25 Facts About Ruben Wiki

Ruben James Wiki was born on 21 January 1973 and is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s.

At club level Wiki played for the Canberra Raiders, winning the 1994 NSWRL Premiership with them before finishing his career with the New Zealand Warriors.

Alongside future All Black captain Tana Umaga, Ruben Wiki wreaked havoc for the Junior Kiwis in 1992.

Ruben Wiki represented the New Zealand Maori side in 1992 and 1993, playing on the wing at the 1992 Pacific Cup.

Ruben Wiki commenced playing in Australia's Winfield Cup for the Canberra Raiders' first grade side in the 1993 NSWRFL season.

Ruben Wiki was then involved in controversy when both the Canberra Raiders and new Auckland Warriors tried to register him for the 1995 season.

Ruben Wiki was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament.

In 2001 Ruben Wiki was banned for two matches after pleading guilty to a dangerous throw charge on Sydney prop Scott Logan.

Ruben Wiki played for Canberra until 2004 before moving to the Warriors.

Ruben Wiki retired having played 55 test matches for New Zealand between 1994 and 2006, at the time the most test matches played by any rugby league footballer in the world.

Ruben Wiki captained the New Zealand national rugby league team in 18 of those tests.

Ruben Wiki played, what was meant to be his final game with the All Golds as part of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup against the New Zealand Maori rugby league team.

Ruben Wiki snubbed the chance to join a Super League side for the 2009 season, and entered into retirement from first grade rugby league in 2008.

In 2009 Ruben Wiki came out of retirement to play for the Samoan Residents, a team representing his Mother's homeland, in a one-off match which raised money for the Samoan tsunami relief fund.

In 2010 Ruben Wiki took up a role as a High Performance Assistant with the Warriors.

In 2023, Ruben Wiki participated in season 3 of Match Fit, where former rugby players return to play against the Australian counterparts.

Ruben Wiki joined in the first season that featured former rugby league stars.

Ruben Wiki was the assistant coach for the team, and became an emergency substitute player against NZ Women's Open Tag team.

Ruben Wiki was named on the bench and played as a substitute against Kangaroos due to Shontayne Hape and Henry Fa'afili deemed medically ineligible to play contact rugby.

In 2024, Ruben Wiki returned in season 4 of Match Fit: Union vs League as a technical coach to teach the rules of rugby league to the rugby union players.

Ruben Wiki became a player for the final game against the combined Wallabies and Kangaroos alumni team.

In 2002 and 2003 Ruben Wiki was named the Canberra Raiders' player of the year.

Ruben Wiki was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby league, in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Ruben Wiki drank a bowl of the Pacific island drink kava after each match, which he credits for his longevity in the game.

Ruben Wiki is married with two children, including daughter Mackenzie who represents Cook Islands in rugby league and from 2023 plays for the Canberra Raiders NRLW team.