Why Warrington Wolves were so keen to sign Luke Yates

The club this morning confirmed the Huddersfield Giants captain’s signature on a two-year deal, with the move having been rumoured for some time.

In the 29-year-old, The Wire have added a player who has stood out among the key defensive metrics ever since first arriving on this shores in 2019, with his time in England taking in spells with London Broncos and Salford Red Devils before joining Huddersfield.

Here’s a look at some of the reasons why Sam Burgess was so keen to add him to his squad…

A tackling machine who rarely misses

Since arriving in Super League in 2019 from Newcastle, where he was a teammate of current Wire second-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Yates has established himself as one of the competition’s hardest-working players.

In that respect, he fits the profile of what Warrington currently want from their forwards with working dutifully off the ball considered just as important as impact on it.

Yates topped Super League’s tackle charts during the 2023 season having completed 1,027 at an average of 42 per game.

Since arriving in England, he has finished among the top 10 tacklers in every season – he was second in 2019, fourth in both 2020 and 2021 and eighth in 2022.

This year, too, his defensive stats are impressive again – his nine Super League appearances have seen him complete 366 tackles at an average of just over 40 per game, with just seven misses.

His highest figure is the incredible 61 tackles he made against St Helens on April 25.

By comparison, Wire’s current top tackler is hooker Danny Walker, who has 353 tackles in 11 Super League games at an average of just over 32 per game with 32 misses.

Luke Yates was Super League's Top Tackler last year and is averaging just over 40 tackles per game so far in 2024 (Image: SWPix.com)

How does Yates compare to Wire’s current options?

Yates has played primarily at loose forward, where The Wire’s chief options currently are Ben Currie and Jordy Crowther.

Here is a comparison of all the key metrics for all three players from the 2024 season, with stats courtesy of the Super League website.