Born: May 14, 1985 – Auckland
Test record: 21 Tests (2007-10, 2012-13) – 12 tries (48 points)
Tours: 2007 tour of Britain and France, 2008 World Cup, 2009 Four Nations, 2010 Four Nations, 2013 World Cup

An ultra-reliable winger in multiple tournament triumphs for the Kiwis after starting his 21-Test career as a fullback, Sam Perrett also played more than 100 NRL games for both Sydney Roosters and Canterbury Bulldogs – featuring in grand finals for each.

Auckland-born Perrett moved to Australia as a 13-year-old and attended famed rugby league nursery Palm Beach Currumbin High, representing Australian Schoolboys in 2003. The Burleigh Bears junior was snapped up by Sydney Roosters and made his NRL debut a month after his 19th birthday in 2004.

After featuring in the club’s Jersey Flegg title success in 2004 and its Premier League grand final loss in 2005, Perrett became a top-grade regular in 2006 and represented New Zealand A in a dominant post-season win over an Australian Invitational side.

Perrett played every game for the Roosters in 2007 – switching between wing, centre and fullback – and was subsequently chosen for New Zealand’s end-of-season tour to Britain and France.

First, though, he had the honour of playing fullback for the All Golds in their win over Northern Union in an exhibition match commemorating 100 years since New Zealand’s trailblazing tour. The 22-year-old then wore the No.1 jersey throughout the Kiwis 3-0 series loss to Great Britain and the one-off win over France.

Perrett was superb on the wing in New Zealand’s Centenary Test loss to Australia in 2008, scoring his first international try, and starred on the flank throughout the World Cup after lining up at fullback in a warm-up clash with Tonga.

He scored two tries in the pool win over Papua New Guinea and dotted down in the semi-final defeat of England, before playing his part in the unforgettable 34-20 upset of Australia in the Brisbane-hosted final.

Perrett was a tryscorer for the Kiwis in the 2009 Anzac Test and a pre-Four Nations encounter with Tonga, while he played all three matches of that tournament and blazed in for a hat-trick against France. He tempered the disappointment of the Roosters’ 2010 grand final loss to the Dragons with another fruitful post-season campaign with New Zealand, scoring another treble against Papua New Guinea and celebrating in another Suncorp Stadium final triumph at the Kangaroos’ expense.

Enduring an injury-hampered 2011 season that saw him miss the Kiwis’ international program, Perrett switched to Canterbury midway through 2012 and scored the Bulldogs’ only try in their grand final loss to Melbourne. He returned to the Kiwis’ line-up for the subsequent loss to Australia in Townsville and represented his country for the last time in the 2013 Anzac Test.

Perrett scored a career-high 18 tries for the Bulldogs in 2013 and reached double-figures again in 2015 and ’16, retiring at the end of the latter campaign with 93 tries from 256 appearances.