it took some of the emotion out of it.
'With the crowd there, they tend to lift you up and give you energy but we couldn't rely on that.
'It was amazing that we could go back and play during that period but looking back on it, it was very strange.
'I'm really looking forward to going back there with a crowd and hopefully there's a whole heap of Wire fans there to make it special.'
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Luke Yates makes a tackle while playing for Salford Red Devils at an empty Wembley Stadium during the 2020 Challenge Cup Final, which was played behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions (Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com) For Fitzgibbon, his Wembley experience lasted only 40 minutes last year as he succumbed to injury at half time during the defeat to Wigan.
That set off a frustrating trend of injuries for the big back-rower that is still ongoing – having had post-season shoulder surgery, he has been plagued by rib issues throughout the year and came off against Castleford Tigers on Friday with a knee problem.
However, he assured fans that he is absolutely ready to go for Saturday's showpiece against Hull KR.
'I'm going good,' he said.
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'I've had a tough six weeks or so with a few niggles so I haven't managed to play too many minutes.
'Last week was more of a precaution – I went over on my knee and it didn't look great, but it's pulled up fine.
'I'm ready to play the 80 minutes on Saturday.
'Everybody all over the world knows about Wembley so to get the opportunity to play there was incredible.
'I think there was 65,000 there and in terms of atmosphere, I've never experienced anything that came close to that.
'I've played semi-finals footy back in the NRL but nothing really compares to Wembley.
'The result wasn't great but hopefully we'll rectify that.'
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Lachlan Fitzgibbon consoles teammate Matt Dufty following last year's Wembley defeat (Image: Richard Blaxall/SWpix.com) So after the journey through the age grades, the move to the other side of the world and all things in between, while Fitzgibbon and Yates' friendship get its ultimate high on Saturday?
Neither of them has even won a major trophy, so is that about to change?
'Games like this one – it's why you play the game,' Yates said.
'Winning trophies is always the goal so if we can do that together, it will fill me with a great amount of pride.'
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