Reni Maitua
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Reni Maitua born June 11, 1982 in Sydney, Australia is a NRL player for the Canterbury Bulldogs. His position within the club is utility forward, backrow, lock forward, centre and can also play five-eighth.
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[edit] Start of his playing career
Reni started playing rugby league as a youngster from the encouragement of his parents, playing for both the Coogee Wombats and Kensington United. As his football potential grew over the years, Reni had played for South Sydney Juniors.
[edit] Canterbury Bulldogs
Reni signed with the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2002 but didn't make his first grade debut until round 1 against the Parramatta Eels on March 13, 2004. His skills within the game made him a regular player, throughout the season.
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 appealed both charges and won due to a key factor that the attacker was 6ft 4in (193cm) in height where Maitua stands 5ft 11in (180cm).
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 of been in it".
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. Since returning he showed what kind of a player he was in the centres scoring five tries in total. Due to his excellent performance, Maitua had been selected in the Prime Ministers XIII side to take on Papua New Guinea.
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 in which he shouldn't. Though he appeared at his second court appearance for the sentencing the judge ruled that his licence is to be suspended for 18 months and a fine of $2800.
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.
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 come to a grinding halt after suffering an distal syndesmosis injury to his ankle in the closing stages of the 30-18 win over New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium.
[edit] Representative Games
- City Origin
- Australia: Prime Ministers XIII
- Australia: 2006 Tri Nations Squad
