Xavier Coates

Xavier Coates

Personal information
Born	(2001-03-12) 12 March 2001 (age 23) Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Height	194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Playing information
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2019–21 Brisbane Broncos 32 17 0 0 68 2022– Melbourne Storm 54 42 0 0 168 Total 86 59 0 0 236 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2019 Papua New Guinea 1 0 0 0 0 2020–24 Queensland 10 4 0 0 16 2024 Australia 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1] As of 6 October 2024

Xavier Coates (born 12 March 2001) is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos. He has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.

Early life

Coates was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to a mother from the Gulf Province in PNG and an Australian father. As an infant he moved with his family to Australia and initially spent two years living in Cairns before settling on the Gold Coast.^[2]

He attended Marymount College throughout his upbringing and began pursuing an athletics career in primary school.^[3] His goal was to represent Papua New Guinea at the Olympics^[4] but former NRL player and Marymount teacher Matt Geyer organised a phone call with then-Queensland captain Greg Inglis^[5] and the pair convinced Coates to pursue a career in rugby league instead.^[6] Coates named Inglis as his sporting idol growing up^[7] and was nicknamed 'Little GI' by his Broncos teammates due to the similarities in playing style.^[8]

Junior career

Xavier Coates began playing junior football on the Gold Coast for the Currumbin Eagles^[9] in 2010 at the age of 9 years old. Coates never made an underage representative team as a junior, being overlooked on multiple occasions. After a brief pursuit of an athletics career, he returned to the field and played part in the Currumbin Eagles' undefeated premiership winning Under-16 team in 2017.^[10] This was to be pivotal as on a cold May evening with the Currumbin Eagles playing the Helensvale Hornets a Brisbane Broncos' talent scout had come to view the game as several young Broncos contracted players were playing including Tom Dearden.^[11]

The scout only had eyes for one player after the game, Xavier. After being signed to the Bronco's Coates was invited to the Broncos' summer camp where he impressed coaches and trainers and was selected in the 2018 Queensland emerging Under-18 Origin Squad^[12] despite being 16 years old and never having played a representative game. Coates was selected in the 2018 Queensland Under-18 State of Origin^[13] side who went down to NSW 16–10.^[14]

In 2018, he was instrumental in the Currumbin Eagles' U17 Premiership where he was coached by former Melbourne Storm player Matt Geyer. He also featured in the Mal Meninga Cup with the Tweed Heads Seagulls.^[15] In 2019 he was fast tracked^[16] to senior rugby league with the Currumbin Eagles,^{[citation needed]} making his Queensland Cup debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls, however as he was not a contracted Gold Coast Titans player, he was transferred to Broncos' feeder club Redcliffe Dolphins.^[17]

Coates was selected in junior representative teams (Under-18 South Coast) and the Under-18 Queensland Schoolboys squad^[18] and once again was selected in the Queensland emerging Under-18 Origin Squad and played in the junior State of Origin match against NSW,^[19] where Queensland won the game 34–12, with Coates named player of the match.^[20]

Senior career

2019–2021: Brisbane Broncos

Coates made his international debut for Papua New Guinea in their 24–6 defeat by Samoa in the 2019 Oceania Cup.^[21] A month later, in round 16 of the 2019 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Brisbane Broncos against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, scoring a try.^[22]

He made 12 appearances for Brisbane in the 2020 NRL season, a year which saw Brisbane come last for the first time their history.^[23] Coates achieved the highest top speed of a player in the 2020 NRL season by hitting a top speed of 36.9 km/h against the Newcastle Knights in round 6 of the 2020 season.^[24]

Coates was selected to make his debut for Queensland on the wing in game one of the 2020 State of Origin series, scoring a try in the 18–14 win. Coates then played game two scoring the first try in a 34–10 loss, however was ruled out of game three due to a groin injury suffered in the captain's run before the match.

In round 1 of the 2021 NRL season, he scored two tries for Brisbane in the first half of the match against Parramatta. In the act of scoring the second try, Coates landed awkwardly on his neck and was taken from the field. Brisbane would go on to lose the match 24–16.^[25]

In round 3 of the 2021 NRL season, he scored two tries in a 24–0 victory over Canterbury-Bankstown.^[26] On 9 May 2021, Coates announced that he had signed a two-year deal to join Melbourne Storm for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.^[27]

In round 23 of the 2021 NRL season, he scored two tries in a 24–22 victory over the New Zealand Warriors.^[28]

2022–present: Melbourne Storm

In round 1 of the 2022 NRL season, Coates made his club debut for Melbourne on his 21st birthday against Wests Tigers, scoring a try in a win at CommBank Stadium. He had his club debut jersey (cap number 217) presented to him by former Melbourne player Matt Geyer.^[29] In round 7, Coates scored four tries for Melbourne in a 70–10 victory over the New Zealand Warriors. In the 2022 elimination final, Coates scored a hat-trick in Melbourne's 28–20 loss against Canberra.^[30]

Coates would finish the 2022 season with 16 tries from 17 appearances for Melbourne, with an ankle injury suffered in game one of the 2022 State of Origin series sidelining the winger for seven matches.^[31] In round 6 of the 2023 NRL season, Coates scored a hat-trick in Melbourne's 28–8 victory over the Sydney Roosters.^[32] Coates played 21 games for Melbourne in the 2023 NRL season and scored 16 tries as the club finished third on the table. He played in the qualifying final defeat against Brisbane but was injured in the game and later ruled out for the remainder of the season.^[33]

Following his consistent 2023 season, Coates would be awarded the Melbourne Storm's Cameron Smith Player of the Year award as the club's best for the season.^[34] In round 8 of the 2024 NRL season, Coates scored a hat-trick in Melbourne's 54–20 victory over South Sydney. Coates was later taken from the field with a hamstring injury and ruled out for an extended period.^[35] Coates played a total of 16 matches for Melbourne in the 2024 NRL season as the club were runaway minor premiers. Coates played in Melbourne's 2024 NRL Grand Final loss against Penrith.^[36]

Statistics

NRL

Year	Team	Games	Tries	Pts
2019	Brisbane Broncos	3	1	4
2020		12	5	20
2021		17	11	44
2022	Melbourne Storm	17	16	64
2023		21	16	64
2024		16	10	40
	Totals	86	59	236

* ^[37]

Honours

Club

• NRL Minor Premiers: 2024

Individual

• Melbourne Storm Cameron Smith Player of the Year Award: 2023
• Dally M Try of the Year: 2024
• Peter Frilingos Headline Moment: 2024
• Melbourne Storm Best Try: 2024

References

1. Rugby League Project
2. "The Broncos Podcast: Xavier Coates". Broncos.com.au. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
3. "Xavier Coates, fastest NRL player: Broncos star turned down a possible shot at the Olympics". Courier Mail. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
4. "NRL's fastest man dreamt of Olympic glory". Central Queensland News. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
5. "The Inglis pep talk that put Coates on the Origin path". NRL.com. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
6. "Five blinders in 56 days – Coates' stunning rise to NRL". NRL.com. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
7. "Wayne Bennett set to punt on Xavier Coates". The Australian. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
8. "Broncos poised to unleash their 'little GI'". Queensland Times. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
9. "Currumbin Eagles", Wikipedia, 12 June 2020, retrieved 28 June 2020
10. Lindsay, Brendan (2017). "2017 Grand Final Draw". Rugby League Gold Coast. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
11. "Coates inspired to follow in Dearden's footsteps". Queensland Rugby League. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
12. "Under 15, Under 16, Under 18 Emerging Origin squads". Queensland Rugby League. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
13. "Xavier Coates". National Rugby League. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
14. "NSW U18s v QLD U18s". National Rugby League. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
15. What a weapon!' – Xavier Coates, 14 May 2019, retrieved 28 June 2020
16. "Five blinders in 56 days – Coates' stunning rise to NRL". National Rugby League. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
17. "Xavier Coates". Queensland Rugby League. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
18. "Schoolboys vie for England tour at national champs". Queensland Rugby League. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
19. "QLD U18s v NSW U18s". National Rugby League. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
20. Player of the Match Xavier Coates, 5 June 2019, retrieved 28 June 2020
21. "Samoa vs Papua New Guinea". Wide World of Sports. 22 June 2019.
22. "Round 16 NRL team announcements". NRL.com. 3 July 2019.
23. "Brisbane get wooden spoon as North Queensland finish on a high". www.nrl.com. 24 September 2020.
24. "Coates dethrones Addo-Carr as NRL's fastest player". www.nrl.com. 19 June 2020.
25. "Brisbane Broncos' NRL losing streak continues as Parramatta Eels score comeback 24–16 win; Newcastle Knights beat Bulldogs". ABC News. 12 March 2021.
26. "Parramatta unbeaten in NRL after 28–4 win over Cronulla as Brisbane and Warriors enjoy victories". ABC News. 27 March 2021.
27. "Coates to join Melbourne Storm". www.melbournestorm.com.au. 9 May 2021.
28. "Devastated Walsh not to blame for 'conservative' Warriors loss: Brown". www.nrl.com. 22 August 2021.
29. "Round 1 Team List". www.melbournestorm.com.au. 8 March 2022.
30. "Coates scores four as Storm notch 60-point win over Warriors". www.nrl.com. 25 April 2022.
31. "Xavier Coates: Season in Review". melbournestorm.com.au. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
32. "Melbourne Storm defeat Sydney Roosters 28–8 to leap into NRL top four". ABC News. 6 April 2023.
33. "NRL 2023: Melbourne Storm season review". www.sportingnews.com.
34. "Coates seals career-best season". melbournestorm.com.au. 3 October 2023. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
35. "South Sydney Rabbitohs' Anzac Day loss to Melbourne Storm made worse by Taane Milne's 'brain explosion' on Cameron Munster". www.abc.net.au.
36. "NRL grand final 2024 quick hits: Biting allegation, Panthers halves swansong and a controversial bunker decision". www.abc.net.au.
37. https://www.melbournestorm.com.au/teams/nrl-premiership/melbourne-storm/xavier-coates/ ^{[bare URL]}

External links

• Brisbane Broncos profile Archived 6 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Melbourne Storm profile