Fearsome forward Martin Taupau played 24 consecutive Tests for New Zealand from 2014-18, while the late-bloomer went on to play more than 250 NRL games for Canterbury, Wests Tigers, Manly and Brisbane.Born in Auckland, Taupau moved to Sydney as a 10-year-old and played his junior football for Padstow Panthers and Greenacre Tigers. He represented Australian Schoolboys in 2008 from Endeavour Sports High and became a mainstay for the Bulldogs' NYC team.Taupau made a solitary NRL appearance for the Bulldogs in 2010 and captained the Junior Kiwis in a drawn two-match series with the Junior Kangaroos that year. After playing just 21 top-grade games for Canterbury across four seasons - a period that included a Test debut for Samoa against Tonga in early-2013 - Taupau joined the Tigers in 2014 and enjoyed a breakout season.He debuted for the Kiwis in a new-look Anzac Test line-up, while after playing every game for the Tigers he came off the bench throughout their triumphant Four Nations campaign - including both wins over the Kangaroos.Taupau featured prominently in another victory over Australia in 2015 - a drought-breaking Anzac Test success in Brisbane - though he courted controversy for an alleged throat-slitting gesture to rival forward Sam Thaiday. He played in all three Tests against England at the end of the year before heading to Manly.An imposing 110kg-plus proposition with tremendous mobility and a high work-rate, Taupau's underrated durability saw him played 156 games in seven seasons with the Sea Eagles. He played in the last two Anzac Tests in 2016-17, every match for New Zealand during the 2016 Four Nations and the 2017 World Cup, and four more Tests during 2018 - including another victory at Australia's expense in Auckland. The 28-year-old's Kiwis swansong came during the end-of-year series in England, playing in the first two matches.Taupau pledged his allegiance to Samoa and represented the nation against Papua New Guinea and Fiji in 2019, while he was a senior member of the side that powered to a historic World Cup final appearance in 2022.The evergreen enforcer linked with the Broncos in 2023.