Told he would be making his debut on Sunday, his first call was to tell his parents, Michelle and Aveloa, who were immediately overcome with emotion after hearing the incredible news<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just overwhelming. We were pretty freaked out,\u201d Aveloa told foxsports.com.au ahead of his son\u2019s NRL debut against the Dolphins on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just overwhelmed, just really a lot of emotion and we cried for about eight minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur phones have been flooding with messages and you hear from people that you haven\u2019t heard from in ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Uta family, the moment represents more than just the start of an NRL career.<\/p>\n
It is the reward for years of sacrifice, after relocating from New Zealand to Australia in search of greater opportunities for their children.<\/p>\n
Jordan Uta with his debut Raiders jersey.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
From long nights driving to training sessions, to watching junior games every weekend, Michelle and Aveloa have been there for Jordan every step of the way since the first time he laced up the boots in the Under-9s competition for the Dapto Canaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came here in 2015. We all moved here because our older boy [Joshua] was on track with his footy,\u201d Aveloa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lived in Wollongong. Jordan was nearly nine, so the move wasn\u2019t very hard because he was with me and his mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Uta in action for the Raiders in reserve grade.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Not only had he never played rugby league during his time in New Zealand but joining the Dapto Canaries was also Jordan\u2019s first experience playing any organised sport.<\/p>\n
Despite entering the game later than many of his teammates, it quickly became apparent that he possessed a natural talent and passion for the 13-man code, having watched his two brothers play growing up. <\/p>\n
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\u201cHe always had talent but (at the time he) was not as talented as his older two brothers,\u201d Aveloa continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, he\u2019s got all his brother\u2019s attributes. The physicality, the no-nonsense, no fear sort of characteristics <\/p>\n
A young Jordan Uta in action. (Supplied)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to follow his brother around and every time his older brother would lose a game back home in New Zealand, Jordan would be in the stands on his back lying down crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so passionate about following his brother. He was his brother\u2019s biggest fan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew that as the years came on and Jordan got more into rugby league, that he had something. It was just a matter of time (before he debuted), but it\u2019s all just come and whacked us in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uta spent several seasons in the Eels pathways system. (Supplied)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
After playing in Wollongong, Jordan then switched to the Wentworthville Magpies with his family moving to Sydney.<\/p>\n
It was here that he began attracting the attention of rugby league officials and spent three years involved in the Parramatta Eels pathways system whilst attending Hills Sports High School.<\/p>\n
Jordan Uta celebrates a Raiders win.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Playing alongside the likes of rookies Lorenzo Talataina, Lincoln Fletcher and Jezaiah Funa-Iuta, he eventually made the move to the Canberra Raiders and has never looked back.<\/p>\n
Moving to the nation\u2019s capital the day after his high school graduation, the forward made an immediate impact at the club.<\/p>\n
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Now he gets to run out onto the NRL field, capping off a remarkable 12 months, marrying his now wife Shirley, welcoming his four-month-old daughter Ailani into the world and representing the NSW Blues in last year\u2019s Under-19s State of Origin match.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he accepted the contract for Canberra he moved here and stayed in the Canberra house with seven other boys in a similar situation as him,\u201d Aveloa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very next day after his graduation, he moved here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uta plays a similar style of footy to Joe Tapine. (Supplied)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
While he has been recognised in public as Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui due to his long hair, Jordan plays a similar style to Raiders skipper Joseph Tapine.<\/p>\n
Not only is he an elite defender and have an incredible work-rate in attack, but he has great footwork, ball skills and does all the little things that need to be done in the middle of the field.<\/p>\n
Jordan Uta at Hills Sports High School.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Able to play anywhere in the forwards, he is regarded as the next crop of young and exciting players coming through the club\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him are you ready for the NRL, this is totally different from (NSW) Cup\u2026and I was real with him,\u201d Aveloa said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFans can expect my son to go out there and make his mark. He\u2019s going to go out there and be physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how he likes to play the game and he\u2019s trying to bring back that real toughness cause he feels the game\u2019s gone a bit soft with all the changing rules.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eleven years after moving from New Zealand to Australia with his family, Jordan Uta will make his highly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,689,329794,4532,329793,222174,241609,329789,329790,4494,4552,240075,4485,222177,329792,33215,16639,761,762,167483,673,1736,158,92551,677,122318,329795,7291,159,329796,329791,85,329654,670,4526],"class_list":["post-684123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-canberra-house","tag-canberra-raiders","tag-emotional-debut","tag-ethan-lee-chalk","tag-first-grade-appearances","tag-hills-sports","tag-hills-sports-high-school","tag-jai-arrow","tag-jake-trbojevic","tag-jordan-uta","tag-joseph-tapine","tag-lee-chalk","tag-lincoln-fletcher","tag-lord-gould-of-brookwood","tag-michelle","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-natural-talent","tag-new-south-wales","tag-new-zealand","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-news","tag-oceania","tag-pathways-system","tag-real-toughness-cause","tag-ricky-stuart","tag-rugby-league","tag-rugby-league-officials","tag-school-graduation","tag-sports","tag-squad-struggles","tag-sydney","tag-wollongong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}