Hazem El Masri

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Hazem El Masri bigraphy, stories - Australian rugby league player

Hazem El Masri : biography

1 April 1976 –

Hazem El Masri () (born 1 April 1976) is a Lebanese-Australian retired professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. An Australia and Lebanon international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative winger, he played his entire club football career with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs with whom he won the 2004 NRL Premiership. Possibly Australia’s greatest goal-kicker of all time, in 2009 (his final season in the NRL) El Masri took the record for the highest-ever point scorer in premiership history and for a record sixth time was the League’s top point scorer for the season. He also became only the seventh player in history to score over 150 NRL tries, having primarily played on the wing, but also at fullback.

El Masri is a self-identified devout Muslim. He is widely respected for his community work with young people, winning the NRL’s Ken Stephen Award in 2002. The award recognises players who contribute to the betterment of their community away from rugby league.

Footnotes

Biography

El Masri was born in Tripoli, Lebanon on 1 April 1976 at yesterdayshero.com.au and emigrated to Australia with his family from there in 1988 when he was 12 years old. He began playing soccer at an early age but during his senior years in high school switched to rugby league, joining a local club side, the Enfield Federals.

Rugby league career

1990s

While playing for Belmore Boys High School, in 1994 El Masri was spotted by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs development officers and was invited to trials for their Jersey Flegg side. The following year he was quickly elevated to the President’s Cup squad. He debuted in the Sydney Bulldogs’ first grade team during the 1996 ARL season.

El Masri was not the first choice goal-kicker at the Bulldogs for his first five seasons at the club because the club still featured renowned sharp shooter Daryl Halligan. It was not until Halligan was injured in 1997 that El Masri first kicked for the Bulldogs. In that year’s Super League season El Masri scored a memorable hat-trick of tries against English club Halifax.

El Masri had become a regular member of the Bulldogs squad by the 1998 NRL season.

2000s

The Lebanon national rugby league team had qualified for their first ever World Cup in 2000 and El Masri was selected to captain the side. He played in all 3 of Lebanon’s World Cup games. He played in the Lebanese first ever World Cup Match against New Zealand and lost 64-0. He scored a try and kicked 3 goals in their 24-22 loss to Wales. He scored 2 tries and kicked 3 goals in their 22-22 draw against the Cook Islands. At the end of the Group Stage, Lebanon finished on 1 point and it was not enough for them to advance to the Knockout Stage. At the end of the World Cup his stat was 3 tries and 6 goals for 24 points for Lebanon. His brother, Samer El Masri, also played for Lebanon.

El Masri played for the City representative side in the annual City vs Country Origin fixture on five occasions.

In 2002 El Masri topped the League’s point-scoring table for the first time and rejected a $2 million offer from the South Sydney Rabbitohs, opting to stay with the Bulldogs. In 2002, he played for the Australian team against New Zealand. El Masri set a new record for most goals scored by a Bulldogs player in a single match with 11 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 21, 2003

El Masri broke the National Rugby League point scoring record for a single season with 342 points (16 tries and 139 goals) in the 2004 season. He then played for the Bulldogs on the wing in their 2004 NRL grand final victory over cross-city rivals the Sydney Roosters, scoring a try and kicking two goals.

El Masri is married to Arwa with three children Lamya, Zayd, and Serine. He was one of the first Lebanese Australians to step forward in the name of friendship and understanding in the wake of the racially motivated 2005 Cronulla riots.

El Masri set the Canterbury-Bankstown club's career points record, surpassing Daryl Halligan in 2005.