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Message: [QUOTE="Footy Fanatic, post: 3046492, member: 9975"] [SIZE=26px][B]Junior footy to Test debut in 41 days: Baby Bronco Xavier Coates incredible rise with PNG[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=22px][B]For a man so young, Xavier Coates seems to be dealing with his rise to the top with ease. [/B][/SIZE] In the space of 41 days, the 18-year-old will have won his final game in junior football, made his senior debut in the Q Cup scoring two tries, played a man-of-the-match Under 18 State of Origin game for Queensland, and made his Test debut for Papua New Guinea. It’s another big step on a journey he seems to be taking in his stride. Well, with size 15 feet, you would expect him to. “Everything’s happened so quick, I didn’t really expect it to be like this,” says Coates. “I guess when you work hard, things happen for you and I’m happy with how things are going. I just need to work and keep progressing.” [I][URL='https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/broncos/exclusive-broncos-young-gun-xavier-coates-to-cap-spectacular-rise-with-international-debut/news-story/d904af001eeda62a3747869ef0329a13']Foxsports.com.au[/URL][/I] [URL='https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/broncos/exclusive-broncos-young-gun-xavier-coates-to-cap-spectacular-rise-with-international-debut/news-story/d904af001eeda62a3747869ef0329a13']exclusively revealed that Coates was being considered for a PNG call-up last week[/URL], and the centre or winger has joined the likes of James Segeyaro and Rhyse Martin in Kumuls camp this week. His rise has been so rapid that he will beat the record set by Sione Matu’utia to become the youngest Test debutant — 18 years, 100 days — when the Kumuls face Samoa on Saturday at Leichardt Oval. So young is Coates in fact, that it was his parents who were informed of the call-up, rather than the player himself. “I was sort of astounded, my mum, especially, was really happy because growing up where she’s from in Papua New Guinea, the Kumuls is the pinnacle and to have the whole country cheering for you is a good feeling,” Coates tells [I]foxsports.com.au.[/I] “I was at a mate’s house and when I got home my mum had this massive smile on her face. “She told me to come into the room and then explained I’d made the team, I thought it was a development team, but she was like no, it’s the actual team to face Samoa. “My mum’s full-blooded PNG and I was born there. She’s coming down to watch. My dad has to look after my little brothers and sisters.” Currently on the books of the Brisbane Broncos, the trainee teacher has already seen fellow young Broncos juniors Tom Dearden and David Fifita make their NRL debuts in recent times. Despite his quick ascendancy Coates, who has been mentored by Matt Geyer at Marymount College, is happy to bide his time for his maiden Broncos game. “It’s a case of working hard and seeing what happens,” says Coates. “Making a NRL debut would be a dream come true. But I guess you’ve got to do the work and follow the process.” It will be 41 days since his junior final for Tweeds Heads Seagulls on Saturday, so just imagine what the next 41 could bring. If his current trajectory is anything to go by, it is surely only a matter of time before he makes that, in those very big feet. [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/junior-footy-to-test-debut-in-41-days-baby-bronco-xavier-coates-incredible-rise-with-png/news-story/f88e729e4a6bfb332e195cd7181d9cfc[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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