Steve Matai

Steve Matai
Personal information
Full name Stephen Matai
Nickname The Waterboy, The Hitman[1]
Born 5 August 1984 (1984-08-05) (age 27)
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
Position Centre, Five-eighth, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2005– Manly Sea Eagles 121 43 17 0 206
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–2010 New Zealand 10 0 1 0 2
As of 15 July 2011
Source: RLP, Herald Sun

Stephen "Steve" Matai (born 5 August 1984 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a professional rugby league footballer for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles of the National Rugby League. He plays as a centre. He is a New Zealand international of Samoan Heritage. He is the first cousin of Junior Sa'u

Contents

Domestic career

Early career

Matai's junior clubs were the Bay Roskill Vikings and the Ponsonby Ponies in the Auckland Rugby League before he was selected to play for the Marist Richmond Brothers in the Bartercard Cup, before leaving in 2004.[2][3]

Matai joined Queensland Cup side Ipswich Jets in 2004.[2]

In 2005 Matai moved to another Queensland Cup side, but soon left the Wynnum Manly Seagulls after securing an NRL contract with their associate club, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[4]

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Matai joined the Manly Sea Eagles from the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in 2005 after impressing during a strong pre season of training and trials at the Brookvale Oval.[4]

On 27 March 2005 Matai made his NRL debut in the round 3 match against the Melbourne Storm at Brookvale Oval.[5]

Matai played in the 2007 NRL Grand Final defeat to the Melbourne Storm.[6]

Matai is an occasional goal kicker for the Sea Eagles.

He played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final victory over the Melbourne Storm.[7]

Representative career

New Zealand

On 14 October 2006 Matai made his test debut against Australia at Mt Smart Stadium in the 2006 Tri-Nations.[8][9]

Matai has represented New Zealand on five occasions between 2006 and 2007.[10]

On 14 October 2007 Matai was sent off by referee Steve Ganson in the trans-Tasman Test at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.[11][12]

He was given a 2 match ban, but given that Matai had ruled himself out of New Zealand's tour of Great Britain and France for off-season shoulder surgery, he served his suspension during Sea Eagles' trial matches in 2008.[12]

Matai has been selected to make his 10th test appearance for New Zealand for the annual ANZAC Test in Melbourne

2008 Rugby League World Cup

In August 2008 he was named in the New Zealand training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[13] and in September 2008 he was named in the final 24-man Kiwi squad.[14]

Matai missed New Zealand's World Cup match with Papua New Guinea after being handed a one-match ban for a high tackle against Australia.[15]

Samoa

Matai was named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[16] He qualified through his Samoan heritage.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Kiwi Matai to delay surgery". Television New Zealand. AAP. 30 September 2008. http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2146491/2422021.html?cfb3=3. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "Super Steve's the centre of attention at the Sea Eagles". The Queensland Times. 27 April 2005. Archived from the original on 17 June 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050617191521/http://qt.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3633191&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  3. ^ Bay Roskill Rugby League Inc aucklandleague.co.nz
  4. ^ a b "Matai now a Sea Eagle". Wynnum Manly Seagulls. 9 March 2005. http://www.wynnumseagulls.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=91&Itemid=81&mosmsg=Thanks+for+your+vote%21. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  5. ^ "Player Profile". news.com.au. 6 August 2008. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/nrl/player/0,26753,108725-108,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  6. ^ "MELBOURNE STORM – 2007 NRL PREMIERS". League Unlimited. 30 September 2007. http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=14879. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  7. ^ "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24449388-23214,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
  8. ^ "2006 Gillette Tri-Nations Series". NZRL. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080721192546/http://www.nzrl.co.nz/page/gillette_tri_nations_06_stats_game_1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  9. ^ "NEW ZEALAND TRI-NATIONS PENPIX". Sportinglife. 6 October 2006. http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/10/06/RUGBYL_Tri-Nations_New_Zealand_Pe.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  10. ^ "Steve Matai". Rugby League Project. 6 August 2008. http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Steve_Matai.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  11. ^ "Kiwis fuming at hasty send-off". Fox Sports. 14 October 2007. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22583648-23214,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  12. ^ a b Ritchie, Dean (14 October 2007). "Stuart calls Steve Matai 'cheap shot merchant'". news.com.au. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/nrl/story/0,26746,22583650-5003409,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  13. ^ "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 8 August 2008. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_3949034,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
  14. ^ "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 7 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7656238.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-07. 
  15. ^ "New Zealand without banned Matai". BBC. 27 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7692810.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-27. 
  16. ^ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=16750. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  17. ^ "Steve Matai profile". Richmond Bulldogs. 6 August 2008. http://www.richmondbulldogs.com/Roll+of+Honour/Steve+Matai.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 

External links