Akuila Uate's time at Manly has come to an end, with manager Darryl Mather confirming the winger will not stay at Brookvale Oval next season due to salary cap constraints.
In a conversation with The Saturday Telegraph,ย Mather confirmed Uate was told two weeks ago his contract would not be renewed, which left the 30-year-old's career up in the air.
Uate was close to a move to Penrith, although that fell through once Panthers winger Josh Mansour signed a three-year extension with the club on Thursday night.
After nine seasons at Newcastle and two years at Manly, Uate's NRL career is now in jeopardy.
โI can confirm that I was advised a mere two weeks ago, which is disappointingly late in the off-contract cycle, that Manly would not be in a position to renew terms with Aku,โ Mather toldย The Saturday Telegraph.
โAnd given Aku has a wife and three young children this untimely news was doubly worrying.โ
However, despite Mather's initial worries, the manager has been speaking to other NRL clubs about signing the Fijian winger, while a club overseas has also sparked some interest.
โI have had two discussions with NRL clubs this week,โ Mather said.
โI would call them warm leads. There is a chance they could convert to serious discourse, but at this stage there is nothing firm on the table for Aku.
โWe have had an English club reach out to us and we are seriously looking at that proposition as well.
โItโs not ideal for Aku to leave Manly given his form, but weโll work on finding him a club because his form warrants another deal.โ
Uate has scored 18 tries from 34 games as a Sea Eagle bringing his career tally to 128 tries from 195 first grade appearances.
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