The Marist Saints Team of the Century 


  1. Willie McLean.  Willie was part of the young Marist premier team that won promotion to first division in 1992.  He went on to play North Sydney in the NRL and in 1997 played in a rest of the world selection against a Kangaroo team captained by Brad Fittler. 


  1. Francis Meli Francis had a long professional career of over 350 first grade games for the New Zealand Warriors, St Helens and Salford.  He also played 14 tests for New Zealand and seven for Samoa.  He holds the record for the most tries in a finals game scoring five tries against the Bulldogs in 2003. 


  1. Jerome Ropati.  Jerome played 145 games for the NRL and 11 tests for New Zealand including the 2008 World Cup final where the Kiwis beat the Kangaroos.


  1. Anthony Swann.  Anthony played NRL for the Warriors, North Sydney Bears and Canberra Raiders.  He played three tests for New Zealand and four tests for Samoa. 


  1. David Fusitu’a.  David has played 88 games for the New Zealand Warriors, tests for the Kiwis and Tonga including being part of the Tongan team to make the World Cup semi-final.  In 2018 he was the highest try scorer in the NRL winning the Ken Irvine medal.


  1. Motu Tony.  Motu played a 177 first grade games across Australasia and the UK, most notably for the Warriors and Hull.  He played in the first Warriors team to make the NRL grand final and won the  Challenge cup with Hull.  He also played 13 tests for the Kiwis including the 2005 formations final where the Kiwis thrashed Australia 24 – nil. 


  1. Fred Schuster.  Fred played for the Kiwis in 1971 and was noted by the selection panel particularly for his evasive sidestepping ability. 


  1. Roy Asotasi.  Roy is one of three ex-Marist players to captain the Kiwis, playing 24 tests.  He also played 275 first grade games for the Bulldogs, South Sydney and Warrington in the UK. 


  1. Vincent Wulf.  Like many players in this team Vincent started at Marist as a schoolboy and played in a number of championship winning teams.  He went on to forge a professional career in France including playing test football for France. 


  1. Julian O’Neill.  Julian played over 250 games in the English Super League for St Helens, Wakefield and Widnes, winning Super League championships and the Challenge Cup with St Helens.


  1. Gene Swann.  Gene played over 10 years senior football at Marist including winning the Auckland Rugby League Sportsman of the Year in 1978.


  1. Sonny-Bill Williams.  Sonny-Bill’s bio includes two NRL premierships with the Bulldogs and Roosters and two World Cups with the All Blacks. 


  1. Shane Hanson.  Shane is one of the few players to play Auckland representative football out of Marist being in second division in the late 1980s.  Rumour has it he would have been a Kiwi if he had not fallen off a chair in front of Kiwi selectors in 1989 after a few too many.  He spent a number of years playing English Super League for Salford.