Ruben Wiki

Ruben Wiki is a former New Zealand rugby league international who retired holding the world record for most Test appearances by any player in the sport's history, having transformed from a strike centre into one of the game's most respected forwards.

The world record for international rugby league appearances — 55 Test caps — belonged to Ruben Wiki when he retired in 2008, a testament to the durability and authority that made him New Zealand's most respected forward across two decades of Test football. Playing initially as a powerful, fast centre, he formed one of the great centre partnerships of the era alongside Australian great Mal Meninga, scoring 15 tries in 25 games as the Raiders won the 1994 NSWRL Premiership in Meninga's farewell season. Wiki moved into the forward pack in 1998 amid a shortage of Canberra prop options, and the switch reinvigorated his career: he went on to be recognised as one of the toughest and most respected enforcers in the game over a further decade, playing 224 games for the Raiders before returning home to the New Zealand Warriors in 2005, where he became the club's spiritual leader and 2005 Player of the Year. Wiki's international career was extraordinary in its longevity: he made his Kiwis debut in 1994 and went on to captain New Zealand, most memorably leading the side to a historic 24-0 win over Australia in the 2005 Tri Nations final in Leeds. He retired in 2008 at age 35 with a then-world-record 55 Test appearances — the most capped Kiwi in history — and 311 total NRL games, becoming the first non-Australian to reach 300 appearances in the competition. He was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame and named to the New Zealand Team of the Century, and now serves as NZRL's High Performance Manager.

Powerful, physically dominant forward known for ferocious defence and reliable ball-carrying

Widely regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest all-round rugby league players, respected across positions for toughness and longevity

• World record 55 Tests for the Kiwis (at retirement)
• 1994 NSWRL Premiership winner (Canberra Raiders)
• New Zealand Team of the Century
• NRL Hall of Fame inductee
• First non-Australian to reach 300 NRL games