Reni Maitua

Reni Maitua

Personal information
Born	(1982-06-11) 11 June 1982 Sydney, Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position	Lock, Second row, Centre, Five-Eighth
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2004–08 Bulldogs 100 23 0 0 92 2009 Cronulla-Sutherland 8 0 0 0 0 2011– Parramatta Eels 3 2 0 0 8 Total 111 25 0 0 100 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2005 City Origin 1 0 0 0 0 2006 Australia 1 0 0 0 0

Reni Maitua (born 11 June 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer with the Parramatta Eels of the NRL. An Australian international representative player, he previously played for the Bulldogs RLFC, with whom he won the 2004 premiership. Maitua's position over time has varied between utility forward, backrow, lock forward, centre and he can also play five-eighth. On 15 June 2009, Maitua was suspended for 2 years for testing positive to a banned substance. He has signed with the Parramatta Eels on return from suspension for the 2011 NRL season.

Start of his playing career

Maitua started playing rugby league as a youngster from the encouragement of his parents, playing for both the Coogee Wombats and Kensington United as well as brief stints at La Perouse United and the Maroubra Lions. Maitua then played for South Sydney Juniors which form part of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Maitua comes from a Samoan background.

Bulldogs career

Reni signed with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2002 but did not make his first grade debut until Round 1 against the Parramatta Eels on 13 March 2004.

In season 2005, Maitua had an up and down season, suffering an ankle injury in the trial game against South Sydney Rabbitohs missing up to six games.

His return showed he was in good form and was then named in the City Origin squad. But during that game he also suffered another ankle injury which made him sit on the sidelines for nearly half the competition. Maitua had been selected in the Prime Minister's XIII side to take on Papua New Guinea national rugby league team.

On 27 April 2006, it was revealed that Maitua had been charged with drink driving. The Bulldogs fined Maitua $15,000 over the incident as well as dropping him to Premier League for one week. Maitua was also required to attend an alcohol awareness program and to participate in a community service program. He was also needed to appear in Sutherland Local Court on 18 May where a plea of guilty was entered on his behalf. He will be required to make a personal appearance for sentencing on 3 August. In the meantime, his licence is suspended and the court was told that Maitua will complete a traffic offenders education program before his sentencing. But his sentencing was postponed till 17 August because complications arose as Reni's lawyer advised him not to attend the court appearance on 3 August. Though he appeared at his second court appearance for the sentencing the judge ruled that his licence was to be suspended for 18 months and a fine of $2800.

Maitua had been named in the Australian Rugby League side for the Tri Nations series for the first time in his career after a knee injury ruled Brisbane forward Tonie Carroll out of the upcoming Tri-Nations tournament. His short international career came to a grinding halt after suffering a distal syndesmosis injury to his ankle in the closing stages of the 30–18 win over New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium.

Signing with Parramatta Eels

Reni Maitua has signed with Parramatta Eels on a two year deal. Maitua returns to the NRL following his two-year ban for a doping offence, but he will be unable to play until almost midway through the season with his ban to ends at midnight on 19 May 2011.

Representative Games

• City Origin
• Australia: Prime Ministers XIII
• Australia: 2006 Tri Nations Squad

Controversy

In 2006, Reni Maitua was convicted of drink driving after he blew 0.165 in a random breath test in Cronulla, while on P-plates. A reading of 0.165 is more than three times the legal limit for a fully licensed driver, but the limit for P-platers is zero. In December 2008, Maitua's contract with the Bulldogs was terminated by the club after he failed to attend training. He is also a known member of the Bra Boys.

On 20 May 2009, Maitua tested positive to a banned drug (Clenbuterol) and was handed a provisional suspension. On 15 June 2009, it was announced that Maitua would be suspended for 2 years following the positive test of the second sample.

References

Samoan squirrel

External links

• Bulldogs profile
• Reni Maitua NRL Profile
• Reni Maitua Playing Statistics