A prop, Petero joined the Brisbane Broncos in 1998. Petero was a member of Brisbane’s 1998 and 2006 premierships (Petero missed the 2000 premiership due to injury). Petero played 217 games for Brisbane over 10 seasons (22 tries). In 2008, Petero joined the Penrith Panthers as captain. Petero played 74 games for Penrith over 4 seasons (3 tries). Petero returned to Brisbane for one season in 2012 for 20 games. In 2013, Petero joined the Redcliffe Dolphins for 2 seasons.
Petero played 33 games for Queensland from 2001-2012 (1 try). Petero played 45 test matches for Australia from 2001-11 (2 tries). Petero played 6 test matches for Fiji from 2013-14. In 2011, Petero played for the NRL All Stars
Since 2009, the Petero Civoniceva Medal has been awarded to the Australian Fijian Rugby League Player of the Year. In 2018, Petero was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame. Also, in 2018, the best and fairest of the Intrust Super Cup was renamed the Petero Civoniceva Medal.