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IMAGINE how many of these players would also be playing in NRL grand finals had they not been caught up in street gangs and drugs.
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Steve Matai and Sonny Bill Williams made it, emerging from the same high school and defying the luring shadows of Auckland's underbelly to shine on the biggest stage in rugby league.
Twelve years after they played together for Mt Albert Grammar's first XIII, the pair will face off in the NRL decider.
But many of their former teammates wound up on the wrong side of the law, including one of Matai's best friends who has only just been released from prison.
The Sea Eagles centre can only shake his head at the thought of the wasted talent he once played alongside.
"Our whole team that year, a lot of us could be here playing, but the boys were taking different options, walking different tracks," Matai told the Daily Telegraph.
"It was me, Tommy Leuluai (Warriors) and Sonny in the same team. It's good to see we still carried on playing.
"There were some talented boys in that team, if not better than me, who just made the wrong choices.
"It's good to see us all playing at the top level, coming from the same high school. I knew Tommy and Sonny were going to make it, I didn't see myself playing first grade but things went my way," he said.
"We had a good team, a few boys made the Auckland squad, we had a lot of talented boys who went the other way.
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"Just to see them make those choices was a bit disappointing.
"I'm happy I made the decision to keep playing, I'm happy Tommy and Sonny also made that decision, and not follow the crowd but knuckle down and train hard.
"I've been here almost 10 years, it shows that hard work pays off."
Both Matai and Williams have represented their countries, and are pillars of the hard-work ethic.
Both have had injury history and are meticulous with their training and preparation.
That discipline has served the pair well, with Matai on the verge of winning his third premiership and Williams his second.
Matai and Williams first encountered each other when they attended rival primary schools and played against each other.
They then attended Mt Albert Grammar where they became friends and teammates, though they rarely hung out together given Williams was younger.
Matai marked Williams when he burst on to the NRL in 2004 in the centres, but has rarely been on the field with him since given Williams's rugby union and boxing pursuits.
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