The long-serving Otago Rugby Football Union employee brought up 20 years at the organisation last week but was reluctant to be interviewed.
He was, he said, embarrassed by the attention an article in the Otago Daily Times might bring.
That sums up the 60-ish community rugby manager, one of the many who chip away in the background to keep the game going.
It has not been easy.
Rugby is not at the centre of the weekend the way it once was.
Professionalism brought excitement and a new competition in Super Rugby. But it also ushered in some challenges.
When Perkins started in November 2001, the ORFU ran the Highlanders.
He was still there when the two parties began divorce proceedings in September 2010.
In 2012, the ORFU faced its greatest challenge. It was broke and on the verge of liquidation but hung on.
Covid-19 had a huge impact last year and continues to shape how the game is organised.
Through it all, Perkins has been a champion for the game’s grassroots.
"The main thing I’ve been tasked with is our community and our club competitions.
"The clubs have done well across all of that time to keep fielding teams year after year.
There are lots and lots of challenges out there.
"But the volunteers and the people are the core and we just try and support them to deliver the game as best as we can.
"That is what the challenge is — to keep as many playing. But we’ve got good people in our clubs and in our schools who are doing their best."
Perkins, who declined to give his exact age, grew up in Dunedin and was educated at St Kevin’s College in Oamaru.
He captained the 2nd XV and 2nd XI in his final year at St Kevin's and played club rugby for the Dunedin club from 1978 to 1989.
The former loose forward also had a stint as a player-coach for West Taieri.
Before joining the ORFU, he worked for Land Information New Zealand.
Perkins said one of the best parts of his job was getting around the clubs and seeing the passion "out there in the crowds".
"The last few years have been very, very challenging with the Covid situation. Last year, it was the club season which was impacted, and this year it has been the NPC.
"But I was amazed at how the people responded and got involved and worked with the protocols that were in front of them to help us deliver the games on a Saturday," he said.
Asked where community rugby would be in 20 years, Perkins said that was a difficult question.
"From my perspective, rugby has been going for well over 100 years and we have clubs celebrating 150 years. But what clubs look like in 20 years — who knows? That is the million-dollar question.
"We’ve just got to help the people as much as we can because they are the ones who are doing the work and doing a damn good job of it.
"It is he tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
