Peter and Sione Mata’utia open up on their on-field fights

Peter and Sione Mata’utia are part of an incredible story that has seen both players become popular rugby league stars.

But, if you were thinking that brotherly love would prevail on the field, you would be very much mistaken.

When that image of Sione embracing Peter following the Challenge Cup final – in which Sione’s St Helens beat Peter’s Castleford – did the rounds, it struck a nerve within the rugby league fraternity.

However, despite that quite obvious closeness as the final whistle blows, the duo have actually got into punch-ups on the field before – and both hilariously blame the other for the mishaps.

“When I was at St George and he was at Newcastle I tried to fight Sione,” Peter said.

“We had mutual friends who tried to come between us, but me and my other brother we’ve had punch-ups during games too.

“It’s because we never treat each other differently, it was never personal – if any other player had done the same to me I’d react exactly like that.

“A teammate had a carry and I could see my brother coming in as third man so I blocked him off and my brother didn’t like that, he grabbed my collar and sent me flying and I reacted to that.

“I won’t treat him any differently to the rest of the opposition.”

Peter revealed that his teammates are ready to see the battle more than he is!

“I think everybody is more excited than me, my teammates can’t wait to see me get folded for once,” Peter joked.

“We’ve played each other a fair bit in the past and had a few punch-ups, but I’m hoping its different this time and we’ll be more professional – it depends on what Sione does to me this weekend!

Sione, meanwhile, admits to causing trouble against Peter in the past, but praises his brother for convincing him to come to the UK.

“He’s usually the one that starts it all! – I’ve thrown an elbow at him and ran off before because I don’t want to get embroiled in that too much.

“When I moved, I was at a stage where I didn’t know if I wanted to continue play footy, so I leant on Peter a bit and I’m so glad I did as it’s been so good.”