In the modern game I don't really understand the argument that someone is 'only a winger'.
It's not like the days where wingers stood out there catching a cold hoping to bag a few tries.
Uate leads our hit-up count almost every match, making most of them in the first 3 tackles of the set when building momentum is critical. He has an extremely high tries-to-games ratio and in the end, no matter how the forwards and kickers battle for yardage and dominance, in the end rugby league matches are won by tries and points - nothing else matters if you score more points.
Why would you not pay big money to keep the best player in the comp at taking a half chance and turning it into 4 points? One of the biggest metre eaters around? A player who can finish off breaks by others and go length of the field? A player that takes heat away from others by attracting multiple defenders every run?
And all of that is before we talk about his marketability and the benefits of simply having him at the club.
Wingers are massive contributors to a game. The fact their position is foremost on the edge does not mean they are the least important people on the field, far from it imo.
