Eye_Of_Wests_Tigers
New member
Aku could have been a Tiger as the club he was playing for was a Wests Tigers feeder club!
PETER Read can't forget the first time he laid eyes on Akuila Uate in February 2006.
As coach of the Woy Woy Roosters Under 17s, Read was preparing his team for the season ahead at the local high school when a group of Fijian youths approached him.
"Aku just turned up out of nowhere and asked if he could get a game," Read recalled.
"We let him join training and from that very first night I knew he was something special."
Uate arrived from Fiji - where he grew up playing schoolboy rugby - just a few months before trying his hand at league.
Uate moved to the Central Coast to join his father, Tevita, who worked as a groundskeeper at the very same oval he first picked up a Steeden.
"He was 16 and played a whole season for us," Read said. "But after that the Knights picked him up for junior reps.
"I remember there was quite a bidding war for his services.
<big>**"At the time we were a feeder club for the Tigers, and Tim Sheens wanted him badly.**</big>
"I'm a big Manly fan, so I was trying to get him to the Sea Eagles. But Newcastle won out because of the train line.
"Aku didn't have a licence, so it was easier for him just to get the train up to Broadmeadow for sessions."
Given Uate's rugby background, Read always feared the rival code would poach the powerful Fijian - who excelled at fullback for Woy Woy.
"He took a while to adjust to league and the idea of playing fullback - he just wanted to stand in the line and smash blokes," Read said.
"That's what was so special about him - the rare combination of pace, speed and toughness.
"I can't believe the Knights have him on the wing. He's like Jarryd Hayne - give him some space and then you'll really see what he's capable of."
PETER Read can't forget the first time he laid eyes on Akuila Uate in February 2006.
As coach of the Woy Woy Roosters Under 17s, Read was preparing his team for the season ahead at the local high school when a group of Fijian youths approached him.
"Aku just turned up out of nowhere and asked if he could get a game," Read recalled.
"We let him join training and from that very first night I knew he was something special."
Uate arrived from Fiji - where he grew up playing schoolboy rugby - just a few months before trying his hand at league.
Uate moved to the Central Coast to join his father, Tevita, who worked as a groundskeeper at the very same oval he first picked up a Steeden.
"He was 16 and played a whole season for us," Read said. "But after that the Knights picked him up for junior reps.
"I remember there was quite a bidding war for his services.
<big>**"At the time we were a feeder club for the Tigers, and Tim Sheens wanted him badly.**</big>
"I'm a big Manly fan, so I was trying to get him to the Sea Eagles. But Newcastle won out because of the train line.
"Aku didn't have a licence, so it was easier for him just to get the train up to Broadmeadow for sessions."
Given Uate's rugby background, Read always feared the rival code would poach the powerful Fijian - who excelled at fullback for Woy Woy.
"He took a while to adjust to league and the idea of playing fullback - he just wanted to stand in the line and smash blokes," Read said.
"That's what was so special about him - the rare combination of pace, speed and toughness.
"I can't believe the Knights have him on the wing. He's like Jarryd Hayne - give him some space and then you'll really see what he's capable of."
