Maitua off his leash and without a home
December 4th 2008 07:33
It’s been the same story in every NRL off season for the last three or so years - a Canterbury Bulldogs player appearing in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with Reni Maitua now carrying the flag high for the Belmore based club.
Willie Mason was the main man last year with his much publicised fallout with coach Steve Folkes, which eventually saw the big forward sign a three year deal with the Sydney Roosters.
Now, the torch has been passed on to Maitua to wreck havoc for the Bulldogs and provide media outlets with gold in a lean news period in regards to NRL action.
As with most Bulldogs players, Maitua has carried on this tradition in style.
Yesterday afternoon, Maitua was sacked by the Bulldogs for not attending training, his career now over in the blink of an eye.
Like many players that have suffered the axe at NRL level before him, Maitua has had this setback coming for a while now.
Although his skills on the field were rewarded with City and Australian Test jerseys, not to mention a Grand Final victory, Maitua fell into the Hollywood trap and started thinking society around him was his version of popular video game ‘Grand Theft Auto’.
In August 2004, Maitua was found guilty of occasioning actual bodily harm and affray and was fined $2000.
But in December 2004, Maitua had both charges overturned in the District Court on appeal, clearing him of any involvement in the attack on Constable Tim Allen.
On April 27 2006 it was revealed that Maitua had been charged with drink driving.
Maitua was convicted after he blew 0.165 in a random breath test in Cronulla, while on P-plates.
A reading of 0.165 is more than three times the legal limit for a fully licensed driver, but the limit for P-platers is zero
The Bulldogs fined Maitua $15,000 over the incident as well as dropping him to Premier League for one week.
Maitua was also required to attend an alcohol awareness program and to participate in community service.
But for all the help and advice he received from the Bulldogs (even an extension on his contract until the end of 2009), Maitua was believed to be unhappy in Belmore, due to renegade stars Willie Mason, Willie Tonga and Sonny Bill Williams all departing Canterbury.
He reportedly asked for a release from the Bulldogs but was denied. This must have been the final straw for Maitua who was left with little option to skip training just to make his feelings felt.
But now that the Bulldogs know where Maitua stands, what now for the 26 year old former Kangaroos international?
Maitua’s manager Sam Ayoub is believed to be negotiating a deal with the Cronulla Sharks, who are dealing with their own version of player misdemeanours.
The Nth Qld Cowboys are also interested in his services.
But wouldn’t it be weird if Maitua found himself in a Sharks jersey in the aftermath of Greg Bird’s dismissal for off field controversy?
Indeed player behaviour has become a tumultuous issue in season 2008, and it seems the only way players such as Maitua will learn from their mistakes, is to rid them of everything they have in rugby league, only to join the rest of us noble citizens, just aching to get through the financial year intact.
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