Our man Down Under, Andrew Ferguson, gives us the lowdown on Leigh’s new signing, Peter Mata’utia.
Factfile
Name: Peter Mata’utia
DOB: November 2nd 1990 – 26-years-old
Height: 180cm – 5’9
Weight 95kg – 14st 9
Position: Centre
Profile
Peter Mata’utia is a solidly built winger with a good turn of pace. He made his debut for Newcastle Knights back in 2011, where he played just a handful of games over two seasons before moving to the Dragons.
He became a regular centre there in 2015 but chose to return to the Knights early in 2016. He has played 76 NRL games thus far, occasionally filling in at Fullback and on the wing. In 2017 he made his Test debut for Samoa at Fullback.
He is a solid defender with good hands and a reliable passing game. He can break the defensive line with his good mix of speed and power. He also has no issue taking hit ups, or running from dummy half early in the set to try and help out his forwards.
He has been known to be sloppy with his tackling technique at times, while his ability to break tackles is reliable enough without being stunning.
