Luke Gale

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Luke Gale
Luke Gale Castleford.jpg
Personal information
Born (1988-06-22) 22 June 1988 (age 33)
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight13 st 4 lb (84 kg)
Playing information
PositionScrum-half, Stand-off, Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–2008 Leeds Rhinos 0 0 0 0 0
2007–2008 → Doncaster (loan) 43 33 74 6 286
2009–2011 Harlequins 76 21 97 4 282
2012–2014 Bradford Bulls 64 19 119 5 319
2015–2019 Castleford Tigers 104 33 415 16 978
2020–2021 Leeds Rhinos 22 6 13 5 55
2022– Hull FC 0 0 0 0 0
Total 309 112 718 36 1920
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–2012 England Knights 2 2 8 0 24
2016– England 9 1 5 0 14
As of 5 November 2021
Source: [1][2][3]

Luke Gale (born 22 June 1988) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as scrum-half or stand-off for Hull FC in the Betfred Super League and the England Knights and England at international level.

Having started his career at Leeds Rhinos, he previously played for Doncaster on loan in the National Leagues, and Harlequins RL, Bradford Bulls and the Castleford Tigers (Heritage № 952) in the Super League.[1][2] He played occasionally as a hooker earlier in his career.

Biography[]

Gale was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England on 22 June 1988.[3]

Playing career[]

Doncaster RLFC[]

A Leeds academy graduate, Gale was sent out on loan to Doncaster in 2007 and established himself as a first-choice player, winning the National League Two Young Player of the Year award in 2008, in which he became the club's record points scorer in a season.

Harlequins RL[]

Gale's form at Doncaster attracted interest from Super League clubs and he moved to London's Harlequins Rugby League team.

Bradford Bulls[]

Gale in action for Harlequins in 2010.

Gale spent three years at Harlequins club before joining Bradford Bulls.

Gale immediately became first-choice scrum-half for Bradford, scoring 143 points for the club in his début season. He signed a three-year extension to his contract at the start of 2013, however he missed the first three months of the season due to injury and only made 16 appearances in total during the year.

Gale playing for Bradford in 2014

Gale missed only one match for Bradford in 2014, however the team struggled on the field and the club was relegated from Super League at the end of the season, following which Gale left the club.

Castleford Tigers[]

Gale joined Castleford in 2015 as a replacement for the departing Marc Sneyd, and scored a try on his début for the club against Wakefield Trinity. Gale enjoyed a productive season, scoring 205 points and becoming an integral part of the team that narrowly missed out on the Super League semi-finals. His form was recognised as he won the Albert Goldthorpe Medal at the end of the season.[4]

Gale was made acting captain for the 2016 season due to injury to Michael Shenton.[5] Another strong season in which he topped the league for try assists saw him retain his Albert Goldthorpe medal.[6]

In 2017, Gale played an integral role in guiding Castleford to the League Leaders' Shield, their first piece of major silverware since 1994, as well as leading the team to their maiden Grand Final appearance, which was lost 24-6 to Leeds Rhinos.[7][8] Undoubtedly Gale’s best performance of the season was in Castleford’s 23-22 victory over St Helens in their Betfred Super League semi-Final, in which he converted a last-minute penalty to bring the game to golden point extra-time, before scoring the drop-goal which sent Castleford to Old Trafford for the first time in the club’s history.[9] Just two weeks beforehand, he had undergone an emergency appendectomy operation.[10] The following week, Gale was named 2017 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel for his performances throughout the season, beating team-mate Zak Hardaker and Hull FC’s Albert Kelly to the award.[11] He also won the Albert Goldthorpe Medal for a record-breaking third consecutive year.[12]

Leeds Rhinos[]

He signed for hometown club Leeds for the 2020 season, and won the Challenge Cup that season with a victory over Salford Red Devils. Gale scored the winning drop-goal in the 76th minute of the game to edge Leeds to a 17-16 victory.[13]

Hull F.C.[]

On 5 November 2021 it was announced that he had signed for Hull F.C. in the Super League.[14][15]

International career[]

In 2011 and 2012, Gale played for the England Knights team. He kicked 8 goals, as well as scoring 1 try, in the Knights' 56–4 victory over Ireland in the 2012 European Cup.

After an outstanding 2015 Super League season, Gale was named in the senior England team for their end-of-year internationals against France and New Zealand,[16] but did not make an appearance. He was selected again in England's squad for the 2016 Four Nations, making his international début in a test match against France.

He was selected in the England squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup,[17] and subsequently played every game as England made the final in Melbourne, where they lost narrowly to hosts Australia.

Honours[]

Castleford[]

Runners up (1): 2017

Leeds[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Luke Gale". castlefordtigers.com. Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  4. ^ Bower, Aaron (14 September 2015). "Luke Gale wins Albert Goldthorpe Medal". TotalRL. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ Charles, Andy (11 February 2016). "Luke Gale to deputise for injured Castleford captain Michael Shenton". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Shaw, Matthew (5 September 2016). "Luke Gale wins the Albert Goldthorpe Medal again". TotalRL. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Grand Final 2017: Castleford 6-24 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Danny McGuire guides Leeds to Grand Final success over Castleford". Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. ^ Cartwright, Phil (28 September 2017). "Super League semi-final: Castleford Tigers 23-22 St Helens". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Luke Gale: Castleford scrum-half amazed by Grand Final opportunity after surgery". BBC Sport. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Luke Gale: Castleford half-back wins 2017 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award". BBC Sport. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  12. ^ Davis, Alex (11 September 2017). "Luke Gale wins Albert Goldthorpe Medal for a third time". TotalRL. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Leeds beat Salford 17-16 after Luke Gale lands late winning drop-goal". www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Luke Gale: Hull FC sign former Man of Steel from Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Hull FC confirm Luke Gale signing". Love Rugby League. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  16. ^ "MCNAMARA NAMES 24-MAN SQUAD FOR 2015 INTERNATIONAL SERIES". englandrl.co.uk. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  17. ^ "England rugby league World Cup squad revealed - and James Roby is back in the fold". Mirror. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.

External links[]

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