Former NRL star and NZ international player Matt Utai is in a serious condition after he was shot in the chest and leg in a brazen drive-by shooting in Sydney's south-west.
First responders were called to Macquarie Street in Greenacre at about 6am after reports of multiple gunshots being fired by occupants of an SUV, which sped away.
Utai, aged 44, was shot twice and was in hospital with serious injuries.
Police say shortly afterwards, a SUV was found on fire, and they believe both incidents to be linked.
"The fire was extinguished by Fire and Rescue NSW and the car was seized for forensic examination.
"Police have established crime scenes at both locations with Bankstown detectives commencing an investigation and treating both incidents as linked."
Utai was born in Auckland but moved to Australia to pursue a rugby league career, playing 127 games for the Bulldogs and 40 for the Tigers.
He retired in 2013.
He represented New Zealand with the Kiwis on four occasions between 2002 and 2005, all matches against Australia. He also played three times for Samoa.
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