KNIGHT IN FOCUS: Akuila Uate

M

Ms.Nobody

Banned
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Note: This thread should contain discussion of only the player in focus. Include Performances and opinions of the individual.

Warning: Posts like 'Go player! *insert name*' or 'He's my favourite player' etc will not be tolerated and will be deleted.

Discuss!​
 
I really hated the way Uate was treated under Smith and thought he should sign for another club to get a fair go.

Smith thought he was too dumb to learn his job, and Uate played with very little confidence under Smith.

That article fails to mention that his literacy 'problems' are because English is his second language, and one he was still learning to speak when he joined the Knights, let alone read and write.

That article perpetuates the myth that Uate is a bit thick, which is very far from the truth.

Sandercock has done well to recognise that Uate needed extra help to learn his role, but Smith, an ex school teacher, should have picked up on that 2 or 3 years earlier.
 
That article kinda rubbed me the wrong way about Akuila making it sound like he is stupid or something. Obviously coming from a smaller place it's going to be a shock coming to Australia whether he spoke English or not. Anyways good on him for doing the hard yards in catching the train and working his hardest, I think it's safe to say the best is yet to come. Can't wait to see him in Origin.
 
Yeah it made him seem like the Fijian Forrest Gump...

He might not be Einstein, but he knows two languages and seems like he's adjusted to life in Australia quite well.
 
Great to see Akuila in the NSW team tonight. The Blues need some speed, we'll have to score 4 tries to beat QLD. Uate could be a real trump card playing outside Gasnier.
 
Ran back with plenty of venom & skittled a few defenders. A debut to be proud of.

He stays for the series (at least) in my books
 
BIG DOG said:
Ran back with plenty of venom & skittled a few defenders. A debut to be proud of.

He stays for the series (at least) in my books
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He stays for the best part of his career. There is no pure winger in NSW, or QLD for that matter, that comes close to Uate (Vatuvai is the only one above Uate IMO), he looks made for the big occassions. Didnt get tested a great deal, but when he did he stood up. Boyd was non existent in attack tonight.
 
Jonno said:
He stays for the best part of his career. There is no pure winger in NSW, or QLD for that matter, that comes close to Uate (Vatuvai is the only one above Uate IMO), he looks made for the big occassions. Didnt get tested a great deal, but when he did he stood up. Boyd was non existent in attack tonight.
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But oh god did he ruin Gasnier in defense.

I thoguht Uate made so many good decisions in defense. His defensive partnership with Gasnier was pretty good, albeit aided by Willie Tonga's injury, which also meant Darius iddn't get any ball. But when he came up to make that tackle and shut down the overlap, and when he fell back to take the mark, it showed me he was really ready to grab his debut by the horns and roll with it.
 
He handled the Origin series easily. Ran with venom in every run. Looked dangerous every time he had a bit of space, and just looks like he belongs at that level.

I'm trying to be as least bias as possible - But is their honestly a better winger then Uate?
 
Aidos said:
He handled the Origin series easily. Ran with venom in every run. Looked dangerous every time he had a bit of space, and just looks like he belongs at that level.

I'm trying to be as least bias as possible - But is their honestly a better winger then Uate?
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No, Uate is the best winger in the game at the moment. I think he will play for Australia in this years 4 nations. He is easily better than Yow Yeh and Morris.
 
Madman said:
No, Uate is the best winger in the game at the moment. I think he will play for Australia in this years 4 nations. He is easily better than Yow Yeh and Morris.
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Thank-you! Morris is absolutely shocking at rep level! If we had both Yow Yeh & Uate as our wing combination for the Four Nations, we'd carve teams up at the back.
 
Madman said:
No, Uate is the best winger in the game at the moment. I think he will play for Australia in this years 4 nations. He is easily better than Yow Yeh and Morris.
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Yow Yeh was pretty good in the series & even though i rate Uate better i still think Yow Yeh will be picked over him. Uate will get a game or 2 though in the Four Nations.

Matty23 said:
Thank-you! Morris is absolutely shocking at rep level! If we had both Yow Yeh & Uate as our wing combination for the Four Nations, we'd carve teams up at the back.
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Boyd would be the other winger. Uate & Yow Yeh will be fighting for the other spot.
 
Josh Hill said:
Yow Yeh was pretty good in the series & even though i rate Uate better i still think Yow Yeh will be picked over him. Uate will get a game or 2 though in the Four Nations.

Boyd would be the other winger. Uate & Yow Yeh will be fighting for the other spot.
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IMO Yow Yeh is a bit over-rated and is made to look good by his team-mates. Besides the tries in game 1 & 3 that came from massive errors from NSW what else did he do? His defense was suspect at times also.

With Boyd you'd think he would be on the wing for the 4 nations, but for some strange reason Morris and Lote Tuqiri were slected over him for last years 4 nations final and Yow Yeh and Morris were selected over him for the ANZAC day test match so i don't know if he would be a guaranteed selection.
 
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If Yow Yeh gets picked in the Australian team over Uate, then Sheens is a knob of the highest order. Yow Yeh has looked meh at rep level.
 
Uate Played Great footy last night if he plays these last 8 games of 2011 season superbly then he should be a definite pick for 4 nations. Nice try from him last night as of course using his big right foot step Definitely one of his best features of his game.!
 
While we're talking about what the future holds for Aku, what about another dally m winger of the year? I think his only competition is Yow Yeh but Uate has equal or better stats than him already plus he's been far more consistent and dynamic for his team all year. I know there's still several games left but I think he's in a good position to go back to back, hopefully he'll keep these top performances coming
 
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