Ex-Huddersfield winger Aku Uate has called time on a stellar 13-year career spanning 14 seasons in total. Uate on Thursday announced his retirement on his personal Facebook page. He cited a chronic ankle injury as the reason behind his decision to step away from playing professional sport.
Uate over the 13 years he spent playing professional rugby enjoyed stints playing for Manly, Huddersfield, and Newcastle. He also earned 18 caps playing for his native Fiji, and represented Australia and New South Wales a total of 5 times to a side.
The newest NRL retiree thanked his teammates, saying it had been a blessing to play alongside them and have them join him on his journey. He also thanked his parents for the many sacrifices made by them on his journey from Fiji to the NRL and to the English Super League.
The former Kangaroos winger sustained a syndesmosis injury to his ankle as far back as a Fiji Pacific Test played against Papa New Guinea back in June of 2018. Uate sustained the career-crippling injury only a week after the signing of a three-season deal with Huddersfield in the English Super League. At the time already 30 years old, the injury could not have come at a more inopportune time for the winger.
Uate scored a record number of tries for Newcastle, as well as a stunning 129 tries across a total of 200 NRL matches – 110 of which were scored for the Knights following his club-debut in 2008.
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