Born: January 27, 1983 – Invercargill
Test record: 15 Tests (2004-09) – 0 points
Tours: 2004 Tri Nations, 2006 Tri Nations, 2007 tour of Britain and France, 2008 World Cup

Wests Tigers premiership winner Dene Halatau was utilised as a back-rower, centre or hooker in a 249-game NRL career, but his versatility saw him carve out a 15-Test Kiwis predominantly at dummy-half from 2004-09.

Born in Invercargill, Halatau moved to Australia as a four-year-old and played his junior football with Merrylands Rams and North Ryde Hawks, as well as attending notable rugby league nursery Westfield Sports High.

Halatau was a 20-year-old NRL debutant with the Tigers in 2003, making a string of appearances in the centres, but became an interchange regular in 2004 before earning a Kiwis call-up for their Tri Nations tour.

He made his Test debut at hooker in a non-tournament fixture against France, then came off the bench in a narrow loss to Great Britain.

Halatau retained an interchange spot for the 2005 Anzac Test and played an important role in the Tigers’ stunning charge to the title, featuring at lock as he scored two tries in a preliminary final upset of St George Illawarra and the grand final triumph against North Queensland.

After missing the 2005 Tri Nations, he was back in the New Zealand side for the 2006 edition and lined up at hooker in three matches – including the classic extra-time final loss to Australia. Halatau wore the No.9 throughout the Kiwis’ difficult six-Test program in 2007: two heavy losses to Australia, a 3-0 whitewash loss to Great Britain and a shaky win in France.

Halatau was an interchange in the 2008 Centenary Test against Australia at the SCG and in the World Cup opener against the Kangaroos but did not feature again at the tournament. The quiet achiever and highly respected team player’s last Test appearance was again as starting hooker, in the 2009 Anzac Test defeat in Brisbane.

Joining Canterbury for a fruitful four-season stint from 2010-13 (he was 18th man for the 2012 grand final loss to Melbourne), Halatau finished an admirable professional career with three seasons back at the Tigers.