Benji Marshall (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa) will return to his homeland at the end of the month to captain the St Illawarra Dragons at the annual NRL Auckland Nines.
Coach Paul McGregor has named the team of 19 which will see Marshall as captain for the very first time.
Marshall switched codes last year and played for the Auckland Blues, however, he later returned to Australia to join the Illawarra Dragons squad.
The popular Auckland NRL Nines tournament will be held on January 31 and February 1 at Eden Park in Auckland where more than 280 players will take to the field, including some of the biggest NRL superstars from 16 teams.