Australian Football

Mark Yeates overcame the setback of sustaining a hamstring injury whilst executing his first kick in league football to develop into a highly valuable performer for Geelong for more than a decade. That debut match took place in 1980, and when he retired at the end of the 1990 season he had amassed 154 games in a Cats jumper, and kicked 57 games.

Capable of producing effective football in any key position, Yeates was most commonly used at centre half back. During the opening moments of Geelong's 1989 Grand Final loss to Hawthorn he felled Hawks star Dermott Brereton with a ferocious bump, and it is probably this act above all for which he is best remembered.

After leaving Geelong, Yeates spent the 1991 and 1992 seasons as captain-coach of North Hobart, whom he steered to successive Grand Final triumphs at the respective expense of North Launceston and Hobart. In 1991 he was a joint winner of the Demons' best and fairest player trophy.

Author - John Devaney