Peter Mata'utia-Leifi (; born ), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Peanut", 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 who plays as a or for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington ...

in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

. He has 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 two spells, and the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

. Mata'utia has also played for the Leigh Centurions in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

and on loan from

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

( Heritage № 986) in the Super League. Mata'utia is signed to Warrington Wolves for the 2022 Superleague season.

Background

Mata'utia was born in

Bankstown, New South Wales Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown ...

, Australia and is of Samoan descent. He played his junior rugby league for the Bankstown Cougars. He then moved to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

, and played for

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was nam ...

, before being signed by the

. Mata'utia is the older brother of Knights teammates

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 ...

Pat Mata'utia Pat Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a) (born 11 September 1993) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer. His positions are and . He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. Background Mata'ut ...

and

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

From 2008 to 2010, Mata'utia 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, scoring over 300 points in 44 games. In August 2008, he 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 ...

. On 17 October 2009, he played for

against the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw c ...

2011

In 2011, Mata'utia graduated 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,

Central Coast Centurions The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club (previously known as the Rip or Storm) based in the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region in New South Wales. They compe ...

. In Round 11 of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The N ...

, he made his

debut for the Knights against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

, scoring a try on debut. On 17 June, he re-signed with the Knights on a 2-year contract, turning down offers from three rival teams. He finished his debut season having played in five games and scoring two tries.

2012

In July, Mata'utia was admitted to hospital after suffering a crushed larynx in a New South Wales Cup game for the Knights. He received an emergency

tracheostomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The r ...

after he was unable to breathe during a scan on his neck. He was ruled out for the rest of the season, after only playing one NRL game for the Knights that year.

2013

On 17 July, Mata'utia played for the

New South Wales Residents New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...

. On 23 August, he signed a 2-year contract with the

starting in 2014, after failing to break into the Knights' first-grade team in 2013. On 22 September, he was named at centre in the 2013 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.

2014

On 3 May, Mata'utia returned to the Samoan side against Fiji in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. In Round 10 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Lea ...

, he made his club debut for the Dragons against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

. On 8 September, he was named in the Samoan train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations, later making the final 24-man squad for Samoa, however he was unable to compete in the tournament due to passport issues.

2015

On 3 May, Mata'utia again played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents, this time alongside his brother Chanel. On 24 June, he re-signed with the Dragons on a 2-year contract.

2016

On 20 April, Mata'utia returned to the Newcastle Knights effective immediately on a contract until the end of 2017, after being released from his Dragons contract.

2017

Mata'utia played in every match for the Knights in the 2017 season, only missing 6 games since returning to the Knights midway through the 2016 season. In October, he rejected a 1-year extension offer from the Knights and instead signed a 3-year contract with the Leigh Centurions in the English

Kingstone Press Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, a ...

2018

Mata'utia started the 2018 season with the Leigh Centurions, however, was allowed to leave the club due to the club's inability to make the top 4 of the Championship and owner Derek Beaumont admitting that he would not be able to financially support the club beyond the current season. Mata'utia signed a loan deal with Castleford Tigers until the end of 2018, which would lead to a 3-year deal from 2019 until the end of 2021. He made his debut in the Tigers' 52-24 victory over

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...

2019

Mata'utia was assigned the number 1 jersey. In January 2019 he revealed tha this five-year old son had suffered a cancer scare.

2021

On 25 June 2021 he played for the Combined Nations All Stars, and scored a try, in their 26-24 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, as part of England’s

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

preparation. On 17 July, he played for Castleford in their

2021 Challenge Cup Final The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was the 120th final of rugby league's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. It took place on 17 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium between Castleford Tigers and St Helens. Background The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was ...

loss against St. Helens.

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profileLeigh Centurions profile2017 RLWC profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata'utia, Peter 1990 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian rugby league players Castleford Tigers players Central Coast Centurions players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Illawarra Cutters players Leigh Centurions players Mata'utia family (rugby) Newcastle Knights players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan sportspeople St. George Illawarra Dragons players Warrington Wolves players