Footy great Reni Maitua reveals why his dad used to get prostitutes to babysit him: 'It's OK - they weren't on heroin back then'

Reni Maitua has revealed that he was babysat by sex workers as a child, due to his father's love of computer games.

Footy legend Maitua, 41, disclosed the anecdote on the BTFU podcast last week when he discussed his younger days before becoming a star in the NRL.

Reflecting on those days spent in Sydney's Kings Cross district, Maitua said: 'My dad was obviously in the live music scene, I think mum was a bit of a groupie at Kings Cross. 

'Mum said that dad used to come home from a gig at four or five in the morning and obviously I'd been up all night screaming and crying. 

'So dad would take me back up the Cross because he loved Space Invaders, he'd just sit there playing computers all morning, but he'd give me to some prostitutes upstairs and [they would] all look after me while dad was playing Space Invaders.'

Maitua, who has been convicted of drink driving, failed a drug test and went through a severe bout of depression, joked that 'this is why I've got all of these issues' but stressed that he had a happy childhood and said his father was a 'great parent'. 

'So I was like how fitting is that?' he added. 'This is why I've got all of these issues. 

'Dad was a good person, great parent. Basically mum said the prostitutes weren't on heroin back then, so they were clean.'