Kiwi Ferns regular Maitua Feterika mix of powerhouse ball-running out wide and ferocious defence has marked her as one of women’s rugby league’s most dynamic players.
A Samoa rep in rugby league and rugby union, and a member of the all-conquering Counties- Manukau side in the NZRL National Women’s Competition, Feterika received a debut Kiwi Ferns call- up in 2014. She played on the wing in a 12-8 win over Australia, a match played as a curtain-raiser to the Kangaroo-Samoa Four Nations clash in Wollongong.
The 22-year-old was one of the stars of the Kiwi Ferns’ inaugural NRL Auckland Nines series against the Jillaroos, best remembered for her crunching cover tackle on Australian superstar Sam Bremner. Feterika came off the bench in the 2015 Anzac Test loss and started at centre as the Kiwi Ferns won the corresponding clash a year later, scoring a try in each match. She also dotted down against Papua New Guinea and in the semi-final thrashing of England at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, before again featuring at centre in the defeat to Australia in the final.
The wrecking ball was snapped up by Brisbane Broncos ahead of the inaugural NRLW premiership in 2018, playing all four games in the club’s dominant campaign and starting in the second-row in the 34-12 victory over Sydney Roosters in the grand final.
Feterika was utilised in the front-row after switching to St George Illawarra Dragons in 2019 but suffered grand final defeat at the hands of her former club.
She scored a try in the Kiwi Ferns’ 2018-19 end-of-year losses to the Jillaroos, starting at centre and coming off the bench respectively. Feterika scored a barnstorming try in the 2018 clash and led the New Zealand forwards with 121 metres in the latter encounter.
One of the stars of Counties Manukau’s capture of the inaugural Sky Sports NZRL National Women’s Premiership title, Feterika played in the second-row of a new-look Kiwi Ferns line-up and typically dominated on both side of the ball in a 28-8 win over Fetu Samoa.
