From factory floors in Australia to causing havoc in Super League, Kiwi duo Caleb Hamlin-Uele and Caius Faatili have taken remarkably similar routes to Wakefield Trinity where they’re now packing an even bigger punch together.

IT’S 23 minutes into one of the biggest games of the Super League season so far, and Wakefield have just taken the lead at home to leaders Leeds.

On the halfway line, Caius Faatili charges onto the dummy-half pass from Tyson Smoothy, carrying far too much speed for flailing marker defender Chris Hankinson.

Also caught out is Mikolaj Oledzki, the defender nearest the play-the-ball, who looks to go shoulder-to-shoulder with his opposing prop but finds himself smashed aside.

Then Lachlan Miller, the full-back with all the fancy footwork, gets a taste of his own medicine as Faatili’s right-foot step takes him clear of another hurdle.

The man with the flowing blonde mullet isn’t going to make it all the way to the try-line – Miller got enough of a touch to slow him down for Cooper Jenkins and Alfie Edgell to come across.

But right there on Faatili’s shoulder is Caleb Hamlin-Uele, in position to receive the offload and score as great a try as any forward ever will.

“That was his freakish carry. He gets the ball and just runs through whoever,” chuckles Hamlin-Uele.

Faatili adds: “We’ve got a pretty good partnership. We like to go punch-for-punch and play off each other. Sometimes it’s this guy getting a quick ruck for me to blow it apart, and sometimes vice versa.”

Wakefield scored three tries in the ten minutes after their near-simultaneous introduction off the bench, leaving the division’s top side rattled.

And while it wasn’t quite enough for victory in the end, with Leeds inspired to a late win by their own superb sub Cameron Smith – ironically heading to Trinity himself next season – it demonstrated just how lethal Wakefield can be at their very best.

Often at the heart of that are Hamlin-Uele and Faatili, two forwards with a similar background, who make a similar, devastating impact.

So Rugby League World only thought it right to get the Kiwi pair together to discuss their journeys and how they work so well together.

“These are our roles and we’ve grown to love it,” says Hamlin-Uele, who was mostly a starter when fit last season and in the early rounds of this year before a switch to the bench.

“Without injuries we’ve had time to create partnerships, with Mike (McMeeken) and Ky (Rodwell) or Tray (Lolesio) starting and us coming off the bench to cause some havoc. Everyone else doing their job makes our job a bit easier.”

Faatili says: “It is different starting compared to coming off the bench, you do need a bit of impact. We’re bigger bodies as well. We’re not supposed to be out there for too long, so we cause our mayhem and then come back off.

“I feel like we’ve got an awesome balance in the squad at the minute with our starting middles and with our bench.”

Hamlin-Uele, two years the senior of the pair at 26, hails from Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand, while Faatili comes from the South Island and Christchurch.

Both moved to Australia soon after reaching adulthood, Hamlin-Uele to Sydney – following his elder brother Braden, a long-serving Cronulla Sharks prop – and Faatili to Brisbane.

The NRL was the dream for them both, only for the best-laid plans to be scuppered in each case.

Hamlin-Uele says: “I moved when I was 21 to play New South Wales Cup for Newtown Jets, and I was working a normal job for two years. I picked up a train-and-trial deal at the Sharks in 2022, but ended up hurting my back so I was let go.”

Faatili was hit by both the crisis of the Covid pandemic and the joy of having a baby. He explains: “I moved to Oz just after graduating, just before Covid hit, and that derailed my journey a little bit.

“I had a daughter young I had to look after, which I love but it made things a little bit tougher, and it took me a couple of years to find my feet again in terms of footy and life.”

When Wakefield came calling – to Hamlin-Uele ahead of the 2024 season, and Faatili at the start of 2025 – both were combining second-tier rugby with factory work.

“I was making retaining walls for highways crash barriers,” explains Hamlin-Uele, hurriedly adding: “But like a more eco-friendly, cheaper version that looks a bit nicer.”

Faatili’s factory was rather more exciting: “I made biscuits!

“I worked at (Australian producer) Arnott’s. I made Monte Carlos (similar to a Jammie Dodger) and Kingstons (a cream-filled sandwich biscuit, like Oreos). I worked on the Shapes (a cracker) line for a bit. It wasn’t good for the waistline or for rugby league!”

They admit their dedication to their sporting craft wasn’t all it could have been at the time.

“We’ve both been quite similar in that we didn’t push too hard and maybe there’s some regrets,” says Faatili.

Hamlin-Uele agrees: “When I was younger I definitely wasn’t as professional as I should have been. It’s probably why things worked out how they did.

“But everything happens for a reason, and I’m forever grateful to Wakey for giving me a chance and letting me live out my dream of being a professional rugby league player.”

He was the first to land in West Yorkshire, playing a full part in their treble-winning season in the Championship.

“It was a really good year for me, and I really found my love for rugby league in 2024,” says Hamlin-Uele.

“The previous year hadn’t been a good one with injuries, but the Championship was so fun with the group of men we had, and all the new facilities. It left us in good stead for the next season in Super League and a top-six finish.

“I had too many injuries last year, and some weird ones. I ended up with nerve damage in my left shoulder. I tried to tackle big (Catalans prop) Chris Satae. It felt like just a stinger or a dislocation, but the feeling never came back. I ended up having surgery to free the trapped nerve. I came back and then did my calf – so not the best year.”

While he was limited to 15 games, Faatili enjoyed an eye-catching first campaign, despite making his debut just two days after arriving.

“There were talks with other clubs, but I gave up on it because it got to January and I was content with staying back in Oz with (Queensland Cup side) Sunshine Coast Falcons,” he explains.

“I got a message from my agent, saying Wakefield were keen. I had a meeting with Powelly (coach Daryl Powell) and Millsy (director of rugby Ste Mills), and the day after that I signed the contract. I had my visa and was on a flight in about five days. Life changed pretty fast.

“I landed on a Thursday, I had the Captain’s Run with the boys on Friday, then a game against Goole on Saturday in the Challenge Cup – I didn’t even know what the Challenge Cup was at that point!”

The duo are well settled now, both living in club-owned accommodation on an estate in Stanley, in the north-east of the city, populated by several other Wakefield overseas stars and their families.

“It’s a nice area,” says Hamlin-Uele. “We have a lot of barbecues. All our partners are close.”

Both take pride in seeing smiles on faces throughout the city as Wakefield aim to go further in the play-offs than last year, when they fell at the first hurdle.

Despite Trinity receiving plenty of plaudits for their rise under ambitious owner Matt Ellis, Hamlin-Uele says they’ve had no great success yet.

“We haven’t done much to be honest,” he insists. “We didn’t win the Challenge Cup. We haven’t won the Super League Grand Final yet. At the end of the season, ask me again and see what the answer is then – hopefully a good one.”

Faatili is confident the only way is up, explaining: “We had a great team last year, the boys who came in this year took it up a notch, and when you see the signings for next year we’re going up even more with the likes of Roger (Tuivasa-Sheck), Emre (Guler) and Mason (Teague).

“We’ve got a good balance of young kids killing it and older heads leading us around. I don’t know the plan Matt and Millsy have in store but we want to be one of the heavy hitters in the comp.”

They’ve already got two pretty heavy hitters leading that charge.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 524 (September 2026)