Hazem El Masri
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| Hazem El Masri | ||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||
| Nickname | El Magic | |||||
| Born | 1 April 1976 | |||||
| Tripoli, Lebanon | ||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | |||||
| Weight | 88 kg (14 st 0 lb) | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1996– | Bulldogs RLFC | 300 | 150 | 831 | 0 | 2,262 |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2000 | Lebanon | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 2001–2007 | City | 5 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 32 |
| 2002 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 2007 | New South Wales | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| As of 11 May 2009 | ||||||
| Source: League Central | ||||||
Hazem El Masri (Arabic: حازم المصري) (born 1 April 1976) is a Lebanese-Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Bulldogs club of the National Rugby League. In 2009 he took the record for the highest-ever point scorer in NRL history. Also an international and State of Origin representative player, his usual position is winger, but he has also played 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.[1].
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[edit] Early life
El Masri emigrated to Australia with his family in 1988. 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.
[edit] Rugby league career
In 1994, he was spotted by Bulldogs development officers while playing for Belmore Boys High School and was invited to trials for the Jersey Flegg side. The following year he was quickly elevated to the President's Cup squad. He debuted in the Bulldogs' first grade team in 1996 but would not be a regular member of the squad until 1998.
El Masri wasn't the first choice goal kicker at the Bulldogs for his first five seasons at the club because the club also featured renowned sharp shooter Daryl Halligan. It wasn't until Halligan was injured in 1997 that El Masri first kicked for the Bulldogs.
El Masri holds the National Rugby League point scoring record for a single season with 342 points (16 tries and 139 goals) in the 2004 season. He also holds the club career points record, surpassing Daryl Halligan in 2005, and most goals scored by a Bulldogs player in a single match with 11 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 21, 2003. He has also broken the 1900 point record after scoring 14 points in Round 8, 2007 vs the Newcastle Knights, beating them 30-16, becoming the sixth player to ever surpass that point, along with Graham Eadie, Mick Cronin, Daryl Halligan, Jason Taylor and Andrew Johns.
In 2006, El Masri broke another two club records: the most points scored for a single game (34 points, Rd 2 vs Wests Tigers) and the most first grade tries for the Bulldogs (123, Rd 13 vs Newcastle Knights). He also kicked his 600th goal during that match.[2]
El Masri's 2,208 points is the all-time highest NRL career point scoring record. He broke the record in front of a crowd of 19,791 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round 1, 2009, with a penalty goal on a rainy Saturday night.
On Friday the 15th of May 2009, El Masri played his 300th game in the Bulldogs 20-18 loss to the Dragons at Win Jubilee Stadium. His 300th game marked another record broken; becoming the the first Bulldogs player to reach this milestone. He now joins the exclusive '300' club behind, Terry Lamb (349), Steve Menzies (349), Brad Fittler (336), Cliff Lyons (332), Andrew Ettingshausen (328), Geoff Gerard (320), Jason Croker (318), Paul Langmack (315), Ruben Wiki (312), Steve Price (306) Darren Lockyer (302) and Luke Ricketson (301).
[edit] Representative career
El Masri has played for the City representative side in the annual City vs Country Origin fixture on five occasions and captained the Lebanese team in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. In 2002, he played for the Australian team against New Zealand.
El Masri was called up to Game 3 of the 2007 State of Origin to make his debut after Jamie Lyon was ruled out through injury. [3] He kicked three conversions from the sideline, and scored the final try, giving him 10 points in total for the 2007 Origin series.
Retirement
Hazem El Masri will retire at the end of the 2009 season at aged 33.
[edit] Personal life
El Masri is married with three children. 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[4]. In 2007, Bill Woods published an authorised biography, El Magic: the life of Hazem El Masri.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "El Masri wins league's community service award" (Fee required). AAP Sport News (Australia). 2002-10-03. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-68245542.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ Rleague.com - El Masri, Hazem
- ^ El Masri to make Origin debut - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ^ Sully, Sandra; Bill Woods (2007). El Magic: The life of Hazem El Masri. Australia: HarperCollins. pp. xi. ISBN 9780732284022. http://browseinside.harpercollins.com.au/index.aspx?isbn13=9780732284022.
[edit] External links
- A Winger and a Prayer - Australian Story transcript
- Woods, Bill. (2007). El Magic: The Life of Hazem El Masri. ISBN 0-7322-8402-3
| Preceded by Ivan Cleary 1998-2004 |
Record-holder Most points in an NRL season 2004-present |
Succeeded by current |
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