With a very young core group of players within their roster, the Newcastle Knights have emphasised the use of juniors to make the majority of their team with Luke Yates the latest to re-commit to the club.
Yates has 19 NRL games to his name so far after making his debut in Rd 1 and it could have been more, had an injury not ruled him out for the rest of the season in Rd 19.
The promising forward drew praise from Knights General Manager of Football Darren Mooney.
“Luke is a great young talent and thoroughly deserves this contract extension,” General Manager Football Darren Mooney said.
“Luke has progressed through the grades at the Club and made a successful transition to the NRL this season.
“He is a popular teammate and consistent contributor and we look forward to seeing his continued development at the Knights.”
Yates is not the only one to re-sign, however, with Tom Hughes, a staple back-line player in the side’s NSW Cup team also staying on.
The club also decided to take up the 2018 options for Sam Stone, Dylan Phythian and Nick Meaney, as well as re-signing young hooker Tom Starling for 2018.