1. Xavier Coates was born on 12 March 2001 and is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League and Papua New Guinea at international level.
17 Facts About Xavier Coates
1. 2.
Xavier Coates has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.
3.
Xavier Coates attended Marymount College throughout his upbringing and began pursuing an athletics career in primary school.
4.
Xavier Coates's goal was to represent Papua New Guinea at the Olympics but former NRL player and Marymount teacher Matt Geyer organised a phone call with then-Queensland captain Greg Inglis and the pair convinced Coates to pursue a career in rugby league instead.
5.
Xavier Coates named Inglis as his sporting idol growing up and was nicknamed 'Little GI' by his Broncos teammates due to the similarities in playing style.
6.
Xavier Coates began playing junior football on the Gold Coast for the Currumbin Eagles in 2010 at the age of 9 years old.
7.
Xavier Coates never made an underage representative team as a junior, being overlooked on multiple occasions.
8.
Xavier Coates featured in the Mal Meninga Cup with the Tweed Heads Seagulls.
9.
Xavier Coates made 12 appearances for Brisbane in the 2020 NRL season, a year which saw Brisbane come last for the first time their history.
10.
On 9 May 2021, Xavier Coates announced that he had signed a two-year deal to join Melbourne Storm for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
11.
In round 1 of the 2022 NRL season, Xavier Coates made his club debut for Melbourne on his 21st birthday against Wests Tigers, scoring a try in a win at CommBank Stadium.
12.
Xavier Coates had his club debut jersey presented to him by former Melbourne player Matt Geyer.
13.
Xavier Coates played 21 games for Melbourne in the 2023 NRL season and scored 16 tries as the club finished third on the table.
14.
Xavier Coates played in the qualifying final defeat against Brisbane but was injured in the game and later ruled out for the remainder of the season.
15.
Xavier Coates was later taken from the field with a hamstring injury and ruled out for an extended period.
16.
Xavier Coates played a total of 16 matches for Melbourne in the 2024 NRL season as the club were runaway minor premiers.
17.
Xavier Coates played in Melbourne's 2024 NRL Grand Final loss against Penrith.