Upper Hutt Rams first five-eighth Ben Aoina lining up a kick in April 2014.

Ben Aoina played his 150th Premier match for Upper Hutt in round six of the 2013 Swindale Shield, against Petone, the club he also spent two seasons playing for and earning another 25+ caps for in 2010-2011.

Aside from his stint with Petone and a season overseas in 2009 -playing club rugby in Romania - he has been an integral part of the Upper Hutt Premiers since his debut for the club in 2001.?

A versatile player, Aoina is accomplished as a fullback and first five-eighth, and is an accurate goal kicker as well. He brings a cool head, excellent vision and decision making skills and a radar boot, which combine to make him a dangerous player?for all opposition sides to counter.

He first broke into the Upper Hutt Premiers in his first year out of Upper Hutt College and played at fullback in a team that initially included player/coach Marty Berry at second five-eighth (in 2013 he was playing with his son Liam in the Upper Hutt team). The subsequent retirement o long-serving first five-eighth Craig Foster saw Aoina assume the pivot position.

At the same time he took over the kicking duties, and has since proved a prolific points scorer, featuring at or near the top of the points scorers lists for each of the past five seasons. 2006 was his best year, finishing the season with 240 points, including six tries, and almost 50 points more than the next highest scorer Peato Lafaele who scored 50 of his 193 points in tries as a wing/fullback for the top Northern United side that year.

Aoina was a Swindale Shield winner and Jubilee Cup semi-finalist in 2005, sharing the kicking duties that year with ITM Cup midfielder Cory Aporo but still scoring 151 points

Aoina grew up and played junior rugby in Eastbourne out of HW Shortt Park, which the Club Weekly featured last week, before shifting up the Valley to Upper Hutt College and making the Wellington U16s and the Wellington Secondary Schools teams. Upon leaving school he played for the Wellington U19s, Wellington Colts, played a season of Second Division NPC rugby for East Coast in 2005 and toured Japan in 2006 as part of the Jamie Joseph-led Wellington B tour.

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