Why Sharks enforcer Braden Uele changed his name
Jasper Bruce |
His surname may no longer show it but Cronulla hard man Braden Uele is always paying tribute to his walking stick-using, footy-loving grandfather Henry Hamlin.
The Sharks prop’s legal surname has always been simply Uele, but prior to the 2026 season, he had been known professionally as Braden Hamlin-Uele as a nod to his late grandfather Henry.
“It was out of respect for a great man who was in my life and I wanted to honour him,” Uele told AAP.
Hamlin loomed large in Uele’s childhood in New Zealand, where Henry had relocated from England prior to Braden’s birth.
“His daughter fell in love with a Samoan man and he’d never seen a Samoan guy before when he first moved over from England,” Uele said.
“But he loved us kids.”
Uele has fond childhood memories of Henry using empty tuna cans to set up makeshift golf courses for his grandkids around his Auckland home.
Uele and his siblings would then use Henry’s walking stick as a putter to compete for five dollars in prize money, dispensed to the winner at their grandfather’s discretion.
As Uele grew up and started taking an interest in football, Hamlin was one of his biggest supporters.
Uele remembers looking from the field and into the crowd at suburban grounds on rainy days and seeing his grandparents shuddering for warmth.
Hamlin would attend games decked out in supporter gear and carrying his “Braden Book”, a scrapbook featuring photos of Uele.
“He’d always go up to random people and show them, ‘This is my grandson here’, just how proud he was of me,” he said.
But now, after years honouring his grandfather, Uele felt it was time to ensure his surname was the same as another No.1 man in his life: his son.
“It was more about me having the same last name as my son now,” Uele said. “We’re both legally Uele.”
Uele’s son has Hamlin as a middle name, and Henry is Uele’s middle name in tribute to his grandfather.
Hamlin says he’ll still be honouring Hamlin when he takes the field for premiership heavyweights Cronulla this season, and every season he plays.
“He always lives on in our memory. We always think about him,” Uele said.
“He was just a great man. I miss him dearly.”
AAP