Otago has produced some great sporting figures, but our teams have also benefited from the talent and leadership of some quality imports. The Otago Daily Times sports department looks at some of the South's most influential ring-ins.
Steve Wooddin
The educated left boot
Sport: Football.
Era: Lived in Dunedin 1977-81.
His story: Wooddin, an English striker, came to New Zealand to join Dunedin City. He later told the Otago Daily Times he ''flew from London and I had no idea how far away New Zealand was. It took about seven flights to get to Dunedin. I was dead to the Earth. It was cold and miserable and I wondered what I'd struck.''
But Wooddin enjoyed his four-year spell in the South, helping Dunedin City reach a Chatham Cup final. He also played a major role in helping the All Whites qualify for the 1982 World Cup. Now lives in Christchurch.
The greatest Nugget
Sport: Basketball.
Era: 1991-98 and 2004.
His story: King was originally from Cleveland and played college basketball at Florida A&M University. He had a brief sniff of the NBA but headed to far-flung courts to pursue his professional dream and landed all the way down in Dunedin. And he could play.
King was the heart and soul of the Nuggets for nearly a decade. A prolific scorer, a rugged defender, a passionate leader and a tireless worker, he did it all in the blue singlet.
Controversially, the Nuggets parted company with their greatest player rather prematurely, though he made a comeback in a later season. Got into coaching and now works in high performance for Basketball Queensland.
The towering shooter
Sport: Netball.
Era: 2013 and (hopefully) beyond.
Her story: The Jamaican international signed for the Steel this season and has been a revelation. She is the competition's leading scorer with 412 goals from eight games - that's an average of 51.5 goals.
At 1.98m tall, she is a difficult defensive assignment and no-one has managed to get the better of her yet. The Magic's experienced defensive duo of Casey Kopua and Leana de Bruin did a reasonable job on Saturday but she still scored 44 goals.
Fowler is flatting with Steel team-mate Phoenix Karaka this season but lives in Jamaica with fiancee Andre Reid and daughter Drehannah. The big question is whether the Steel will be able to hold on to her.
The consummate professional
Sport: Cricket.
Era: 1983-93.
His story: For a decade, the unmistakably pale figure of Englishman Neil Mallender ran in and spearheaded the Otago attack with great success. He took 268 wickets in 78 games for the province and was desperately unlucky not to have played more than two tests for his country.
He bowled with sustained hostility and revelled in New Zealand conditions. He was also a handy lower-order batsman and scored his only first-class hundred in 1991-92 against Central Districts.
Mallender retired in 1996 and became a respected first-class umpire. He made his umpiring test debut in Lahore in October 2003 and is still umpiring.
Fumiaki Tanaka
The little sparkplug
Sport: Rugby.
Era: 2012-13.
His story: Tanaka could easily have been missed when he turned up in Dunedin last year. He was small - like, really small - and was rumoured to have special rugby boots made as his feet were so tiny.
But small in stature meant nothing when he got on the field. He was a livewire and had a great pass which totally suited the Otago style of playing the game at pace. Popped up all over the field and just kept getting better as the season went on.
Became the first Japanese player to be picked for the Highlanders when coach Jamie Joseph named him in his 2013 squad. Has started one game and impressed when coming off the bench in a disappointing Highlanders side. It has still not been decided whether he is playing again for Otago this season.
The super coach
Sport: Swimming.
Era: Lived in Dunedin since 2006.
His story: Labara had an impressive background in swimming coaching when he moved to Dunedin for lifestyle reasons in 2006. He wanted the opportunity to coach swimmers with the ability and desire to compete at the highest national and international level.
Labara has a degree and advanced diploma in swim coaching and sports management from the Ukrainian State University and spent 10 years coaching Ukrainian Olympic youth development teams. He has also coached swimming in Dubai, and had four years' experience coaching elite swimmers in Sydney.
Labara has a hard-nosed Eastern European approach and has instilled dedication into his swimmers, who have broken 303 Otago records and four New Zealand records in the past seven years. At last season's open championships in Auckland, Labara-trained swimmers won 16 medals.
