Suaia Matagi

Suaia Matagi

Personal information
Nickname	Sui
Born	(1988-03-23) 23 March 1988 (age 29) Auckland, New Zealand
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2013–15 New Zealand Warriors 36 1 0 0 4 2015 Sydney Roosters 7 0 0 0 0 2016 Penrith Panthers 23 0 0 0 0 2017– Parramatta Eels 17 0 0 0 0 Total 83 1 0 0 4 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2013–17 Samoa 6 2 0 0 8 2014 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Source:

Suaia Matagi (born 23 March 1988) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League. A New Zealand and Samoan international, he plays at prop and previously played for the New Zealand Warriors, the Sydney Roosters, and the Penrith Panthers.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand to Samoan parents, Matagi is the second youngest of six brothers. He attended Kelston Boys' High School before dropping out at age 14, having become involved in gang violence and heavy alcohol abuse. In 2006, at the age of 17, Matagi was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting two boys during a drunken rage that occurred when he was 15. He served his sentence at Mount Eden Prison and later Manawatu Prison, before his participation in rehabilitation courses saw him granted parole after one year.

Following his release from prison, Matagi took up rugby league in 2008, having never previously played any organised sport. He played for the Te Atatu Roosters and later the Mount Albert Lions in the Auckland Rugby League competition. Matagi was selected to play for the Auckland representative team, and the New Zealand Residents for four consecutive years between 2009 and 2012. He was named man of the match in Auckland's 44-34 win over the South Island Scorpions in the National Competition's 2011 Grand Final.