"Thank goodness we weren't playing the whole of Samoa!” quipped the Welsh fans after Western Samoa beat Wales 16-13 in the 1991 RU World Cup.

Apollo Perelini was formost in minds of most Welsh Rugby Union fans when that infamous quote was coined. They'd nicknamed him the terminator after seeing Perelini destroy that Welsh pack. The Terminator" famously put three different Welsh players in hospital with his bone-shattering tackles: May, Clement and Collins.

Perelini was signed to St Helens in 1994 and steadily developed into one of Super League's finest ever props, often flying under the radar where these types of conversations are concerned.

He was the ultimate dual-code enforcer who transitioned from bruising Union back-rower to iconic Rugby League prop with devastating effect.At St Helens, his explosive power, relentless work rate, and bone-crunching defence quickly made him a cult hero at Knowsley Road.

He became the engine room of the legendary 1996 team, driving Saints to a historic Super League and Challenge Cup Double.While flashier names grabbed the external headlines, Perelini was the teammate everyone wanted next to them in the trenches. Perelini added another Super League title in 1999 and a further Challenge Cup triumph in 1997, cementing his legacy as a foundational pillar of Saints' modern dominance.

After hanging up his boots, his rugby journey came full circle as he dedicated his expertise to coaching, shaping the next generation of talent on the international stage in the middle east. Apollo Perelini remains the quintessential unsung hero: a quiet gentleman off the field, but was an absolute force of nature upon it.