Sione Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a) (born 25 June 1996) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a and forward for

Lakes United Seagulls Lakes United is a rugby league club based in the Newcastle, New South Wales region of Australia. Known as ''The Seagulls'' and wearing Royal blue and Gold, they have been a member of the Newcastle Rugby League since 1947. History Lakes United ...

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 rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

. He has represented both

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, as well as the

Prime Minister's XIII Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose teams were knocked ...

and

World All Stars The NRL All Stars team was a rugby league football team made up of professional players in the National Rugby League. These players were selected by fan vote. However, fans were only allowed to select one player from each NRL team to join the Au ...

at representative level. Mata'utia played as and on the earlier in his career, before moving into the forwards.

Background

Mata'utia was born in

Liverpool, New South Wales Liverpool is a suburb of South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, south-west of the Sydney CBD. It is the administrative seat of the City of Liverpool and is in the Cumberland Plain. History Indigenous Before Bri ...

, Australia. He is of Samoan descent and moved to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

when he was 5 years old. He played his junior football for the Raymond Terrace Magpies and South Newcastle Lions in the

, before being signed by the

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

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Mata'utia played for Newcastle's NYC team. On 16 October 2013, he extended his contract with the Knights from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015. On 12 June 2013, he won the Brian Carlson Club-

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974), also known by the nickname Joey, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is considered one of the greatest rugby league players of all time. Johns ...

Medal as Newcastle's best under-17 player. In September and November 2013, he captained the Australian Schoolboys.

2014

On 3 May, Mata'utia played for the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Under-20s team against the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Under-20s team, playing at centre and scoring a try in New South Wales' 30-8 win at

Penrith Stadium Penrith Stadium, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthe ...

. In round 20 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 Leagu ...

, he made his

debut for Newcastle against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

at fullback, alongside his brother Chanel Mata'utia who also debuted for the Knights in the same game. This was the first time since Round 1 of the

1942 NSWRFL season The 1942 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-fifth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, whi ...

, that two brothers had debuted in the same game together,

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

and Doug McRitchie debuting for the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

on that day. In round 23 against the

New Zealand Warriors The 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 the Aucklan ...

Hunter Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, currently known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knight ...

, he scored his first NRL career try in a three try effort for Newcastle during their 28-22 win. He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in seven matches and scoring seven tries for Newcastle in the 2014 season. On 2 September, he was named at centre in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year. On 8 September 2014, he was named in the

train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations, later being also named in the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. Th ...

train-on squad. On 12 October 2014, he played for the

against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. On 14 October 2014, he was named in the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

2014 Four Nations squad. He became Australia's youngest ever Test player when he played against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, aged 18 years and 129 days, eclipsing

Israel Folau Israel ‘Isileli Folau (; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying ...

's seven-year-old record by 65 days. 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 New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

. 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 club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

on a four-year contract starting in 2016, along with his brothers Chanel and Pat. However, the NRL's rules didn't allow Canterbury to register the contracts until 30 June 2015, leaving the option of staying at Newcastle open for the Mata'utias.

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Mata'utia played for Newcastle in the

2015 NRL Auckland Nines The 2015 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the second NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 16 September 20 ...

. On 19 March, he re-signed with Newcastle on a three-year contract, along with his brothers Chanel and Pat. He finished off the 2015 season having played in 22 matches and scoring 3 tries as the club finished last.

2016

In February, Mata'utia played for Newcastle in the

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

. In round 17 against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

, he switched from the centres to second-row in Newcastle's 21-25 golden-point extra time loss at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

. This would later prove to be a permanent move for the rest of the season. He finished the 2016 season having played in 16 matches and scoring 4 tries.

2017

In round 8 of the 2017 season, Mata'utia captained Newcastle for the first time in their loss to

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

. He played a total of 22 games for Newcastle in the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th 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, ...

as the club finished last for a third straight year.

2018

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

2019

Mata'utia played 22 games and scored five tries for Newcastle in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club finished 11th on the table.

2020

Mata'utia had an interrupted 2020 season due to injury, only playing in 12 matches for Newcastle. 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 Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

starting in 2021.

2021

In round 1 of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the 2021 Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021 ...

, he made his debut for St. Helens in their 29-6 victory over

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

. On 14 July, Mata'utia was suspended for two matches and missed St. Helens Challenge Cup final victory over

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. On 9 October, he played for St. Helens in their

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens R.F.C., St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalis ...

victory over

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

2022

In round 19 of the 2022 Super League season, he was sent off for a professional foul in St Helens 25-0 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

. On 24 September, he played for St Helens in their 2022 Super League Grand Final victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

2023

On 18 February 2023, he played in St Helens 13-12 upset victory over Penrith in the 2023 World Club Challenge. In April, Mata'utia was knocked out during St Helens loss against arch-rivals Wigan where he remained motionless on the pitch for almost ten minutes and required oxygen. Mata'utia was then ruled out for an indefinite period after being stretchered from the field. In the 2023 Challenge Cup semi-final, Mata'utia was controversially sent to the sin bin during St Helens 12-10 loss against

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, Staffor ...

. He played 20 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. He played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which stopped them reaching a fifth successive grand final.

2024

On 11 September, Mata'utia announced he would be departing St Helens at the end of the 2024 Super League season. He played 21 games for St Helens in the 2024 Super League season which saw the club finish sixth on the table. Mata'utia played in St Helens golden point extra-time playoff loss against Warrington which was also his last game for the side. On November 1, Mata'utia announced he was retiring from professional rugby league after 11 seasons. On 6 Nov 2024 it was reported that he, alongside his brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, had signed for

side

Statistics

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata'utia, Sione 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australia national rugby league team players Lakes United Seagulls players

Sione Sione is a given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name A – K *Sione Asi (born 1998), New Zealand rugby union player *Sione Fakaʻosilea (born 1987), Tongan rugby union player * Sione Faletau (born 1988), Tongan rugby union player * Sione ...

Newcastle Knights captains Newcastle Knights players NRL All Stars players Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league locks Rugby league second-rows Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Liverpool, New South Wales Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Newcastle Lions players St Helens R.F.C. players 21st-century Australian sportsmen