Sione Mata'utia

Sione Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a)[2] (born 25 June 1996) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for St Helens in the Betfred Super League. He has represented both Australia and Samoa at international level.

Sione Mata'utia
Personal information
Full nameSione Mata'utia-Leifi
Born (1996-06-25) 25 June 1996
Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight15 st 8 lb (99 kg)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Centre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–20 Newcastle Knights 124 31 0 0 124
2021– St Helens 0 0 0 0 0
Total 124 31 0 0 124
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014 Prime Minister's XIII 1 0 0 0 0
2014 Australia 3 1 0 0 4
2017 World All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
2017 Samoa 1 0 0 0 0
As of 9 January 2021
Source: [1]

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL, as well as the Prime Minister's XIII and World All Stars at representative level. Mata'utia played as centre and on the wing earlier in his career, before moving into the forwards.

Background

Mata'utia was born in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Samoan descent and moved to Newcastle, New South Wales when he was 5 years old.[3][4]

He played his junior football for the Raymond Terrace Magpies and South Newcastle Lions in the Newcastle Rugby League, before being signed by the Newcastle Knights.

Mata'utia is the younger brother of former Knights players Peter Mata'utia, Chanel Mata'utia and Pat Mata'utia.[5]

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Mata'utia played for the Knights' NYC team.[6] On 16 October 2013, he extended his contract with the Knights from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015.[7] On 12 June 2013, he won the Brian Carlson Club-Andrew Johns Medal as the Knights' best under-17 player.[8] In September and November 2013, he captained the Australian Schoolboys.[9][10]

2014

On 3 May, Mata'utia played for the New South Wales Under-20s team against the Queensland Under-20s team, playing at centre and scoring a try in New South Wales' 30-8 win at Penrith Stadium.[11]

In round 20 of the 2014 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Sydney Roosters at fullback,[12] alongside his brother Chanel Mata'utia who also debuted for the Knights in the same game.[13] This was the first time since Round 1 of the 1942 NSWRFL season, that two brothers had debuted in the same game together, Bill and Doug McRitchie debuting for the St. George Dragons on that day.[14] In round 23 against the New Zealand Warriors at Hunter Stadium, he scored his first NRL career try in a 3 try effort for the Knights during their 28-22 win.[15] He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 7 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Knights in the 2014 season.[16] On 2 September, he was named at centre in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.[17]

On 8 September 2014, he was named in the Samoa train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations,[18] later being also named in the Junior Kangaroos train-on squad.[19] On 12 October 2014, he played for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea.[20] On 14 October 2014, he was named in the Australian 2014 Four Nations squad.[21] He became Australia's youngest ever Test player when he played against England, aged 18 years and 129 days, eclipsing Israel Folau's seven-year-old record by 65 days.[22] He played in 3 matches for Australia including playing on the wing and scoring a try in the Kangaroos' 22-18 loss to New Zealand at Westpac Stadium.[23]

Late in September 2014, he signed a letter of intent to join the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on a four-year contract starting in 2016, along with his brothers Chanel and Pat.[24][25] However, the NRL's rules didn't allow the Bulldogs to register the contracts until 30 June 2015, leaving the option of staying at the Knights open for the Mata'utias.[26]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Mata'utia played for the Knights in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[27] On 19 March, he re-signed with Newcastle on a three-year contract, along with his brothers Chanel and Pat.[28][29] He finished off the 2015 season having played in 22 matches and scoring 3 tries as the club finished last.[30]

2016

In February, Mata'utia played for the Knights in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[31] In round 17 against the Canberra Raiders, he switched from the centres to second-row in the Knights' 21-25 golden-point extra time loss at Canberra Stadium.[32][33] This would later prove to be a permanent move for the rest of the season.[34] He finished the 2016 season having played in 16 matches and scoring 4 tries.[35]

2017

In round 8 of the 2017 season, Mata'utia captained the Knights for the first time in their loss to North Queensland. He played a total of 22 games for Newcastle in the 2017 NRL season as the club finished last for a third straight year.[36][37]

2018

In June, Mata'utia re-signed with the Knights on a three-year contract until the end of 2021.[38]

2019

Mata'utia played 22 games and scored 5 tries for Newcastle in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table.[39]

2020

Mata'utia had an interrupted 2020 season due to injury, only playing in 12 matches for Newcastle.[40] After 124 games for the Knights, he was released from the final year of his contract in November to take up a three-year contract with Super League club St Helens R.F.C. starting in 2021.[41][42]

References
  1. "Sione Mata'utia - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  2. "Double debut for Mata'utias - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. Michael Carayannis (11 October 2014). "Sione Mata'utia may yet back out of agreement to join Canterbury Bulldogs". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  4. "KNIGHTS INSIDER: Sione Mata'utia - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  5. "Sione's set to debut - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  6. "M". Nycdatabase.org. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  7. "Mata'utia trio plus Tetevano re-sign - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  8. "Junior Presentation Night Winners - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  9. "Australians Win Second Test - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League - FOX SPORTS PULSE". foxsportspulse.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. "ASSRL Schoolboys rugby league news, Australian Secondary School Rugby League, Australian Schoolboys". ourfootyteam.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. Brad Walter (3 May 2014). "Mitchell Moses stars as NSW win under 20s Origin clash". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  12. "LATE MAIL: Knights v Roosters - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  13. "Double debut for Mata'utias - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  14. "Brothers Sione and Chanel Mata'utia make history with Knights debut | Newcastle Herald". theherald.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  15. "Mata'utia brothers sink Warriors - NRL.com". M.nrl.com. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  16. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  17. Steven Russo (2 September 2014). "Holden Cup Team Of The Year Announced". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  18. "Knights a plenty in Samoan train on squad - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  19. "Young Knights aplenty in rep teams - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  20. "PM's XIII defeat valiant PNG". NRL.com. 12 October 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  21. "Holden Kangaroos 2014 Four Nations squad". NRL.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  22. "Mature Mata'utia braced for biggest Test". NRL.com. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  23. Press, Australian Associated (15 November 2014). "Four Nations final: New Zealand 22-18 Australia | Match report" – via www.theguardian.com.
  24. "Bulldogs secure Knights' band of brothers Sione, Chanel and Pat Mata'utia". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  25. "Newcastle Knights rising star Sione Mata'utia to let mum decide his long-term playing future". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  26. Keeble, Brett (18 December 2014). "Agent tussle holds up Mata'utia talks | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  27. "KNIGHTS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  28. "Mata'utia brothers re-sign - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  29. Brett Keeble. "Sione Mata'utia and brothers Chanel and Pat re-sign with Knights". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  30. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  31. "Knights Announce Nines Squad - Rugby League Week". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  32. "Knights Sione Mata'utia's future is as backrower, says coach Nathan Brown". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  33. "Jordan Rapana try seals Raiders' golden-point victory against Knights". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  34. "Knights star Sione Mata'utia played almost 20 minutes with a fractured jaw". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  35. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  36. "Knights: 2017 by the numbers". NRL.
  37. "Updated team lists: Cowboys v Knights". NRL.com. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  38. "Knights re-sign Sione Mata'utia - Zero Tackle". 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  39. "2019 SEASON REVIEW NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS". Nothing But League.
  40. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  41. "Sione Mata'utia granted immediate release". Newcastle Knights. 11 November 2020.
  42. "The NRL recruits moving to these shores for the 2021 season". www.skysports.com.
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