Reni Maitua
Personal information
Full name	Reni Maitua
Nickname	Tooty
Born	June 11, 1982 (1982-06-11) (age 27)
	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position	Lock
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2004–2008	Canterbury Bulldogs	100	23	0	0	92
2009	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	8	0	0	0	0
	Total	108	23	0	0	92
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 June 11, 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 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. ^[1]

[edit] Start of his playing career

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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.

[edit] Bulldogs career

Reni Maitua scoring for the Bulldogs

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

But in August of that year, Maitua attended court for allegedly bashing an off-duty policeman at Coogee-Randwick RSL Club on December 22, 2002. He was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray and was fined $2000. But in December 2004, Maitua had both charges overturned in the District Court on appeal, clearing him of any involvement in the attack.^{[citation needed]}

Since returning back to rugby league, Maitua had played a key role in the lead up to their premiership win against Sydney Roosters on October 3, 2004. At the end of season 2004, New Zealand officials were trying to convince Maitua to play for the Kiwis but he refused their offer stating "His heart wouldn't have been in it".^{[citation needed]}

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.

Upon his return he was inform 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 April 27 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 May 18 where a plea of guilty was entered on his behalf. He will be required to make a personal appearance for sentencing on August 3. 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 August 17 because complications arose as Reni's lawyer advised him not to attend the court appearance on August 3. 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.^{[citation needed]}

But as his contract began to expire with the Canterbury Bulldogs at the end of season 2006, Maitua was making a bigger name for himself and was proving to coach Steve Folkes and to the Bulldogs board that he is a valuable player and that he wanted to stay with the club that has done so much for him. In the end his hard work paid off and the Bulldogs board re-signed his contract for a further three years until the end of season 2009.

O'Reni 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. But 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.

He has been named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[2]

[edit] Representative Games

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

[edit] 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. ^[3][4][5] In December 2008, Maitua's contract with the Bulldogs was terminated by the club after he failed to attend training.^[6] He is also a known member of the Bra Boys. ^[7][8]

On May 20 2009, Maitua tested positive to a banned drug (Clenbuterol) and was handed a provisional suspension. ^[9] On 15 June 2009, it was announced that Maitua would be suspended for 2 years following the positive test of the second sample.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Reni Maitua Official Profile
• Reni Maitua NRL Profile
• Reni Maitua Playing Statistics