Scans and X-rays have confirmed that Uate broke his right ankle when he was tackled awkwardly by Australian halfback Johnathan Thurston in the Kangaroos' 52-0 shut-out of the Bati in the World Cup semi-final at Sydney Football Stadium last Sunday night.
Knights medical officer Neil Halpin said Uate had fractured the lateral malleolus, the small protruding bone on the outside of his right ankle, but could be treated without surgery.
Halpin said Uate had a CAT scan on Monday then saw foot specialist James O'Sullivan yesterday for a second opinion, and both doctors agreed to "treat him conservatively".
"He'll be in a splint for two weeks, then we'll send him for another X-ray then we'll put it in plaster, but we should get by without the need for surgery," Halpin said.
"If everything goes according to plan, he should be back in full training in about 10 weeks, so he'll be right for the start of next season.
"It is a nasty fracture. It's right on the joint and it's undisplaced, but we don't believe it needs to be pinned or plated so we're going to treat him conservatively."
Halpin was confident that once the injury had healed and Uate had regained full fitness, he would not lose any of his blistering speed.
The 21-year-old former Australian Schoolboys representative reportedly clocked 10.9 seconds for the 100 metres while still at school on the Central Coast and is generally regarded as one of the fastest men in the game.
"I was really excited when James O'Sullivan told me the news that I don't need an operation. I'm going to do exactly what he tells me and what Neil Halpin tells me and do everything I can for it," Uate said. "I've got to rest it for two weeks then have another X-ray, but they think I should be right to play at the start of next season.
"It's been a big few weeks for me. I'm still disappointed, but that's the way it goes."
Uate said he was still getting used to using crutches but was spending as much time off his feet as possible by lying on the lounge and watching movies.
"I'm just keeping my leg up and trying not to put too much weight on it," he said.
"I don't really get bored so I'm going to watch a lot of DVDs for the next two weeks."
Uate should be running again by early January and back into full-contact training by the end of that month, leaving him only a few weeks to prepare for pre-season trials against the Storm in Melbourne on February 20 and Cronulla at Cessnock on February 28.
But that is a more palatable alternative to surgery, which could have sidelined him until the eve of their NRL season-opener against the Titans on the Gold Coast on the weekend of March 13 to 16.
Uate signed a 12-month contract extension in June and hopes to cement a place on one end of the Newcastle back line next season.
He scored five tries in Fiji's first three World Cup games, including a hat-trick in a 42-6 rout of France.
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