David Fusitu'a

Former Kelston Boys' High School first XV mentor Athens Henare regards himself as fortunate to have overseen the only season of rugby union played by the former teenage prodigy.

It was rugby league until then, and straight into the Warriors junior programme afterwards.

But for one memorable year, in 2011, Fusitu'a played the 15-man code.

The motivation was simply to have fun with his close friends after five years together at the west Auckland school.

The result?

Since making his NRL Telstra Premiership debut in Round 2 of the 2014 season, Fusitu'a has been in and out of the club's first-grade squad, battling a number of injuries which led to him playing only 32 of a possible 71 games over the past three years.