Huddersfield Giants have completed the signing of Salford forward Luke Yates on a two-year deal.
The Giants have finally landed their man after a long pursuit, eventually securing a deal for an undisclosed, five-figure fee.
Ian Watson had made the Australian one of his key priorities following his move from Salford to Huddersfield, with a deal finally completed.
It wraps up a spending spree that has seen Watson recruit Jack Cogger, Ricky Leutele and Josh Jones.
Yates arrived in Super League with London Broncos in 2019 and made a quick impression with his work rate.
That earned him a move to Salford last year, where he linked up with Watson for the first time.
“Luke is and was amongst the best middles in the competition last year and is definitely one of the hardest working players you will ever come across,” Watson said.
” His appetite for the contest is shown in his work ethic for his teammates in Defence and his attitude to turn up for the tough carries.
“Luke was a number one target and I am over the moon with Luke joining us at the Giants and again would like to thank the work done by Ken and Richard behind the scenes to get it across the line.
“It was essential bringing Luke to the Giants because of what he is which is a total professional top quality player with endless energy for the game.
“Luke will improve us as a team alongside the quality middles we already have and will help to make our younger players better like Matty English, Oliver Wilson, Owen Trout, Jon-Luke Kirby and Robson Stevens who will all learn from him. Yates, Cunningham, Jones, Greenwood, McQueen & Ashworth coming into our existing pack make it an exciting prospect for Huddersfield supporters in 2021.”
Yates added: “The main motivation for me was to work with Ian Watson, we have a long history even though we’ve only worked together for a year. He tried to sign me when I signed for the Broncos, he signed me to Salford and when the opportunity opened up for me to work with him again, I knew I wanted to join the club.”
“I’d consider myself a grafter, I do big minutes in the middle against bigger bodies and I use the attributes I have. I’m a fit forward who likes the defensive side of the game.
“I’m coming here to play my role for the team and hopefully help transfer my effort into some wins. I’m not coming here to tag along, I want to be dominant in the pack and I’m coming to Huddersfield to win things. The squad that the club have put together is unbelievable, and the additions to the squad are excellent, and in Ian Watson they’ve got someone who wants to be at the top of the table, competing for titles, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
