Pat Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a) (born 11 September 1993) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer. His positions are and . He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Mata'utia was born in

Campsie, New South Wales Campsie is a suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campsie is 11 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district, on the southern bank of the Cooks River. Campsie is one of the administrative centres of the City of Can ...

, Australia. He is of Samoan descent. He played his junior rugby league for the

South Newcastle Lions The South Newcastle Lions is an Australian rugby league football club based in Merewether, New South Wales formed in 1910. They currently play in the Newcastle Rugby League competition. Rivalries are Central Newcastle, Western Suburbs and Lakes ...

in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in ...

, before being signed by the

. Mata'utia is the younger brother of Knights teammates Peter Mata'utia and

Chanel Mata'utia Chanel Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a) (born 17 August 1992) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He plays for the Cessnock Goannas in the Newcastle Rugby League. His positions are and . He previously playe ...

, and older brother of Knights teammate

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

Playing career

Early career

In October 2011, Mata'utia played for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

. In 2012 and 2013, he played for the Newcastle Knights'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. On 16 October 2013, he re-signed with the Knights on a 2-year contract. In 2014, he graduated on to the Knights'

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. Late in September 2014, he signed a letter of intent to join the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

on a 4-year contract starting in 2016, along with his brothers Chanel and Sione. 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.

2015

On 19 March, Mata'utia re-signed with the Knights on a 3-year contract, along with his brothers Chanel and Sione. On 2 May, he played for

against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

in the 2015 Polynesian Cup, making his international debut on the wing in Samoa's 18-16 win at

Cbus Super Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; t ...

2016

In round 1 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Mata'utia made his NRL debut for the Knights against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

after the suspension of his brother Sione left open a position at centre. He scored a try on debut in the Knights' 12-30 loss at

. He finished the year with 14 appearances and two tries.

2018

After not seeing NRL time for the last two seasons, Mata'utia parted ways with the Knights at the end of the 2018 season.

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata'utia, Pat 1993 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian rugby league players Mata'utia family (rugby) Newcastle Knights players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Campsie, New South Wales Rugby league second-rows Samoan sportspeople Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Newcastle Lions players