Latest news with #LukeYates
Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
KEY STATS: Marked tackling improvement but is one player being under-used?
WHILE it is often criticised for its lack of size, Warrington Wolves' pack does not lack defensive strength. And despite defeat against Wigan Warriors in Round 21, that is in evidence again with a look at the player stats from the game. There are four players in particular whose numbers in defence jump off the page, with Luke Yates and Sam Stone both leading the way in terms of tackles made with 38 each. Both were active from marker within that – Stone made 11 marker tackles, Yates 10 – while Yates completed 100 per cent of his tackles, with Stone only missing two. Ben Currie was just behind the pair with 37 tackles without missing a single one while Ryan Matterson made 30 with just one miss. Danny Walker (22) and Joe Philbin (11) also had a 100 per cent tackle completion rate amid a much-improved showing on the tackling front collectively. Wire's missed tackle count of 20 is exactly half of their total from last week's defeat to Leigh Leopards and is their lowest figure since the Round 13 win over Castleford Tigers (19). Clinical edge deserts Wire In terms of metres gained with the ball, all of the top five players from the game were wearing primrose and blue. Josh Thewlis led the way with 161m – helped heavily by his long-range interception try – followed by George Williams (152m), Toby King (149m), Danny Walker (133m) and Jake Thewlis (108m). By contrast, only two Wigan players cleared the 100m mark – Jai Field (103m) and Ethan Havard (100m) – but there is a key figure within that area of the statistics that highlights Wire's lack of ruthlessness. Both sides made three clean breaks each with Wigan converting all of theirs – two for Zach Eckersley and one from Brad O'Neill – into tries. By contrast, only one of Warrington's three resulted in points – George Williams' burst through to score in the second half. Was Max Wood underused? No exact figure is available for the lengths of players' stints on the field, but Max Wood's felt very short – certainly no more than 15 second-half minutes. However, a look at the stats hints at him perhaps being underused. Against his former club, the young front-rower only carried the ball twice but they yielded 23 metres, many of them post-contact. Last week at Leigh, too, he was only used in a very brief burst and his sole carry in that game made nine metres. There will no doubt be an explanation as to why Wood is being used in this way but given he generally brings impact with the ball – he averages 7.42m per carry for the season as a whole – it is easy to see why there are plenty of supporters who feel he is under-utilised.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Warrington Wolves prop's lung-busting 80-minute effort in numbers
IF there was one Warrington Wolves player who did not deserve to be on the losing side at Leigh Leopards, it was Luke Yates. The Australian forward put in a lung-bursting effort to try and get his side home at Leigh Sports Village and he more than did his bit, but unfortunately The Wire saw the lead they had carefully built blown away inside the final 15 minutes. Nevertheless, Yates can reflect on an excellent individual display that personified the kind of player he is – effort-based and team-first. He played the full 80 minutes in the middle – an impressive feat whatever the circumstances – after Ben Currie's forced move into the centres disrupted Wire's rotation, and put up some impressive numbers in being named as Sky Sports' player of the match. In making 43 tackles, he was the leading hit-maker on either side but that defensive effort contained only one missed tackle. Luke Yates tackles Leigh's Keanan Brand (Image: Olly Hassell/ With the ball too, he made 121 metres from 17 carries as he was front-and-centre of an impressive effort from a Warrington pack that has come in for criticism aplenty this year. Often slammed for lacking punch and go-forward, that was not an issue at Leigh Sports Village with Paul Vaughan besting his colleague's tally by racking up 138m from 18 carries. They matched a more vaunted Leigh pack in what was something of a war of attrition through the middle – Leigh's big men averaged 7.73m per carry, Wire's figure was 7.11m – but it was the Leopards' outside-backs that the visitors struggled to keep a lid on. Paul Vaughan also put in an impressive front-row shift, making 138m with the ball (Image: Olly Hassell/ Combined, Leigh's back five made 696m – full-back Bailey Hodgson led the way with 240m – at an average of 9.16m per carry, with five clean breaks between them. Tesi Niu (171m) and Josh Charnley (138) had particular joy against Wire's right edge which had lost Connor Wrench to injury in the early stages. Having said that, Wire's figures were not too dissimilar – their outside-backs made 547 between them, with Currie's figures included given he spent most of the game at centre, at an average of 8.54m per carry. However, the only clean break they managed between them was Josh Thewlis' incredible run to set up Matt Dufty's try, which formed the bulk of his 160m gained. Dufty (132m) was the other Wire player to reach three figures.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Made in Newcastle, reunited in Warrington and now ready for Wembley
Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Luke Yates came through the Newcastle Knights system together before reuniting at Warrington Wolves (Image: John Baldwin) 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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/ 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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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/ 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. Advertisement '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.' Advertisement 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/ 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. Advertisement '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.' Advertisement Lachlan Fitzgibbon consoles teammate Matt Dufty following last year's Wembley defeat (Image: Richard Blaxall/ 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.'
ITV News
17-05-2025
- ITV News
Rapist who attacked woman in Northamptonshire after coming to fix boiler is handed 13-year sentence
A "dangerous sexual predator" who attacked one of his victims after coming round to fix her boiler has been handed a 13-year sentence. Luke Yates, 23, was found guilty of three counts of rape and multiple sexual assaults after a trial at Northampton Crown Court in January. He was handed an extended sentence totalling 13 years, made up of 10 years' imprisonment and a further three on licence. Yates' offending was uncovered after Northamptonshire Police was called on 9 March 2022 by a woman who reported he had raped and sexually assaulted her after coming round to fix her boiler. During the investigation, the force received a second report in July about Yates from a 16-year-old girl. She told officers that he had raped her during their first meeting, following contact on messaging app Snapchat. Yates, formerly of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault against the first victim, and one count of rape and one count of assault by penetration against the second. Extended sentences are used for criminals convicted of specific offences who are deemed to be dangerous. Det Con Hayley Reed, who investigated the initial report against Yates, said: 'I am thrilled for the two survivors that Luke Yates has not only been found guilty by a jury for what he put them through, but has been given an extended sentence which recognises the severity of his offending against them. 'Their courage in reporting his abhorrent and entitled actions was significant, and they have held themselves with such dignity and strength throughout the investigation, supporting the court process at every step. I am so proud of them both.' Det Con Adam Kelly, who investigated the second report, added: 'The whole process has been very emotionally impactful. In showing such immense strength and seeing the case through trial they have ensured a dangerous sexual predator is now recognised as such and rightfully deprived of his liberty for a significant time."
