Peter & Sione Mata'utia: The rugby league family who are 'living proof' of a way out of struggle

Three of the four brothers, Chanel, Peter and Sione, who are involved in professional rugby league

Growing up as part of a family of four rugby league-playing brothers means Peter and Sione Mata'utia have always been used to the rough and tumble of the sport.

Thursday's Super League game between Peter's Warrington and Sione's St Helens gives the siblings another chance to get at each other on the pitch.

The game will kick off the 'Tackle the Tough Stuff' round, to publicise the campaign set up by Super League and Rugby League Cares to help spread a positive message, that opening up about concerns, feelings and issues is vital for wellbeing.

While off the pitch, their relationship is tight, they can be as bruising as they like on the field.

"We've had a fair few run-ins," Peter told BBC Sport. "I always told my brothers - whoever is on the other side of the field, treat them as they are [rivals], even if they're your best mates or your cousins.

"I feel like once we started to play against each other for the first time, I think that became surreal for them, because I didn't treat them any different. I was still a grub to them.

"We had a fight once, one of my brothers pushed me off the ball into the back fence at Leichhardt Oval - a little wire fence about a metre from the dead-ball line.

"I love it, my mum hates it when we go at each other, but we're just competitors really, and we just enjoy it."

Sione's broad smile lights up at the memories of their clashes, classic sibling scrapping but in the full glare of professional rugby league.

"When we last played each other, [St Helens coach Kristian Woolf] Woolfy said to me just before we ran out 'I know you'll go looking for your brother but just be careful because if it hurts us it's going to be back on you'," he recalls.

"Woolfy's alright if I go out of my way to hit Pete. I found him a few times, he gave me a few elbows but it's all in that competitive nature."

The learning curve

Peter Mata'utia's emergence as a rugby league player brought pride but also pressure

It is a good job really that the old mantra of "what happens on the field, stays on the field" applies, and away from the adrenaline-pumping environment of the rugby field, the whole Mata'utia family - including fellow playing brothers Chanel and Pat - are tight-knit.

They are bound to be. Peter, 31, is the older brother. The one who first made it to the senior grade as a professional player down in Australia's hugely competitive National Rugby League.

He had to do it tough to get there too. The family left Sydney for Newcastle without their father. The Mata'utias' single mother, Matalena, who had previously been domestically abused in the relationship, provided what she could for her children.

Peter helped support her and the rest of the family with his pay packets, putting food on the table and clothes on their backs; a tough burden for a young man making his way in the world.

It nearly took the ultimate toll with a suicide attempt, and only the intervention of his now-wife, and a friend who found him, ensured he survived.

"It was tough growing up without a father but I did get to mature a lot earlier than I should have," said Peter. "It did have it's challenges, but I only wanted to be a good role model for my brothers and sisters.

"It was my downfall at the same time because any time I tried to live a life of an 18-year-old kid, I stuffed up, and I felt I was being a bad role model and it took a toll on me at one stage.

"I appreciate who I am now and without my past I wouldn't be where I am today."

'He gave me my training wheels' - learning from life's pitfalls

Sione Mata'utia exploded on to the scene, making his international debut for Australia at 18

The path walked by Peter has certainly helped Sione, at 25 the youngest of the brothers, to plot his route through life.

He admits he saw moments in his brother's early career which he now pinpoints as signs of struggle, but at the time did not realise the significance.

Having made the breakthrough at Newcastle and a whirlwind rise to international rugby league as the Kangaroos' youngest debutant, there were moments where Sione, as he puts it, "nearly fell off the cliff" with the expectation, pressure and temptations that come with success.

It was the grounding he got from following his brother which helped with the transition to becoming an elite athlete.

"He gave me my training wheels for life," Sione added. "I compare when he was 18 to when I was 18. He had this cash from being a footballer, he wanted to live his young life and at the same time try to provide for younger brothers and sisters.

"I couldn't imagine that, because I was doing exactly what you shouldn't have been doing. I lived a pretty cool lifestyle, footy became the second priority for me and it was all about hanging out and not doing the extra stuff.

"He said without his past he wouldn't be where he is today but I wouldn't be where I am today without him either.

"He took the brunt of it [as he was growing up] and I learned heaps, it gave me a lot of resilience."

The elder Mata'utia's decision to go public with his past struggles even surprised the family, given it was the first time such issues had been aired.

"Since I've come to England and been closer to Peter again and understand what he's like, being over here and seeing it is pretty cool and it gets infectious," Sione explained.

"You want to be like that, open up and be more positive. I try to open up to Pete and to my partner as well. I think it's helped me out, being more open and transparent with my partner who's over here alone without her family as well."

Mata'utias as role models - giving something back

The Tackle the Tough Stuff campaign started in 2019

Rugby league has given the Mata'utias plenty of enjoyment over the years, and, for Peter, the position of influence which he is keen to make the most of.

"For us to be vulnerable, to open up and talk about our walks and our experiences, people start to understand - they can do that as well," Peter said.

"Rugby is much bigger than just a game, it's given people a lot of opportunities to change their lives and to give us a platform to express ourselves.

"Everyday I wake up I get to live my life and talk about my experiences, I'm giving kids and adults hope that they can get through moments. That's what it is, when you feel sad, it's moments and they pass.

"I'm living proof that no matter what you go through, there's always a way to get out of it."

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