Xavier Coates; How Titans missed Coast teen crowned NRL’s fastest man

The Gold Coast Titans will have front row seats to watch the NRL’s newly-crowned fastest man. Two years ago he was an unknown playing in their own backyard, at Marymount College.

Xavier Coates - Tweed Heads Seagulls - Photo: SMPIMAGES.COM / Newscorp. Action from the National Rugby League under 18 National Final between the Tweed Heads Seagulls v Illawara Steelers played at Dolphin Stadium Redcliffe Queensland.

When Gold Coast teen Xavier Coates leapt out of the Brisbane Broncos defensive line to pluck a try-saving intercept against the Newcastle Knights his old teachers and schoolmates alike moved to the edge of their seats.

They knew what was coming next as the 19-year-old Marymount College graduate hit the open field.

Coates set school records in track and field, including shot put (U15), Long Jump (U13-U18), Triple Jump (U13-U18), the 400 metre (U18) and 100 metre (U15) sprints.

GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 18: Xavier Coates of the Broncos look on during the round six NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the Brisbane Broncos at Central Coast Stadium on June 18, 2020 in Gosford, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

At Central Coast Stadium Coates dusted off his old jet-boots, sprinting at a rate of 36.9km/h to dethrone Origin star Josh Addo-Carr as the season’s fastest NRL player.

There were cheers as Coates crossed the line but nobody at Marymount College could claim to be surprised.

“We’d seen him on the track at school and I’d never seen anyone push him,” college sportsmaster Trent Balym said.

“He never had anyone to chase. As soon as he took the intercept I knew no-one could have caught him.

“With his height and stride length he’s almost like Usain Bolt – he was always going to fly across the field.”

Coates is a centimetre shorter and six kilograms heavier than Bolt, with a gait and build closer to Greg Inglis than the Jamaican sprint king.

His is a potent cocktail of speed and power that 262-game Melbourne Storm winger Matt Geyer observed closely while coaching Coates at Marymount.

Geyer says the blazing Bronco could have been lost to rugby league entirely if not for the love he found playing with his buddies in the school team.

“He nearly gave it up aged 15 or 16 because he never got picked in any representative teams,” Geyer said.

“He got disenchanted and was leaning towards walking away. I had to convince him to come back to footy.”

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Man of the match is Xavier Coates in the Under 18 Queensland V NSW State of Origin game at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Pics Adam Head

Coates bounced around the team’s positions as Geyer experimented to ensure the ball was reaching Coates as often as possible.

“At school I put him at front row for a few games; we scored five tries and he would have had four of them,” he said.

“By the time he was in Year 12 we put him in second row because he needed to touch the ball more for our team.

“After school he went from playing for Tweed to Papua New Guinea (Kumuls) and an NRL debut within 40 days.

“To say it’s a meteoric rise is one of the greatest understatements you could make.”

Geyer said Coates signed with Brisbane because they were the first team to contact him as he began to emerge as a player of potential.

Titans fans will watch longingly as the speedster takes the field against Gold Coast next week, wearing the wrong colours.

Xavier Coates - Tweed Heads Seagulls - Photo: SMPIMAGES.COM / Newscorp. Action from the National Rugby League under 18 National Final between the Tweed Heads Seagulls v Illawara Steelers played at Dolphin Stadium Redcliffe Queensland.