A well-travelled player who wound up appearing for three different Super rugby franchises and four New Zealand provinces, Pita Alatini made a big impression during his brief sojourn as a Crusader towards the back end of the 1996 campaign. The then 20-year-old Tongan, who had played just 16 matches for Counties Manukau to that stage of his career, started the last five games of the inaugural Crusade at centre after injury rubbed out Tabai Matson. Although his performance wasn’t enough to secure a Super rugby contract for the following year, Alatini returned to the professional ranks in 1998 when he embarked on a successful four year association with the Highlanders which saw him feature on 51 occasions to the end of 2001.