Mark Robinson was brought into the Saints clan to help ease the absence of England’s Matt Dawson through the World Cup and Six Nations periods. The former All Blacks scrum-half was rather unceremoniously pushed out of the Auckland Blues set-up but Saints were only to willing to take him under their wing after a brief spell with the New Zealand Warriors.

Mark was shortlisted for the PRA’s Players’ Player of the Year award and the Zurich Premiership Overseas Player of the Year awards in that season – but lost out both times to team mate Bruce Reihana. His contribution to Saints 2003/04 season was outstanding right from his debut against Sale.

He continued in the same rich vein of form in 2004/05 and made his mark as the most physical scrum-half in the Zurich Premiership. However, this reputation may have cost him dearly as he was suspended for 14-weeks for stamping. It meant he missed the rest of the season.

With much of the hype surrounding Mark’s half-back partner Carlos Spencer in 2005/06, some folk may have forgotten the talents of this scrum-half. The former All Black was a near constant on the Saints team-sheet last season too and, as such, he made 29 appearances. He also scored a few decent tries too with two coming against Saracens at Vicarage Road and a peach of a score marking a good win over the Newport-Gwent Dragons in the Powergen Cup. He scored five tries last season and helped nurture his former Blues team-mate into his new life at Franklin’s Gardens.

The Robinson-Spencer partnership is a combination relatively untouched by injury in 2006/07. By the end of the season, however, Sharky had out-shone his illustrious team mate, not only by being Saints' top try scorer - with a final tally of 12 - but also sweeping the end of season awards, winning Try of the Season, Player of the Season and the Saints Supporters' Club's Player of the Season. He also became the latest club centurion against Newcastle and led the side out at Kingston Park.