The trio of Kye Oates, Eli Langi and Harvey Cordukes have all been promoted to the ACT Brumbies senior squad, following the announcement of our 2026 Swyftx Super Rugby Pacific squad yesterday.
They have all come through the Brumbies academy system and played for the club at representative level.
We profile each of the three new graduates below:
Kye Oates
Age: 26
Position: Outside back
Height: 180cm
Weight: 90kg
Oates is a a proud Nunukul, Ngughi and Goenpul man, and a product of the Brumbies Indigenous Pathways Program. Earlier this year, he was included in the inaugural First Nations & Pasifika XV squad to take on the British & Irish Lions. Oates has featured heavily for the Canberra Royals in the John I Dent Cup in recent seasons, playing this year alongside his brother, Chace, who is a fly-half and was a key player for the Brumbies under-19s this season.
"Kye had a tremendous club season and has played fullback for a long time now while training with us. I thought he was outstanding in the John I Dent Cup," Brumbies head coach Stephen Larkham said of Oates.
"He was one of the best players in the competition. (Chris) Mickelson won the McDougall medal, but Kye was clearly the best player for Royals week in, week out.
"We felt that when he was on the field, things were being created and tries were being scored. And when he wasn't on the field, it was a lot harder for the Royals to create those opportunities. He's a naturally gifted athlete and is agile with good acceleration.
"He brings a remarkable skillset to the team. He's outstanding on his feet, has a great pass and is a really good communicator, while seeing space ahead of him really well."
Eli Langi
Age: 18
Position: Back-row
Height: 191cm
Weight: 104kg
Langi captained our under-19s side this season, losing out 31-24 in the Super Rugby final against the Waratahs at Warringah Rugby Club. He also played for Australia under-20s in this year’s World Championship in Italy and won the Graham Gordon Memorial Trophy for the Best and Fairest under-20s Player at the Brumbies end of season awards.
"Eli is just a really talented player. He has a great skillset, the right attitude and is really tough mentally - he has the ability to push himself hard at training," Larkham said.
"You can see quick growth in his development, he is extremely skilful in the line-out. He is a naturally talented individual physically, but also passionate about rugby and has a really good knowledge of the game.
"He's been captain of our junior representative sides and comes into the team covering all back-row positions."
Harvey Cordukes
Age: 21
Position: Lock
Height: 202cm
Weight: 115kg
Man mountain Cordukes stands at over two metres tall and started every one of our Super Rugby AUS matches this season, while also representing Australia under-20s at the World Championships in South Africa last year. He spent time with Provence over in France in 2024/25, before returning to Canberra to play for the Uni-Norths Owls in this year's John I Dent Cup, playing a key role in their first Premiership win since 1992.
"Harvey spent a bit of time in France, going over there on an academy contract," Larkham said.
"That's the beauty of rugby, you do get these opportunities to travel the world and play the game. So it was certainly a good experience for him over there and one where he would have learnt a lot.
"He's come back in and we've been very surprised. Before he went over there, he probably struggled with his catch pass skills a little bit.
"Since Harvey's come back, he's shown huge improvements in that space. He's a naturally aggressive player and his work-rate is really good.
"He's a big body and he's got a lot of potential. It's hard to find big bodies who've got rugby skill and he's one of those guys. The longer he stays in our programme now, he'll go from strength to strength.
"Harvey played all of Super Rugby AUS games and we saw good improvements from the first game to the last game with all of his skills. He gets another opportunity in Hong Kong this weekend.
"Next year, he's going to be one of our second rowers. Obviously, Tom Hooper's now gone overseas and so Harvey fills that position alongside (Nick) Frsot. (Lachie) Shaw and (Cadeyrn) Neville."
