Manly winger Akuila Uate has turned back the clock to 2011 when life was good, tries flowed freely and he pulled on a Kangaroos jersey for the first time.
Twelve months after being dropped to reserve grade and told he was unwanted at Newcastle, Uate signalled he was ready for his second coming in the Sea Eagles’ 46-8 rout of South Sydney on Friday night.
He crossed for the second four-try haul of his NRL career in the nine-tries-to-one belting.
Ironically, the last time he walked away with a bag of four four-pointers was against Souths back in round 26, 2011.
Just over a month later, he was selected to make his Australian Test debut.
It’s been a long time since he’s been considered one of the game’s premiers wingers.
But Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett is optimistic the 29-year-old can rediscover some of the consistency and brilliance which saw him labelled one of the game’s most exciting players six years ago.
Asked why he headhunted Uate after he’d fallen out of favour at the Knights and dropped to reserve grade despite being on a $500,000-a-year deal, Barrett said: “Because I knew he could play like he’s playing.
“You don’t play for Australia and NSW and just lose all your ability. All you lose is motivation and confidence and he’s got that back.
“I’ve had a fair bit to do with him coaching him in (NSW) Country sides and Origin sides as an assistant. And I knew what he could bring to the group. He just needed an arm around him. He’s enjoying his footy, his family is happy.
“It was a bit of a shame to watch him at Newcastle. But he’s back.”
Uate deflected the praise onto his right-side partner Dylan Walker who threw the last pass for each of Uate’s tries against Souths.
Barrett has managed to get the best out of the Fijia-born winger for the first time in a long time and he said it all comes back to making him feeling wanted and at ease.
And the man himself said he was feeling the love on Sydney’s northern beaches.
“I was in Newcastle for too long and I knew my confidence was just going to rise from where it was the last two years,” Uate said.
“I had Baz a couple of times in the Country team and in NSW he was there as well. Coming to Manly was just a massive boost.”
