Born: October 31, 1971 – Kaitaia
Test record: 12 Tests (1998-2001) – 1 try (4 points)
Tours: 1998 tour of Britain, 1999 Tri Nations, 2000 World Cup

Powerhouse front-rower Craig Smith played 12 Tests for New Zealand from 1998-2001 after representing Queensland at State of Origin level.

Northland-born, Smith played rugby union before moving to Queensland and finishing his schooling at Ipswich Grammar School.

He broke into first grade with the lowly South Sydney Rabbitohs – making seven appearances in 1995 – and became established with Illawarra Steelers during the second half of the 1996 season.

Despite his dubious qualification credentials, Smith was selection for the Maroons’ 1997 Origin campaign (Super League-aligned players were ineligible that year, decimating Queensland’s ranks) and played all three matches of a tight 2-1 series loss.

Smith subsequently turned out for Rest of the World against several of his Queensland teammates in a 28-8 loss to Australia.

The following season, the 27-year-old made his Test debut for the Kiwis off the bench in the 23-all draw with Great Britain in the third Test at Vicarage Road in Watford.

The hard-running prop’s penchant for lifting his knee while carrying the ball and an aggressive defensive approach frequently earned the attention of the NRL judiciary, but he nevertheless became a vital component of the merged St George Illawarra Dragons’ surge to the 1999 grand final in their first season. The Saints went down to Melbourne 20-18 in a heartbreaking decider – coincidentally with the Storm’s winger, also named Craig Smith, awarded a dramatic penalty try in the dying minutes.

Smith started in all three Tests of the Kiwis’ post-season Tri Nations foray: round-robin wins over Australia and Great Britain, and a nail-biting loss to the Kangaroos in the final. He featured in New Zealand’s heavy Anzac Test loss in 2000 and all six matches of an impressive World Cup campaign later that year, scoring a try in the quarter-final thrashing of France.

After making his final Test appearance in the 2001 mid-season clash with the Kangaroos in Wellington, Smith’s tenure with the Dragons ended courtesy of a six-match striking suspension that ruled him out of the club’s finals campaign.

Smith embarked on an impressive three-season stint with Wigan – winning a Challenge Cup final in 2002, losing a Super League grand final in 2003 and suffering a Challenge Cup final defeat in 2004 – before winding up a colourful career with two solid, suspension-free years back in the NRL with Newcastle. He played his last game for the Knights during the 2006 finals series as a 34-year-old.

Two years later, he came out of retirement to player for New Zealand Māori against the Indigenous Dreamtime team in the curtain-raiser to the 2008 World Cup opener in Sydney.