Born: January 3, 1989 – Wellington
Test record: 23 Tests (2009-13, 2015) – 1 try (4 points)
Tours: 2009 Four Nations, 2010 Four Nations, 2011 Four Nations, 2013 World Cup, 2015 tour of England

Wellington product Ben Matulino was a bone-rattling, offloading force in the New Zealand pack for 23 Tests from 2009-15, simultaneously carving out a career as one of the Warriors’ best-ever forwards.

Matulino’s rise was rapid after trading rugby union for rugby league at high school, with the Te Aroha Eels star making the Junior Kiwis in 2006 and turning out for Wellington Orcas in the Bartercard Cup.

The 19-year-old moved to Auckland as part of the Warriors’ inaugural NYC squad and was one of that competition’s first NRL graduates, ultimately playing 15 top-grade games as the club surged to a preliminary final appearance.

He would ultimately become just the fourth player to play 200 games for the Warriors and won the club’s Player of the Year award in 2012 and 2015.

Matulino was named in both New Zealand’s and Samoa’s training squads for the 2008 World Cup but was not chosen in the final squad for either nation. A Test debut was not far away, however, as he was selected for the Kiwis’ 2009 Four Nations campaign and came off the bench against France and England – scoring what would be his only Test try in the latter match.

With a burgeoning reputation as one of the game’s genuine hitmen – complementing a sublime ability to get the ball away in a tackle – Matulino made the first of five Anzac Test appearances. He also featured prominently in New Zealand’s triumphant Four Nations campaign, starting in the second-row in the epic 16-12 defeat of Australia in the final.

After starring in the Warriors’ drive to the 2011 grand final, Matulino played all three Four Nations Tests at prop and featured in both of the Kiwis’ 2012 clashes with the Kangaroos.

Matulino played in five of New Zealand’s six matches at the 2013 World Cup, including the unforgettable Wembley semi-final against England and the loss to Australia in the final at Old Trafford. Injury ruled him out of the 2014 Four Nations success but he returned at prop for the drought-breaking 2015 Anzac Test victory.

The workhorse’s last international foray was at the end of 2015, coming off the bench in all three Tests of the away series against England.

After playing 20-plus NRL games in the previous seven seasons, Matulino’s farewell season with the Warriors in 2017 was interrupted by injury but he departed as one of their finest servants. He played 36 games for Wests Tigers in 2018-19 before announcing his retirement.