Pita Godinet (born 21 December 1987) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Dapto Canaries The Dapto Canaries are an Australian rugby league football team based in the Wollongong suburb of Dapto. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and have competed in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership since its inception in 1911. Histo ...

in the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area p ...

Background

Godinet was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand.

Early years

Godinet is a Sydenham and

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs/Richmond Rovers and compete in Auckland Rugby League's first grade Fox Memorial competition. They have ...

junior.

Playing career

Godinet played for the

Waitakere Rangers The Waitakere Rangers were a team in the now defunct Bartercard Cup Rugby league competition in Sport in New Zealand, New Zealand. They represented five clubs based in Waitakere City including the Glenora Bears who previously represented the Cit ...

in the 2007 Bartercard Cup.Pita Godinet
''prosportplayaz.co.nz'' In 2008 he represented

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in the

Bartercard Premiership The NZRL Bartercard Premiership was a six-team rugby league competition that ran in 2008 in sports, 2008 and 2009 in sports, 2009. It replaced the now-defunct Bartercard Cup competition as the highest level of rugby league in New Zealand. Matches h ...

, and played for the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. He was named the Vulcans rookie of the year.

Te Atatu Roosters

In 2010 Godinet signed with the

Te Atatu Roosters The Te Atatu Roosters is a rugby league club based in Te Atatū Peninsula, Te Atatū, New Zealand. They participate in the Auckland Rugby League competition. They currently have 25 teams across schoolboy, junior and senior grades. The Roosters ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition. In 2010 he represented Auckland in the

Albert Baskerville Trophy The NZRL Men's National Competition (previously called the National Zonal Competition) is the top-level rugby league competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. In 2010 the competition replaced the Bartercard Premiership following a Sparc f ...

, and played for the

in the

. He was selected at halfback in the NSW Cup team of the year.

New Zealand Warriors

In October 2010 Godinet was signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

to take part in their 2010-2011 pre-season training. This was updated to a full-time contract in February 2011. He was also part of the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. ...

in 2011. He has re-signed with the Warriors until the end of 2013. Godinet was named to make his

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

début on 24 July 2011, replacing an injured

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

. Godinet had a "dream debut", scoring a try in his first match.

Manly Sea Eagles

During the 2016 pre-season, Godinet trialled with the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

, and was subsequently signed to a one-year contract. Godinet featured for the Manly Sea Eagles in the

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...

, and signed for the Wests Tigers in December 2017.

Atlanta Rhinos

On 11 May 2021 it was reported that he had signed for the

Atlanta Rhinos The Atlanta Rhinos are an American Rugby League team based in Atlanta, Georgia. 2014 was their inaugural season in the USA Rugby League. They play all their home games at Atlanta Silverbacks Park. History 2014-2020: Foundations and USARL Atl ...

in the

North American Rugby League The North American Rugby League (NARL) was an unsanctioned rugby league club competition in North America. At launch, the league announced fourteen teams; twelve from United States and two from Canada. An inaugural season was planned for 202 ...

Representative career

Godinet made his début for

on 16 October 2010, being called into the side to replace the injured Ben Roberts at halfback. Godinet scored the only try for Samoa. In 2013, Godinet was selected to play for the Samoans in their

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

campaign. He appeared in all four of the Samoans' games in the Tournament. He scored one try against the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in the group stage. On 7 October 2014, Godinet was selected in the

Samoa national rugby league team The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed To ...

24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series. In 2016 Godinet played for

Amerika Samoa "" () is the regional anthem of American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean ...

in the

Cabramatta International Nines Cabramatta International Nines is a rugby league nines tournament held annually in Cabramatta, New South Wales, Australia. It was first held in 2003. The 2020 will be broadcast online by The81stMinute Call Team on steelesports.com.au with video ...

tournament. On 7 May 2016, Godinet returned to playing for

, playing in the 2016 Polynesian Cup against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

where he played as the halfback in the 18–6 win at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta E ...

. Later in the year, he was also part of the Samoan team that took on Fiji in a historical test match in Apia.

References

External links

NRL profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godinet, Pita 1987 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Atlanta Rhinos players Dapto Canaries players Featherstone Rovers players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manurewa Marlins players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Christchurch Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sydenham Swans players Te Atatu Roosters players Villeneuve Leopards players Waitakere rugby league team players Wakefield Trinity players Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players