Luke Patten

Luke "The General" Patten (born 9 January 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer and NRL match official. A Junior Kangaroo and Country New South Wales representative fullback he played for the Illawarra Steelers, St George Illawarra Dragons and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Australia and the Salford City Reds in the Super League. Patten won the 2004 NRL Premiership with the Bulldogs.

Patten played in the famous 1999 Grand Final between the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Melbourne Storm played in front of a record crowd of 108,000 people at the Homebush Olympic Stadium.

In 2001, he joined the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and quickly made the fullback position his own. In 2004 he played in every game of the Canterbury-Bankstown premiership winning season which finished with a 16–13 victory Grand Final win over the Sydney Roosters.

A two-time winner of the clubs best and fairest in 2006 & 2007, Patten became the club's heart and soul. A back injury ended his 2008 campaign but he returned in 2009 to help a rejuvenated club reach the preliminary final against the Parramatta Eels. Unfortunately he copped a head knock early in the game in a huge blow to the Bulldogs hopes.

At the end of the 2010 NRL season he signed a 3-year deal to join the Salford City Reds in the English Super League. In his last season for the club (2012) he was voted the clubs best and fairest.

Upon returning to Australia in 2013 he joined the NRL match officials as a video referee. In all he officiated in over 400 first class games before leaving the role.