Pita Godinet (born 21 December 1987) 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 for the

Dapto Canaries The Dapto Canaries are an Australian rugby league football team based in the Wollongong suburb of Dapto. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and have competed in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership since its inception in 1911. Histo ...

in the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area pr ...

Background

Godinet was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand.

Early years

Godinet is a Sydenham and

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs and compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. Early history The club was formed i ...

junior.

Playing career

Godinet played for the

Waitakere Rangers The Waitakere Rangers were a team in the now defunct Bartercard Cup Rugby league competition in New Zealand. They represented five clubs based in Waitakere City including the Glenora Bears who previously represented the City in the Bartercard C ...

in the 2007 Bartercard Cup.Pita Godinet
''prosportplayaz.co.nz'' In 2008 he represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in the

Bartercard Premiership The NZRL Bartercard Premiership was a six-team rugby league competition that ran in 2008 and 2009. It replaced the now-defunct Bartercard Cup competition as the highest level of rugby league in New Zealand. Matches have been broadcast on SKY Networ ...

, and played for the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

NSW 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 ...

. He was named the Vulcans rookie of the year.

Te Atatu Roosters

In 2010 Godinet signed with the

Te Atatu Roosters The Te Atatu Roosters is a rugby league club based in Te Atatū, New Zealand. They participate in the Auckland Rugby League competition. They currently have 25 teams across schoolboy, junior and senior grades. The Roosters premier team began t ...

in the Auckland Rugby League competition. In 2010 he represented Auckland in the Albert Baskerville Trophy, and played for the

in the

. He was selected at halfback in the NSW Cup team of the year.

New Zealand Warriors

In October 2010 Godinet was signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

to take part in their 2010-2011 pre-season training. This was updated to a full-time contract in February 2011. He was also part of the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. ...

in 2011. He has re-signed with the Warriors until the end of 2013. Godinet was named to make his

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 ...

début on 24 July 2011, replacing an injured

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

. Godinet had a "dream debut", scoring a try in his first match.

Manly Sea Eagles

During the 2016 pre-season, Godinet trialled with the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, and was subsequently signed to a one-year contract. Godinet featured for the Manly Sea Eagles in the

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...

, and signed for the Wests Tigers in December 2017.

Atlanta Rhinos

On 11 May 2021 it was reported that he had signed for the

Atlanta Rhinos The Atlanta Rhinos are an American professional rugby league team based in Atlanta, Georgia. 2014 was their inaugural season in the USA Rugby League. Starting in 2021, the club turned professional, and became founding members of the North Am ...

in the

North American Rugby League The North American Rugby League (NARL) is an unsanctioned rugby league club competition in North America. At launch, the league announced fourteen teams; twelve from United States and two from Canada. An inaugural season was planned for 2021 ...

Representative career

Godinet made his début for

on 16 October 2010, being called into the side to replace the injured Ben Roberts at halfback. Godinet scored the only try for Samoa. In 2013, Godinet was selected to play for the Samoans in their

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's Festival of World ...

campaign. He appeared in all four of the Samoans' games in the Tournament. He scored one try against the French in the group stage. On 7 October 2014, Godinet was selected in the

Samoa national rugby league team The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed To ...

24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series. In 2016 Godinet played for

Amerika Samoa "" ( en, "American Samoa") is the regional anthem of American Samoa. Composed by Napoleon Andrew Tuiteleleapaga and written by Mariota Tiumalu Tuiasosopo, it was officially adopted in 1950. Lyrics Notes References

American Samoan ...

in the

Cabramatta International Nines Cabramatta International Nines is a rugby league nines tournament held annually in Cabramatta, New South Wales, Australia it was first held in 2003. The 2020 will be broadcast online by The81stMinute Call Team on steelesports.com.au with video ...

tournament. On 7 May 2016, Godinet returned to playing for

, playing in the 2016 Polynesian Cup 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 ...

where he played as the halfback in the 18–6 win at Parramatta Stadium. Later in the year, he was also part of the Samoan team that took on Fiji in a historical

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in Apia.

References

External links

NRL profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godinet, Pita 1987 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Atlanta Rhinos players Dapto Canaries players Featherstone Rovers players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manurewa Marlins players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Christchurch Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sydenham Swans players Te Atatu Roosters players Villeneuve Leopards players Waitakere rugby league team players Wakefield Trinity players Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players