Luke Gale (born 22 June 1988) is an English professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
footballer who last played as or for
Keighley Cougars
The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England who compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. Keighley's home ground, Cougar Park has a capacity of 7,800.
History
Early y ...
in the
Betfred Championship
The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...
and the
England Knights
England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at international level.
Having started his career at
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...
, he previously played for
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
on loan in the
National Leagues, and
Harlequins RL
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England.
The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...
,
Bradford Bulls
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...
and the
Castleford Tigers (
Heritage № 952) in the
Super League.
He played occasionally as a earlier in his career.
Biography
Gale was born in
Leeds, Yorkshire
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, England on 22 June 1988.
Playing career
Doncaster RLFC
A
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
academy graduate, Gale was sent out on loan to
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
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 spent three years at Harlequins club before joining
Bradford Bulls
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...
.
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 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
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...
. 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
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award that has been created by '' Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' to honour the leading players in the Super League and to honour Albert Goldthorpe, who was English rugby league's first superstar at the turn ...
at the end of the season.
Gale was made acting captain for the
2016 season due to injury to
Michael Shenton
Michael Shenton (born 22 July 1986), also known by the nickname of "Shenny", is a former English professional rugby league footballer who played as a and was the captain of the Castleford Tigers ( Heritage № 810) in the Super League.
An ...
. Another strong season in which he topped the league for try assists saw him retain his Albert Goldthorpe medal.
In 2017, Gale played an integral role in guiding Castleford to the
League Leaders' Shield
The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off se ...
, their first piece of major silverware since 1994, as well as leading the team to their maiden
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...
appearance, which was lost 24-6 to
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...
. 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. Just two weeks beforehand, he had undergone an emergency appendectomy operation. The following week, Gale was named 2017
Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel for his performances throughout the season, beating team-mate
Zak Hardaker
Zak Alexander Hardaker (born 17 October 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Leigh Leopards in the Super League. He has played for the England Knights, England and Great Britain at international l ...
and
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
’s
Albert Kelly
Albert Kelly (born 21 March 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Brisbane Rugby League.
He has previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Gold Coa ...
to the award. He also won the Albert Goldthorpe Medal for a record-breaking third consecutive year.
Leeds Rhinos
He signed for hometown club
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
for the 2020 season, and won the
Challenge Cup that season with a victory over
Salford Red Devils
The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...
. Gale scored the winning drop-goal in the 76th minute of the game to edge Leeds to a 17-16 victory.
Hull F.C.
On 5 November 2021 it was announced that he had signed for
Hull F.C.
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
in the
Super League.
In round 1 of the 2022 Super League season, he made his club debut and scored a try in Hull F.C's 16-12 victory over
Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...
. The following week, he was sent off for a professional foul in the clubs 38-6 loss against
St. Helens R.F.C.
On 21 February, Gale was suspended for five matches over the red card against St Helens.
Keighley Cougars
Gale became a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
at the end of the 2022 season as his contract with Hull expired. On 19 December 2022 he signed a one-year contract to join Keighley in the Championship for 2023.
International career
In 2011 and 2012, Gale played for the
England Knights
England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
team for their end-of-year internationals against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
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 Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
against France.
He was selected in the England squad for the
2017 Rugby League World Cup
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...
,
and subsequently played every game as England made the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, where they lost narrowly to hosts
Australia.
Honours
Castleford
*
Super League:
::Runners up (1):
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
Leeds
*
Challenge Cup (1):
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
References
External links
Leeds Rhinos profileCastleford Tigers profileCas Tigers profileSL profileStatistics at rlwc2017.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Luke
1988 births
Living people
Bradford Bulls players
Castleford Tigers players
Doncaster R.L.F.C. players
England Knights national rugby league team players
England national rugby league team players
English rugby league players
Hull F.C. players
Keighley Cougars players
Leeds Rhinos captains
Leeds Rhinos players
London Broncos players
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Leeds