EDITOR’S TOP 10 NO ORDINARY LIVES

10 MARTY BANKS

Now this guy fits the bill as plucky white battler better than most. He’s a most unlikely hero and yet hero he is.

Banks shot to fame in 2013 when he played superbly for the Mako – kicking a record number of points and running things like an old pro.

But he wasn’t an old pro at all. His career up until then had been defined by a series of rejections that saw him end up in Siberia where he left after one season with his payment delivered in cash, by a scary looking dude that was clearly mafia-related.

But since that breakthrough season with Tasman, Banks has become a form favourite – pulling off memorable moments all the time but none more so than his winning drop goal in the 2015 Super Rugby final for the Highlanders and then a penalty to beat the British and Irish Lions.

Turned out he had broken ribs when he kicked that one against the Lions – but that was Banks. A tough man, a funny man and someone who defied all the odds to carve out the career he did.

09 CORY JANE

Cory Jane was the first professional rugby player in New Zealand to suss out he could become a bigger brand by using social media wisely.

Actually, to be more accurate, he realised he could pump his profile by using social media a lot. Whether