Luke Yates on facing old Huddersfield teammates with Warrington

However, he will not have bargained on doing so while wearing a Wire shirt.

The trip to the John Smith’s Stadium will be a special one for the Australian, who makes his first return to the club he was captain of until earlier this summer.

A deal to join Warrington in 2025 was already in place, but an agreement was reached to bring the deal forward and since coming into the side in July, his impact has been immediate.

While he slotted seamlessly into the primrose and blue machine, however, the teammates he left behind have continued to struggle and come into the game with no prospect of climbing higher than their current position of ninth.

Having appointed Luke Robinson as their permanent head coach, Huddersfield’s thoughts are turning to the future and Yates believes their desire to lay down a marker for 2025 will make his former side dangerous.

Luke Yates spent the first half of 2024 at Huddersfield before joining Warrington in July (Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

“I was only there for the first game of Robbo’s head coaching career, but obviously I know a fair bit about the lads there,” he said.

“They’ve got a lot of powerful ball-carriers like Esan Marsters and Seb Ikahihifo, then Tui Lolohea who can win a game for them single-handedly.

“Defensively, we’ve got a massive job ahead of us to nullify their strengths.

“You might see them play a little more expansively with not much to play for.

“From their side, I saw Tui’s post-match from last week and he was saying about playing for some pride in their shirt and finish on a good note to feed into next year.

“That can be an important thing for a club on that position because I’ve been there before.

“You just go out and start swinging. There’s no point going out and playing conservatively because in the position they’re in, they may as well try things.

“For us, we’re at our best when we focus on ourselves.

“We’re trying to push for a top-two finish, so we’re going there trying to be ruthless and build some momentum for the finals.”

In some circles, this game as well as next week’s clash with London Broncos is being spoken about as an opportunity for Warrington to narrow the gap that exists between them and second-placed Hull KR in terms of points difference.

As well as needing a slip-up from the Robins, The Wire are likely to need to win at least one of their two remaining games by a convincing margin to bolster their chances of snatching second spot.

However, Yates insists that thought is not in the minds of the players, who simply want to fine-tune their game before the play-offs begin.

“If we get our game cycle and structure in place, everything flows off the back of that,” he said.

“Our process is more important and if we get it right, points will come.

“If you go into a game thinking about scoring x amount of points, you’re probably not going to do that because you neglect the little things that put you in that position.”

And in the spirit of refining their style for the decisive games around the corner, Yates has spoken about the team getting themselves into “finals mode” in terms of their style of play.

Given the recent wet weather, that may mean simplifying a few things with the ball.

“We’ve had a good couple of days training with the weather being how it has been,” he said.

“It’s given us a bit more exposure to what finals football in October will be like in terms of the conditions.

“It means things like short passes and getting our kicking game right is something we’re going to look to do.”