Mata'utia had a hand in two tries as two-time defending champion St Helens thrashed Leeds Rhinos 36-8 in Friday's semi-final.

The Saints will now meet Catalans Dragons in the title decider.

Mata'utia will be hoping to join the likes of Chris Joynt, Darren Albert, Adam Cuthbertson, Kevin Naiqama and Danny Buderus as ex-Knights players who were able to win a premiership on the other side of the world.

The powerful back-rower, however, faces a nervous wait after being sin-binned and reported for a high tackle on Leeds winger Luke Briscoe.

He was forced to sit out St Helens' Challenge Cup final triumph against Castleford at Wembley in July through suspension.

"Wembley hurt, because I was just so invested into it," Mata'utia said in an interview on the club website.

"It took me two games to realise what it meant to the boys.

"But this game is one that I've been working towards personally since coming over here."

The 25-year-old, who played in 124 games for the Knights and represented Australia in three Tests as an 18-year-old, said he did not "come here to have a holiday" when he signed for St Helens 12 months ago.

"I wanted to come here to a club that was going to win grand finals," he said.

"It's a bit of a relief that we've made it here, but we've still got to win the game.

"We've still got one more job to do. So I'm not satisfied but I'm happy that we've made it, for sure."

Mata'utia said St Helens coach Kristian Woolf, who spent a year at the Knights in 2019, had primed his troops all week to be "relentless in defence."

St Helens have won the past two premierships, under the coaching of Justin Holbrook and Woolf respectively, and are aiming to become the first team to claim a hat-trick since Leeds (2007-09).

Catalans will rely heavily on the magic of veteran playmaker James Maloney.