Origin call has Xavier Coates floating on clouds
Work with retired Collingwood AFL captain Nick Maxwell has added to Queenslander Xavier Coates’ aerial threat ahead of Wednesday’s State of Origin opener.
It was the moment high-flying NRL winger Xavier Coates couldn’t get his feet back on the ground quickly enough.
Coates was returning to Melbourne last Sunday after visiting family on the Gold Coast when he realised he’d forgotten to put his phone on flight mode.
What drew his attention to that was a notification of several missed calls from Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater.
“You know sometimes when you’re up in the air, you get that little signal and then it all popped up at around like 8-8.30pm that I had five missed phone calls from Bill,” Coates told AAP.
“I was halfway through the plane trip and I couldn’t call him back.
“I had to wait, that was probably one of the most nerve-wracking things.”
Once he’d landed Coates was able to ring Slater and receive confirmation he’d been picked for the Maroons’ team for Wednesday’s Origin opener against NSW in Sydney, heading back to Queensland the next day for camp.
Coates’ selection was expected but not exactly assured with the wing positions among the most hotly contested in the Queensland line-up.
The 21-year-old was picked ahead of Corey Oates, who has recaptured some of his best form for Brisbane, while North Queensland’s Murray Taulagi was another making a strong case.
In Coates’ favour was a strong start to his career at Melbourne after making a switch from the Broncos at the end of last year.
In 11 games under Craig Bellamy, Coates has scored 11 tries – including a four-try haul in a 70-10 mauling of the Warriors on Anzac Day.
The 194cm Coates has also been at his best in aerial contests, something he credits to working with former Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell, who passes on AFL tips and tricks to Storm players.
“He’s done a really good job with helping us out and it was something I wanted to get better at,” Coates said.
“I want to improve my game all the time, but definitely in the air I wanted to improve.
“What better way then to get a coach that coaches in the AFL to come and help us out?
“He’s come in and done a fair bit of work with us at the Melbourne Storm. I’m just taking on board what he says.”
Coates’ improved aerial skills will be put to the test at Accor Stadium when he comes up against Daniel Tupou, the Sydney Roosters’ winger having been picked by NSW ahead of incumbent Josh Addo-Carr partly due to his dominance in the air.
“We both have pretty similar attributes … we’ve both got a fair bit of height and we both love an aerial contest,” Coates said.
“If we do come up against each other it’ll be, I reckon, a really good battle…
“I can’t wait, any challenge that’s put my way I’ll go up against that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Son, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
6 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
132 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
132 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
132 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
6 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
6 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
132 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to comments